Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Standard 2 Core

Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Standard 2 Core – proven database platform, flexibly licensed per core. Get yours now.

Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Standard 2 Core provides a robust foundation for relational databases and for reporting and analysis tasks in businesses. Per-core licensing scales to match your hardware or virtual machines and is particularly sensible when many users, services or applications access the database at the same time.

The Standard edition combines stability with practical features: from high-performance OLTP operation through integrated reporting to helpful security mechanisms. This lets you set up reliable data platforms for small and medium-sized businesses, departments and specialist applications – on-premises, on dedicated hosts or virtualised.

Features

• Proven database engine: stable OLTP operation and high reliability for business data.
• Security features: Always Encrypted, Row-Level Security and Dynamic Data Masking protect sensitive information.
• Targeted tuning: Query Store records query plans and performance history for optimisation.
• Temporal tables: System-versioned temporal tables enable simple historisation and time series analysis.
• High availability in Standard: Basic Availability Groups (with a limited range of functions) increase resilience.
• Integrated reporting: SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) delivers pixel-perfect reports and web reports.
• Securing backups: Support for backup encryption and compression.
• Management tools: SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is available as a separate download for administration and development.

Benefits & value

With the 2-core licence you adapt the licensing to the CPU resources of your server – ideal with many accesses or distributed workloads. You benefit from solid performance, modern security options and a lean administration stack that integrates well into existing Windows environments.

For classic workloads such as ERP, CRM or reports, the Standard edition offers a balanced mix of features and cost. As a perpetual licence you use the software without ongoing subscription commitments; as load grows, you can expand as needed with additional core packs.

Compatibility & licence notes

This is a 2-core licence for Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Standard. Core licences are purchased in packs of 2; on physical hosts, at least 4 cores must be licensed per processor. In virtual machines, all assigned vCores must be licensed (at least 4 vCores per VM). With the per-core model, no additional SQL Server CALs are required. Alternatively, licensing in the Server+CAL model is possible; in that case each user or device needs a corresponding SQL Server CAL.

Compatibility: SQL Server 2016 is designed for 64-bit Windows Server operating systems of the corresponding generation. Management and client tools can be installed on compatible Windows desktop operating systems. For special scenarios (e.g. reporting, high availability, virtualisation), follow the applicable Microsoft product terms and best practices.

Note: Business use is permitted. This is a perpetual licence with no time limit.

Alternatives & recommendations

• Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Standard (Server+CAL) – makes sense if only a few users access the server.
• Microsoft SQL Server 2017 Standard – newer generation with improvements in performance and management.
• Microsoft SQL Server 2019 Standard – modern platform with extended features.
• Windows Server 2016 Standard – matching server foundation for SQL workloads.

System requirements

Order Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Standard 2 Core now.