What are CALs?

Client Access Licenses are licenses granting access to certain Microsoft Software Products. Used in conjunction with Microsoft Server Software, licenses to allow users and devices to access and utilize the services of that server software. For instance, a company looking to utilize Microsoft Windows Server would acquire a Microsoft Windows Server License in order to install and run the Windows Server software on the physical server itself, however, in order to provide the rights for users or devices to access the Windows Server Software running on the server, User or Device CALs would need to be acquired for each user or device accessing that server.

 

User CAL – A User CAL allows a single unique physical user to access Microsoft server software from many devices, such as a work computer, a home computer, a laptop, an Internet kiosk, or a personal digital assistant (PDA), without having to acquire CALs for each device.

 

Device CAL – A Device CAL allows any number of physical users to access Microsoft server software through a single device.

 

Processor License (Core) – A Processor License includes access for an unlimited number of users to connect from either inside the local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) or outside the firewall. You do not need to purchase additional server licenses, CALs, or Internet Connector Licenses when you acquire Processor Licenses. If utilizing Processor licenses, one processor license must be purchased for each physical processor.  Processor licenses (changed to “core” post-2016) are only available for some Microsoft server products, such as Application Center, BizTalk Server, Commerce Server, Content Management Server, Host Integration Server, Identity Integration Server, ISA Server, SQL Server, and Operations Management Server.

 

Contact one of our Software License Specialists for additional information or questions.