Product Licensing

The Exchange licensing scheme has two components: the Exchange Server license and the Concurrent User Access license. You can purchase an Exchange Server license for either the Standard or Enterprise Edition of Exchange 2003, with the street price ranging from around $700 for the Standard Edition to $4,000 for the Enterprise Edition.

EXTERNAL CONNECTOR LICENSE

There is another server-based license type called the External Connector license, sold separately through Microsoft's Volume Licensing Program, that is used to allow an unlimited number of external users (customers, suppliers, and so on) to connect to Exchange.

In addition to the server license, you will need to buy a concurrent access license (CAL) for each user or device that will be accessing Exchange. A User CAL is required for any users accessing Exchange, regardless of which client they choose to use. This license covers accessing Exchange from Outlook 2003, OWA, Outlook Mobile Access (OMA), and any other supported mail clients or third-party applications.

New to Exchange 2003 is the Device CAL, which is required for each physical device that accesses Exchange and which an unlimited number of users can access. This type of license covers situations in which employees share workstations. You could buy five Device CALs for five workstations, and an unlimited number of users could access them.

Both of these CAL licenses have a street price of around $70 and are paper licenses only. No software box or media is associated with this license.

You might also find that Exchange licenses are included with your Microsoft licensing program. If you currently hold an Enterprise agreement with Microsoft, check with your local Microsoft office to see which licenses are included and the availability of upgrades on your current licensing plan.

MIXING AND MATCHING

You can mix and match the two different CAL types, but Microsoft recommends sticking with one type or the other to make administration and license tracking easier.