February 17, 2009 at Free SharePoint Website and Platform Pricing
Following the publication of a survey on the use of SharePoint on the Internet , licensing and cost have raised the most questions. In this article I would like to close this topic, as well as show approximate prices.
The table shows the estimated retail prices for the Open License licensing program - in reality they can (and should) be less, since Microsoft's pricing policy is flexible. This, on the one hand, leads to many options, but, on the other hand, in each situation, partners can choose the best option for the price. The price is influenced by such things as: the purchase of permanent licenses or software rental, the type of corporate agreement, the price level depending on the number of jobs, ongoing promotions, etc.
Almost any web solution consists of the following software components - operating system, web server, software platform and database server. I wrote these components in columns and gave the approximate Open License cost ( licensing types ) for different product editions. Option with zero investment - underlined ( Here is the same table in color). I also indicated additional user and server licenses, which also need to be taken into account when calculating the cost with the product indicated on the left.
Further I give a brief description of the mentioned products.
Designed to work in online scripts. It can be included in the customer’s domain, which allows company employees to authenticate on the site and work with it. It does not require additional user licenses for employees and external authenticated users.
It can also be used as a separate web server without connecting to Active Directory. In this case, users can be authenticated using Forms Authentication, as I described in the previous article .
In Russia, as part of a promotional campaign , it is distributed free of charge without restrictions in terms of its commercial application.
Product page .
If the customer already has Windows Server, you can use it. For a site in which you do not need to authenticate external users and site visitors will be anonymous - you do not need to buy anything. If the number of authenticated users is known and it is small, for example 15 partners, you will need to purchase 15 Windows CALs. If you need an unlimited number of authenticated users, you can buy an External Connector.
Product page .
In essence, this is the SharePoint software platform. It is part of Windows Server and is not licensed additionally.
Introduction to SharePoint development .
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server - a commercial product that implements the tasks of the corporate portal, built on the basis of Windows SharePoint Services. Its leading position in the market gives confidence to both customers and partners that the built solution will successfully develop further.
If you want to implement an extranet script, i.e. if you need to take out part of the processes outside to interact with partners, you can buy the necessary number of licenses for partners for $ 100.
If for a large organization, for some reason, you need to provide access to the portal of an unlimited number of users (authenticated and anonymous), then you can buy MOSS for Internet Sites, which removes the restrictions on the number and provides the ability to use the functionality of both standard and advanced versions portal.
Note that there is no External Connector for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, although it is often mentioned in conversations.
Comparison of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server products .
Together with Windows SharePoint Services, in the case of the default installation, Windows Internal Database is deployed. This is a full-fledged SQL server with one limitation - it is intended only for use by the product that installed it. Those. you cannot join this server from the outside, so it cannot be managed. He has no limit on the size of the base. This server edition is free.
Product Page on Wikipedia
A free version of a full-featured SQL server, which is limited by the database size of 4Gb. It can be installed on Windows Web Server. If the web application is not planned to be used as a solution for document exchange and, mainly, web forms, lists, forums, Wiki sites and other things will be used, it will not be possible to quickly reach the limit in most cases.
Note to the hostess:
The scenario of storing documents and media information in the file system, and not in the database, can be seen at this link , at the same time you will learn about using SharePoint for podcasting. Podcasting Kit for SharePoint itself is available in source .
In addition, the database for a site on SharePoint can be located on more than one instance of the SQL server.
Download SQL Express .
For SQL 2008, a special Web edition has appeared. According to its capabilities, it corresponds to “adult” SQL, but it is intended just for web-scripts. Many hosters use it, because for SPLA, renting such a server is only $ 15 per month per processor. Here, Parking , for example, provides rental of such an SQL server , and here you can find offers from other hosts.
It can also be placed in your home for the purpose of maintaining the site.
If your organization already has a SQL server, you can use it, but keep in mind that to ensure access to an unlimited number of users to the site, you will need to purchase a processor license.
Licensing SQL Server
Thus, you can build an absolutely complete web solution using Microsoft products on the SharePoint platform without spending additional funds on the purchase of software. But, what is especially important - the customer will subsequently be able to quickly develop his system to enterprise-wide.
And finally, I give another very good description of the licensing system in the blog of our consultant from Microsoft Consulting Services Vladimir Kolesnikov. It also demonstrates the functionality of the version of SharePoint Server, which I did not give here, so that there would be no "many letters"
The table shows the estimated retail prices for the Open License licensing program - in reality they can (and should) be less, since Microsoft's pricing policy is flexible. This, on the one hand, leads to many options, but, on the other hand, in each situation, partners can choose the best option for the price. The price is influenced by such things as: the purchase of permanent licenses or software rental, the type of corporate agreement, the price level depending on the number of jobs, ongoing promotions, etc.
Almost any web solution consists of the following software components - operating system, web server, software platform and database server. I wrote these components in columns and gave the approximate Open License cost ( licensing types ) for different product editions. Option with zero investment - underlined ( Here is the same table in color). I also indicated additional user and server licenses, which also need to be taken into account when calculating the cost with the product indicated on the left.
| operating system | Software platform | Database server | |||||||||
| Product | Additional licenses | Product | Additional licenses | Product and licensing options | Additional licenses | ||||||
| Windows Web Server 2008 (as part of a promotional campaign) | $ 0 | Windows SharePoint Services | $ 0 | Windows Internal Database | $ 0 | ||||||
| Windows Web Server 2008 | $ 404 | Microsoft Office SharePoint Server | $ 5,000 | Standard cal | $ 100 | SQL Express | $ 0 | ||||
| Windows Server Standard 2008 | $ 726 | Enterprise cal | $ 77 | SQL Web Edition Hosting | |||||||
| Windows Server CAL | $ 16 | MOSS for Internet Sites | $ 41,300 | SQL Web Edition per Processor | $ 3,500 | ||||||
| External connector | $ 2 020 | SQL Standard | $ 885 | CAL | $ 162 | ||||||
| SQL Standard per Processor | $ 5,700 | ||||||||||
Further I give a brief description of the mentioned products.
Windows Web Server
Designed to work in online scripts. It can be included in the customer’s domain, which allows company employees to authenticate on the site and work with it. It does not require additional user licenses for employees and external authenticated users.
It can also be used as a separate web server without connecting to Active Directory. In this case, users can be authenticated using Forms Authentication, as I described in the previous article .
In Russia, as part of a promotional campaign , it is distributed free of charge without restrictions in terms of its commercial application.
Product page .
Windows server
If the customer already has Windows Server, you can use it. For a site in which you do not need to authenticate external users and site visitors will be anonymous - you do not need to buy anything. If the number of authenticated users is known and it is small, for example 15 partners, you will need to purchase 15 Windows CALs. If you need an unlimited number of authenticated users, you can buy an External Connector.
Product page .
Windows SharePoint Services
In essence, this is the SharePoint software platform. It is part of Windows Server and is not licensed additionally.
Introduction to SharePoint development .
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server - a commercial product that implements the tasks of the corporate portal, built on the basis of Windows SharePoint Services. Its leading position in the market gives confidence to both customers and partners that the built solution will successfully develop further.
If you want to implement an extranet script, i.e. if you need to take out part of the processes outside to interact with partners, you can buy the necessary number of licenses for partners for $ 100.
If for a large organization, for some reason, you need to provide access to the portal of an unlimited number of users (authenticated and anonymous), then you can buy MOSS for Internet Sites, which removes the restrictions on the number and provides the ability to use the functionality of both standard and advanced versions portal.
Note that there is no External Connector for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, although it is often mentioned in conversations.
Comparison of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server products .
Windows Internal Database
Together with Windows SharePoint Services, in the case of the default installation, Windows Internal Database is deployed. This is a full-fledged SQL server with one limitation - it is intended only for use by the product that installed it. Those. you cannot join this server from the outside, so it cannot be managed. He has no limit on the size of the base. This server edition is free.
Product Page on Wikipedia
SQL Express
A free version of a full-featured SQL server, which is limited by the database size of 4Gb. It can be installed on Windows Web Server. If the web application is not planned to be used as a solution for document exchange and, mainly, web forms, lists, forums, Wiki sites and other things will be used, it will not be possible to quickly reach the limit in most cases.
Note to the hostess:
The scenario of storing documents and media information in the file system, and not in the database, can be seen at this link , at the same time you will learn about using SharePoint for podcasting. Podcasting Kit for SharePoint itself is available in source .
In addition, the database for a site on SharePoint can be located on more than one instance of the SQL server.
Download SQL Express .
SQL Web Edition
For SQL 2008, a special Web edition has appeared. According to its capabilities, it corresponds to “adult” SQL, but it is intended just for web-scripts. Many hosters use it, because for SPLA, renting such a server is only $ 15 per month per processor. Here, Parking , for example, provides rental of such an SQL server , and here you can find offers from other hosts.
It can also be placed in your home for the purpose of maintaining the site.
SQL Standard and higher
If your organization already has a SQL server, you can use it, but keep in mind that to ensure access to an unlimited number of users to the site, you will need to purchase a processor license.
Licensing SQL Server
Summary
Thus, you can build an absolutely complete web solution using Microsoft products on the SharePoint platform without spending additional funds on the purchase of software. But, what is especially important - the customer will subsequently be able to quickly develop his system to enterprise-wide.
And finally, I give another very good description of the licensing system in the blog of our consultant from Microsoft Consulting Services Vladimir Kolesnikov. It also demonstrates the functionality of the version of SharePoint Server, which I did not give here, so that there would be no "many letters"