Confused about sever licensing

Ok, we purchased MS 2003 server standard from TechSoup a while back and now we are decommissioning our old server and want to install 2008 server on it.

I went to the VL servicing site and saw that we could get a MAK key for Server 2008 Std/Ent. So, I requested the MAK key and now a install key shows up on my product keys page along with an indication that I have 12 activations available.

However, when I look at the software downloads page, I only see Server 2003 available as a download for us.

My questions are:

Do we really have a license to install Server 2008 in either the Std or Enterprise version?

How do I go about getting the installation download or media?

I can download the trial software directly from Microsoft. Can I install that and use my product key to activate it?

A quick answer would be appreciated, as we have only about 10 days to get this new server online and ready.

Mark Oberg
Walkers in Darkness

Techsoup software includes 2 years of Software Assurance. This means you are entitled to any new version of Server Std that comes out during your Assurance contract. The extra activations do not entitle you to install more licenses than you originally bought. They are there so you don't have to call Microsoft for reactivation if you want to upgrade to newer hardware for example.

I believe you can contact the Microsoft Volume License Support @ 866 230 0560 in the U.S. & Canada. They should be able to get media to you. I have also seen the eOpen site temporarily glitch out & not show all downloads at times. You can try logging in at a different time to see if Server 2008 shows up in the download section.

Thank you for your reply.

Everything on Microsoft's site indicates that we must contact our reseller, so I will contact TechSoup about this first and see what they have to say.

Thanks again.

Mark Oberg
Walkers in Darkness

This gets even more confusing.

TechSoup told me to talk to Microsoft. I called them and they have no idea about the 2008 license and why it's there. They said licensing is handled by the reseller (TechSoup) and that they will not provide media to me.

So...
I asked them about just purchasing Win 2008 Std. from TechSoup and putting our web-based application on it.

The first person I talked to said we would need an external connector license with it. Another said maybe we did and maybe we didn't. Their web site and searches I have done on the net seem to indicate that, unless our app is authenticating through Windows, no external connector license is required.

Can anyone give me a straight answer about this? We are just running forums/chat software on this machine, which is a bunch of ASP pages. Users can register through the app, but are never using Windows authentication services or accessing the server directly.

Mark Oberg
Walkers in Darkness

I keep getting email notices that new replies have been posted to this thread, but I see none here.

Please, can someone clarify this for me. We are under a time constraint to get our new server online and configured. I need to purchase whatever I am going to require ASAP.

Mark Oberg
Walkers in Darkness

Hi, I have some questions for you.

- What date did you buy Server 2003 Std from TechSoup? Do you have the license information that was either mailed or emailed to you from TechSoup? Can it be located?

- What are the requirements of your web application? Will Server 2008 alone support it? Do you need Microsoft SQL Server as well? Will your web application even run on Windows Server 2008?

Thanks for replying.

We bought Server 2003 some time in 2005, I think. I went to the VL site and the product keys are there, along with downloads for Server 2003.

Our application will run on Server 2008. I have verified this by setting up a test machine running the 2008 demo. Yes, we also need SQL server for our application.

The big question is about this External Connector license. If Server 2008, Web Edition were available from TechSoup, there would be no issue. We would just buy that.

The question of the External Connector license comes into play if you run Std or Enterprise. Microsoft's product info is of little help. It *appears* that it is not needed if your application is not authenticating users through Windows, but then I have seen information that it is needed if ANY authentication is used.

Our application is WebBoard, which is a forums and chat program. People do register within WebBoard, but they are never using any kind of Windows services or authentication directly.

I really needed to get this ordered last week, and now it is Tuesday and I have no better idea of what I need than I did last week.

I hate to waste money buying a license that we don't need, but it looks like I may have to do just that if I can't get an answer.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Mark Oberg
Walkers in Darkness

Mark, sorry for the slow replies on this one. I know how frustrating it can be. What I would do in your situation is contact one of the authorized CHARITY reseller's and order Server 2008 Web Edition from them. That will be a lot cheaper than EBS. You might want to buy SQL server from TechSoup and install that on your Server 2003 box (assuming you have resources available for this) so that the Web server has a database to write to - because I am not certain that you can install SQL onto Server 2008 Web Edition. Here's the link to authorized charity resellers. I usually use Dell or Consistent Computer Bargains.

In your case, you don't need the extra connector license in order to authenticate to any Windows or Active Directory users. You're in the clear.

Thanks for all of your help.

I priced out the Web Edition and found that I would have to pay additionally for media.

By the time that was factored in, the cost was almost what the STD version and External Connector cost. Also, we do not have a budget for a second SQL-only server. The reason why we are doing this all in the first place is that our data center will no longer host our old 5U IBM server, so we don't have that available anymore.

So, I bit the bullet and got Std with External Connector. To be honest, I still don't think I needed the extra license, but the folks I last spoke with at Microsoft (who didn't seem to have a clue about what we were actually going to run on it) insisted that I needed that to be legal.

Sigh.

Now, I just hope the stuff gets here in time for me to get it loaded on the new machine and put that into production before they cut off our old server.

Mark Oberg
Walkers in Darkness

Good luck, Mark. I agree with you, you don't need the external connector license.