Which Edition of SQL Server should I use?

The free SQL Server Express Editions are sufficient to run all of the functionality within the Secret Server application itself. However, some additional functionality such as mirroring and clustering for High Availability requires higher editions of SQL Server. Depending on the functionality you want to achieve, you should consider different editions of Microsoft SQL Server. How SQL Server is licensed is different depending which licensing model best suits your organization.

SQL Express

SQL Server Express Edition is a free version of SQL that is enough to run the Secret Server application itself. However, advanced functionality like mirroring and clustering is not available.

SQL Standard Edition

SQL Server Standard Edition will provide most functionality that administrators will want. This includes the most common type of mirroring, and clustering up to two cluster nodes.

SQL Enterprise Edition

SQL Server Enterprise Edition will provide all of the functionality of Standard Edition, plus the ability to cluster up to eight nodes and perform asynchronous mirroring.

Licensing Models

If you decide to go with SQL Standard edition and want to mirror between two servers, there are three different pricing models you can choose.

1. Per processor

   With this model, you can buy two processor licenses for $7,171.00 each. Note that one license will be used for the primary server and another will be used for the failover partner if you choose to use mirroring. The witness server can use SQL Server 2008 R2 Express, which is a free edition of SQL Server.

2. Per server with User CAL

   You will need to buy a license for two servers ($898.00 each) for this model. Additionally, you will need to pay for each user who accesses Secret Server. This is because you need a separate CAL license for every user that is connected to a multiplexing or pooling software application that accesses SQL. So, if you have 40 users who access Secret Server, you would need to buy 40 CAL licenses ($164.00 each).

   For 30 users accessing a mirrored Secret Server environment, this would cost you a total of $6,716.

3. Per server with client device CAL

   This licensing model is very similar to the second, except you pay for each computer or other device (including mobile phones) that accesses Secret Server. This would only make sense if users in your company are sharing computers.

   For 30 desktop computers accessing a mirrored Secret Server environment, this would also cost $6,716.

In conclusion, per server with user CAL licensing will cost significantly less upfront than buying two processor licenses. However, it is far less scalable. Once you have more than 75 user licenses for Secret Server, per processor licensing will become more cost effective.

Further Reading

• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Licensing Guide (see section on Multiplexing)
• Discussion on SQL Server Device or User CAL (stackoverflow.com)
• Discussion on SQL Server CALs (serverfault.com)

Article ID: 127, Created On: 11/19/2010, Modified: 9/2/2011