How Microsoft VECD licensing impacts your VDI initiatives
10 comments, 3338 views
Update: July 22, 2010: Please visit our updated analysis including important changes to Microsoft VDI Licensing. http://blog.unidesk.com/virtual-desktop-management-blog/bid/12771/Update-Microsoft-Desktop-Virtualization-Licensing-changes-VECD-no-more-here-s-VDA
When mapping out a new VDI implementation, seasoned VARs and desktop virtualization vendors will warn you to carefully examine the cost of Microsoft Windows licenses to gauge their impact on your project. We have been working with partners and analysts to better understand how Microsoft’s recently updated Virtual Enterprise Centralized Desktop (VECD) and VECD for Software Assurance (SA) licensing could affect you. Here are our findings and some best practices for licensing Windows on VDI.
Summary:
Your license compliance and cost will greatly depend on your existing license agreement with Microsoft, and the endpoints that will be accessing your hosted virtual desktops.
The Details:
Many misunderstand what VECD is, so let’s clear that up first. VECD and VECD for SA are the subscription licenses you need for your ACCESS POINTS. Generally, you do not license the copies of the Windows OS that live on the server, only the end points/access points that access these copies. The difference between the subscription licenses can be boiled down to this:
- VECD is a subscription license that is for access points that do not have a qualifying copy, or any copy, of Windows.
- VECD for SA is also a subscription license, but it does not include a license for the Windows OS. Machines covered under VECD for SA have an applicable OS license already.
For many, the next pressing question is whether or not existing licenses apply to the new server-hosted desktop access points, and whether they need to purchase VECD or VECD for SA. And the answer, of course, is “Well, it depends.”
To make this a little easier to understand, I've outlined some typical VDI use cases (which, in this blog do not take into account any Enterprise License Agreements for Windows) and the licensing solution (as I understand it). Please keep in mind that Windows is (generally) licensed on a per-device basis, not per-user (there is an exception to this that deals with occasional primary-user home use). Also, the prices we list below are based on the Microsoft list prices found on Microsoft's virtualization licensing web site . (Now that we have exhausted our use of parentheses, lets get to business.)
Use Case 1: Enterprise buys a new PC or laptop that comes with an OEM copy of Windows.
VDI License Implications: This OEM Windows license is based on the physical machine you purchased, and is not transferrable to the hosted virtual desktop, which has a separate copy of Windows running on a server. So, you have two choices if you want this new PC to be an access point for VDI:
- Bring the new PC (*note must be less than 90 days from purchase) under Software Assurance and then purchase a VECD for SA license. Bringing it under Software Assurance will cost roughly $50 per year. Then, add the cost of the VECD for SA license at about $23 per year.
- Purchase a straight VECD license at an annual subscription cost of $110 per year.
Use Case 2: Enterprise wishes to re-purpose an old PC or laptop into a “dumbed-down thin client” that can serve as a VDI access point.
VDI License Implications: If the PC is eligible for SA (meaning it was already covered by SA), you can choose to maintain the annual SA subscription ($50 per year), and then purchase the VECD for SA license ($23 per year).
If the old PC or laptop is not eligible for SA, you'll need to purchase the VECD license at a subscription cost of $110 per year.
Another method which may apply is to upgrade an existing Windows license to support SA, but that remains bound to the hardware, whereas traditional SA is not.
Use Case 3: Enterprise purchases a new thin client to use as a VDI access point.
VDI License Implications: By definition, a machine that does not have a Windows license or run Windows cannot be added to SA, so this use case will require the VECD license at a subscription cost of $110 per year.
Use Case 4: Bring Your Own PC (BYOPC).
VDI License Implications: Consultants or employees who buy their own PCs have a home license for Windows. Since the license does not belong to corporate, it is not eligible for SA. Enterprises must purchase a VECD license for each PC at a cost of $110 per year.
Use Case 5: Employees use a work PC to access their hosted virtual desktops at work, and occasionally use their home PC to access their virtual desktop to work from home.
VDI License Implications: The work PC will need to be licensed as mentioned above (likely VECD for SA). If the primary user of the machine is the person that works at home, then the VECD for SA license covers occasional home use.
Use Case 6: Enterprise supplies a thin terminal to access VDI at work, and a laptop for travel.
VDI License Implications: This use case requires two individual licenses, even though it is the same user. A common solution is VECD for SA for the laptop, and VECD for the thin terminal.
The good news here is that Unidesk will not do anything to increase your VECD fees. We simply manage virtual desktops – how you decide to access them is up to you. Just be sure to design in your access point license planning well ahead of implementation.
I hope this sheds some light on a very confusing topic. If you are still stumped, an additional resource I found helpful was the recent Gartner report – “It Pays to Understand the VECD License".
Was my analysis wrong? Let me know!
-Nicole Reineke, Director of Product Management
Follow me @NicoleReineke
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Comments
if i want a laptop with windows vista and want to use it to access a virtual vista desktop, do i need 1 VECD, plus 1 license of Vista for the laptop, plus 1 license of Vista for the VM?
To Donny:
You can buy a new full retail copy of Windows 7 Professional for $139 on Amazon with free shipping - which can legally be run in a VM (it's not licensed to a device like OEM or VLK).
Note that in this case no VECD is necessary, no SA necessary and no yearly subscription necessary.
VECD can be *advantageous* to organizations who *choose* to use volume licenses or Software Assurance to reduce costs because it allows them to extend the terms of their hugely discounted licenses for use in VDI scenarios (instead of just on a particularly licensed device).
Microsoft offers various ways to license their products and that is a good thing because having multiple options (with different terms) allows us to pick the most appropriate for our need and/or budget.
It's simply, really: Retail costs X and terms are X; OEM costs X and terms are X; VLK costs X and terms are X.
I challenge your assertion that VECD is *killing* TCO for VDI projects. It seems to me that being allowed to convert/extend OEM and VLK licenses for use in VDI is just one of many tools available in deciding how to best *reduce* the TCO.
For example (and check the EULA to be sure), if you wanted to run a server with five Windows 7 Professional VMs, you could buy five OEM licenses for Windows 7 Professional for $139/ea at NewEgg (instead of five retail copies at $299/ea) and slap all five OEM stickers on the server that will be hosting them and you've saved a bunch of money without resorting to SA or VLK and VEDC etc. Can you move transfer the licenses to another machine? No. But you can save $800 if you don't need that flexibility without needing to bother about VLK, VECD, SA etc.
So stop crying about nothing and just look at the tools and options available to you and determine what your needs and goals are. We are *not* the victims of corporate terrorism.
And don't blame Linux for not being viable. It's just another tool available for use depending on your needs.
http://richfrombechtle.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/microsoft-vecd-diagrams/
Very mature answer. I am not crying. I am stating my opinion and I stand by it. Is the word terrorism strong. Yes. I was trying to make a point. In the strictest sense is does not induce terror though I have talked to CIOs, and IT Directors that might call it that. VECD is an unfair tactic and MS can get away with it because there is no viable competition. If there were viable competitors Microsoft would be looking for a way to do to them what they did to Netscape and what they are trying to do to ESX. So MS takes advantage of its customers. It is not the last time. I am fairly shocked to find out that someone out there, unless they are trying to push their own agenda, would state with a straight face that the TCO for VDI is acceptable and VECD is a good thing for their business.
In regards to your specific point, five Windows 7 VMs per server is the exception and not the rule. At that point my TCO is really low because I have no need for a connection broker and I can run my five VMs on an existing host that also virtualizes server workloads. Extremely low entry cost.
OEM licenses have a few problems. How practical is it to place 60 stickers on a blade server, or any server for that matter? More importantly the Windows 7 Professional EULA indicates that I cannot VMotion said instances: "Instead of using the software directly on the licensed computer, you may install and use the software within only one virtual (or otherwise emulated)hardware system on the licensed computer."
I deal with large enterprises on a daily basis and the ones where we are doing VDI fully understand that the main reasons to do it have nothing to do with acquisition cost and that the TCO is nowhere near what they expected.
I have no problem with a healthy debate but let's be civil. IT people have a reputation for lack of social skills. Let's not feed that stereotype.
Donny,
Your comment regarding maturity is probably warranted, but I took your original post as being yet *another* example of the ignorance that litters the web within the various Windows vs. Linux holy wars. I'm sorry if I read that wrong.
I also have no problem with healthy debate. Also, please don't take my "position" as being recommendation or promotion for using Microsoft Windows (whether in VDI or not).
I understand the position you're coming from but I still don't agree that VECD is killing the TCO for VDI because I look at VECD as being just another tool that provides an alternative means of licensing Windows.
My OEM example is actually just to illustrate that there are different needs and whether or not an organization chooses to use VECD will depend on their needs (and the cost). I agree that OEM licenses have a few "problems", but so do retail and VLK licenses. Actually, I look at them as being provisions rather than problems.
From what I understand, the EULA for Windows 7 Professional OEM allows you to run a single emulated (instead of physical) instance on a box and there is no wording that prevents multiple installations on the same hardware (each licensed individually of course).
I understand that the TCO of VDI may not meet "expectation," but that's a different point. I'm not indicating you are doing such, but many approach VDI (and using Windows for that matter) with Golden Hammer mentality. For some VDI will reduce cost, for others it won't. For some, switching to Linux will reduce cost, for others it won't. That's my position - that the big picture is important and that VECD is not, and cannot be, the factor that is "killing" the TCO for VDI.
For large enterprises (I also work with them) there are numerous instances where the VDI strategy could use Linux for 1,000's of VMs as a viable option - especially in the case of call centers where the employees use only internally developed web-apps and .pdf and .doc viewers.
The fact that the TCO for VDI with VECD may not be as favorable as expected could also be looked at as being evidence of how favorable the pricing for licensing physical machines can be depending on how it's done.
For example, organizations that purchase several hundred (or thousand) desktops that come with OEM consumer OS licenses only to install their SA licenses (at $23/yr) versus paying the OEM for an upgrade to a perpetual Professional license. True there's more than just the financial factor, but it's just an example of how beneficial it is to have multiple options - of which VECD is just another.
What do you think?
I agree with most of your points.
Except for large governmental organizations I rarely see customers in the 15,000-50,000 seat range do software assurance. I don't know if that's just my customers or if that's representative of the IT shops in general. I know of instances where MS has cut some customers deals on VECD but that leaves smaller shops to bear the full burden of VECD cost.
Because there are many use-cases my approach is to present all available options to customers including Citrix XenApp/Terminal server solutions and Parallels' Virtuozzo Containers which for many use cases does everything the customer needs though those don't carry the "cache" of VDI and require better disciplined customers with standards enforcements and good processes and allows customers to avoid the costs of VECD.
Donny,
Thanks for your reply and I'm with you - I can't say whether or not my experience with SA is typical or atypical.
I'm also guessing that your use of VECD was similar to mine in that you're using VECD and VECD for SA interchangeably ($110 and ~$50 + $23 respectively) - where it is the end-point that requires a license, not the number of virtual machines running (of which a single VECD end-point can access four VMs) and that your TCO reduction strategy is to license the end-points and not the running VMs.
For anyone else reading this, it essentially means that a single VECD or VECD for SA end-point (at $110/yr or ~$73/yr) can be used to access up to four distinct Windows VMs (which don't require a license under this licensing strategy).
The important questions for anyone to consider (for Windows) is whether or not the license should be attached to a device (OEM or VLK) or not (retail or SA) and/or whether or not to license the instance or the end-point.
Good talk and hopefully our comments will help someone figure out their own situation.
The Blade Pc uses the retail license model per Device, therefore when connecting via RDP no VDI (VECD LICENSE) connection is requiered, i believe this also applies ,where the VDI client is installed local and accessed via Broker or Remote Desktop in that case, Windows is not virtualized but Remote accessed.
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