External Connector License requirements.

Question

_{Thursday, March 14, 2013 3:40 PM}

Question: If users are identified and validated with a certificate prior to accessing a web-site are we required to have an external connector license?

Details:
I have a client who hosts a home grown ticketing web-site to manage job, projects and general ticketing features on a windows server. Users are authenticated with a certificate prior to being allowed access. They grant access to external clients after a service has been purchased.

The access is purely over the internet all web based. Typical web-site.

All replies (5)

_{Friday, March 15, 2013 4:24 AM ✅Answered}

For 2008 R2 non-web editions, when external users are authenticated (method irrelevant), then you need an external connector license.  In your scenario (if the client is running a 2008 R2 non-web version), then he would need an external connector license.  See the 2008 R2 Licensing Guide for more detail.

For 2012, things have changed a bit.  Now, the external connector need is based on who benefits from the external access.  Quoting from the Product Use Rights document from Microsoft:  "An External Connector (EC) license is an alternative to CALs for servers that external users (such as customers or vendors) can access. An EC license assigned to a server permits access by any number of external users as long as that access is for the benefit of the licensee and not the external user. Each physical server that external users access requires only one EC license."  As you can see, ascertaining the benefit of the access is key for 2012.

I'd recommend reading through the docs that I've linked to above.

Brian

_{Monday, March 18, 2013 8:33 AM ✅Answered}

Hi,

I agree with the above comments.

If you have further questions, it is recommended to contact Microsoft Licensing specialist directly for more efficient support.

Thanks.

Jeremy Wu
TechNet Community Support

_{Thursday, January 2, 2014 9:25 PM}

Dear.

I want to create a web based kind of community platform to be used by everyone and accessed across the internet.

So, with what I found on the Microsoft sites, it’s not really clear to me if I need CALs and/or the internet connector for the web servers I use. Is there a difference when running a physical or a virtual (ESX) web server ?What about a domain controller, what if these users do have an AD account?

Thanks for the feedback.
Regards.
Peter

Peter Van Keymeulen, IT Infrastructure Solution Architect, www.edeconsulting.be

_{Thursday, January 2, 2014 11:41 PM}

Licenses apply to the physical machine on which things are running, not to the individual VMs.  So whether you are running ESX or Hyper-V (or any other hypervisor) and running your Windows Server instances in VMs, or if you install Windows Server on the physical host, licensing requirements are exactly the same.

It would be a good idea to review the links in the previous answers.  If you cannot figure out what you need after reading those links, it is best to contact a trained Microsoft licensing specialist.

.:|:.:|:. tim

_{Friday, January 3, 2014 4:21 AM | 1 vote}

I want to create a web based kind of community platform to be used by everyone and accessed across the internet.

So, with what I found on the Microsoft sites, it’s not really clear to me if I need CALs and/or the internet connector for the web servers I use. Is there a difference when running a physical or a virtual (ESX) web server ?What about a domain controller, what if these users do have an AD account?

Depending on the products you purchase, the licensing aspects, are varied, and can be complex.
As an example, if you are purchasing/installing WindowsServer (Standard Edition, or, DataCenter Edition), you will typically need to deal with the CAL aspects.
e.g. you buy a WS2012R2STD license for your server. This permits you to install the WS2012R2STD OS, but clients which authenticate to the server (e.g. via username/password) are not licensed to connect to it to consume its services. These clients need to be licensed with a CAL, or, an EC.

Some example wording, from an MS license document:

3. ADDITIONAL LICENSING REQUIREMENTS AND/OR USE RIGHTS.
a. Windows Server 2008 Client Access Licenses (CALs).
i. You must acquire and assign the appropriate CAL to each device or user that accesses your instances of the server software directly or indirectly. A hardware partition or blade is considered to be a separate device.

You do not need CALs for any user or device that accesses your instances of the server software only through the Internet without being authenticated or otherwise individually identified by the server software or through any other means.
• You do not need CALs for any of your servers licensed to run instances of the server software.
• You do not need CALs for up to two devices or users to access your instances of the server software only to administer those instances.

Don
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