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Does a Window 10 license allow using it as a Web server?
Question
I am looking to set up a Web server for a project.
The server would be using a custom application developed in VB.Net using SQL Server for data storage. The application uses 3rd party components (DLL’s) that are available for Windows only.
In a previous similar deployment, I had used Windows Server Standard Edition with SQL Server Standard.
For reasons I don’t want to go into, the server would not be in-house, but located with a third party hosting provider.
As this server is not part of any AD nor has interactive users, I was wondering whether I need MS Windows Server license at all as that costs quite a lot.
Can I install SQL Server Standard on a Windows 10 along with IIS and TeamView (for monitoring) and use that as a Web server or would that be against any license?
As I said, this is not a question regarding the merits of Linux, Mac and others. Nor am I interested in rewriting the application for a non-Windows solution.
Can I please get an answer regarding Win10 / SQL licensing?
asked 2019-10-27 by Hussain Akbar
Answer
On Windows 10 Pro, the number of connected devices is limited to 20. The Windows 10 license states:
Device connections. You may allow up to 20 other devices to access the software installed on the licensed device for the purpose of using the following software features: file services, print services, Internet information services, and Internet connection sharing and telephony services on the licensed device.
This limitation will severely limit concurrent users on your website, though the limitation language is actually to limit to people or devices, regardless of concurrency.
I’d also recommend carefully considering if you want to host SQL Server on the same box as your website.
- SQL Server is licensed by the CPU core. (CAL licensing generally doesn’t make sense for websites because you have to license every random user to connect from the internet.) SQL Server Standard Edition is licensed at $1,859 per core, with a 4 core minimum. You must license every core on the server. Usually you want to have every CPU cycle available to SQL Server. Having your website chew up expensive CPU cycles is expensive.
- If you’re storing any passwords or personally identifiable data, the security of running SQL Server on a machine exposed to the internet is a security risk that increases the risk your website and data will get pwned.
answered 2019-10-27 by Andy Mallon