[eropple]

What features in SQL Server Enterprise do you need? More than 24 cores? More than 128GB of RAM?

I ask because SQL Server Standard is significantly cheaper when you're using CALs instead of unlimited connections. Ten servers fronting a SQL Server Standard install is $3K, which at a large enterprise is often within a director-level's discretionary equipment budget.

[adamzochowski]

User CAL is only cheap if you only deal with small amount of users (internal app). Please note a user is not SQL User account, but represents actual individual person. If you have a webserver (with one db user) but a thousand of visitors, then Microsoft treats it as thousand user CALs . Following MS doc explains this in detail http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/F/8/6F84A9FE-1E5C-4... , look for keyword 'multiplexing'

[eropple]

Huh, TIL. I literally had a Microsoft sales rep tell me otherwise. Anything to get the sale, I guess.