Anybody here good with MS Exchange server?

[gss03]

SBS 2003 licensing - to put it bluntly is broken.
It counts concurrent licenses, but is never accurate. Also, if you manage to fill your C drive up, the licenses you have listed in server management will disappear! - so once you install them, back them up!!

[da.Guvna]

Heh...funny you should say that!



*sigh*

[da.Guvna]

Hmm, ok, so after telling my directors that we need to purchase some new CALs for our Exchange server, I was messing about on one of our other Windows Server 2003 (Standard Edition R2) boxes and took a look at the licensing section on that to see if maybe I could transfer some license from it (as it's hardly used).
The License Logging service isn't running on that machine, BUT it did allow me to browse the licenses on the other 2003 servers on our network.

I had a look at the licenses available on our SBS2003 box (the one hosting Exchange), and found this info:





This has really got me puzzled, because the number of Windows Server licenses available in this window doesn't match up with those quoted in the licensing module on the actual server (which was 5, as shown in the screenshots in a previous post).

Also, the 750 licenses for MS Exchange is just confusing me even further!
Obviously, 750 licenses isn't even gonna get dented by 20 users, so do the 10 Windows Server licenses somehow override the 750 Exchange licenses?

i.e. When a user connects, does the server check how many spare licenses there are for Windows Server BEFORE it checks how many spare licenses there are for Exchange?

I'm properly baffled, haha!

[madman045]

ok, the licensing on sbs 2003 is handled differently (hence the console) and doesnt tend to use the licencing service

The licenses for 2003 server are different to SBS and therefore cannot be transferred

SBS licenses cover 2003/Exchange in a single license

[da.Guvna]

Yeah, but what I mean is that both of those screenshots above are the licenses installed on my troublesome Exchange server.

So, I've got one license which allows 10 concurrent connections (to file shares/print queues I guess?), and another that allows 750 connections to Exchange.
Is it possible for the 10-user license to limit the 750-user license down to 10 users as well? Because it doesn't make sense that 20 people trying to access their emails is maxing-out 750 concurrent connections.

Tres confused!

[Moby-Dick]

the thing is none of those are SBS licences - as mentioned SBS licences are handles differently.

I'd love to see the paperwork for who ever purchased 750 exchange cals for a 20 user setup.

[da.Guvna]

LOL, paperwork? In this company? Surely you jest, sir!

Ok, so here's my confusion: If those aren't SBS licenses, then how are they installed on an SBS machine?

These licenses are (according to the license browser) INSTALLED on an SBS 2003 server (server 1), and I am viewing this information FROM a standard 2003 server (server 2).

Make sense?

[Moby-Dick]

I think someones tried to bodge some licences on there - SBS licences you have to install from an activation key, so you can't bodge them like regular ones.

[Stringent]

The downside of SBS is the licenses are blooming expensive, and have to be bought in packs of 5.

[da.Guvna]

Ok, so what you're telling me is that the licenses have somehow been forced onto the server, and that whilst other 2003 servers can see them installed on there, SBS 2003 itself refuses to recognise them?

[Moby-Dick]

My money is on that someones tried to put regular server 2003 licences on them ( which don't require a key )

[da.Guvna]

LOL, ok....*sigh*

God, I would give anything for an excuse to flatten this machine and start again, hahaha.

Cheers for the clarification!