HPE OEM Windows Server Reseller Option Kit (ROK) License Types

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Last week's blog, “What is ROK (HPE OEM Microsoft Windows Server Reseller Option Kit)?” gave a great overview of what the HPE OEM Microsoft Windows Server Reseller Option Kits (ROK) is. Today, we will continue with the second blog in our ROK blog series and give an overview of the HPE OEM ROK licenses that are available.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise sells Microsoft Windows Server OEM licenses in a number of ways. To help guarantee customers purchase the right edition of Microsoft Windows Server with the right HPE Server, the HPE OEM Microsoft Reseller Option Kit (ROK) was developed. Through HPE reseller partners, ROK delivers value pricing, flexible choices, one-stop ordering, and single source support to help customers be more productive, achieve more with their investment, and keep their business running smoothly.

With Windows Server ROK from HPE, the reseller can provide additional installation and configuration services to ensure the most suitable Windows Server Operating System (OS) version is paired with and installed on the most ideal HPE Server for the customers’ IT  environment. This allows resellers to deliver a solution that is entirely customized to the customers’ specific needs and is immediately ready to use.

HPE currently offers ROK licenses for Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2012 R2. 

Now that you know the different types of Windows Server licenses that are available as ROK licenses from HPE reseller partners, let's dissect what these names mean and what these licenses include.

Datacenter edition, Standard edition, Essentials edition, and Foundation edition
Microsoft Windows Server is available in different editions to match the different needs of specific customers. Windows Server 2016 is available in three editions (Datacenter, Standard, and Essentials) while Windows Server 2012 R2 is available in four editions (Datacenter, Standard, Essentials, and Foundation).
- Foundation edition: for small businesses with up to 15 users for core IT resources such as file and print sharing, remote access, and security. NOTE: Foundation edition is only available for Windows Server 2012 R2 and not for Windows Server 2016.
- Essentials edition: for small businesses with up to 25 users and 50 devices. NOTE: For Windows Server 2016, Essentials is a great option for customers who have previously used an earlier version of Windows Server Foundation edition, which is not available for Windows Server 2016.
- Standard edition: for physical or minimally virtualized environments.
- Datacenter edition: for highly virtualized datacenters and cloud environments.

Base Licenses vs. Additional Licenses
The additional license and base license structure was introduced with Windows Server 2012.

Each server requires a minimum of a single base license. This license includes the Certificate of Authenticity (COA), product key, product software, and the Microsoft Software License Terms (previously known as the End User License Agreement or EULA). HPE or HPE Resellers will affix the base license COA to the server.

Starting with the Windows Server 2016 core licensing model, each additional license grants the rights for the additional cores listed on the card. HPE offers additional licenses for two, four, and sixteen cores for both Standard and Datacenter editions. NOTE: The base license and any additional licenses must be for the same edition and version of the product. The additional license is delivered as a paper license card with a COA sticker permanently affixed to the license card or packaging. Datacenter additional licenses must be purchased at the same time as the base license and HPE server. However, Standard additional licenses can be sold After Point of Sale (APOS) and can be reassigned to another server that already has a Windows Server 2016 Standard base license, rights and limitations are described on the license card.

Windows Server Standard Additional Licenses “APOS”
After Point of Sale (APOS) Standard additional licenses are Windows Server licenses with expanded licensing rights:
- Available for purchase to anyone who has already purchased a Windows Server 2016 Standard edition base license on an HPE server.
- The new additional licenses come with re-assignment rights, this means that Standard edition additional licenses can now be re-assigned to another physical server that has a Windows Server Standard edition base license. This can be done once every 90 days.

Datacenter edition with reassignment rights?
Datacenter edition with reassignment rights gives customers the option for more licensing flexibility.
- These part numbers must be sold with a new HPE Server and are an excellent option that allows customers to reassign the OS license to another server for any reason (hardware failure, maintenance, upgrade, etc.)
- The COA for these part numbers is provided on a card, not attached to a server

Have a question about pairing HPE OEM ROK Windows Server licenses with HPE Servers? Drop us a note here in the comments or send us an email (we’d love to hear from you!) and be sure to join our Coffee Coaching social media communities: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook.