Exchange 2010: Editions and Versions

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Applies to: Exchange Server 2010 SP3, Exchange Server 2010 SP2

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 is available in two server editions: Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition. Enterprise Edition can scale to 100 databases per server; Standard Edition is limited to 5 databases per server.

These licensing editions are defined by a product key. When you enter a valid license product key, the supported edition for the server is established. Product keys can be used for the same edition key swaps and upgrades only; they can't be used for downgrades. You can use a valid product key to move from the evaluation version (Trial Edition) of Exchange Server 2010 to either Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition. You can also use a valid product key to move from Standard Edition to Enterprise Edition.

You can also license the server again using the same edition product key. For example, if you had two Standard Edition servers with two keys, but you accidentally used the same key on both servers, you can change the key for one of them to the other key that you were issued. You can take these actions without having to reinstall or reconfigure anything. After you enter the product key and restart the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service, the edition corresponding to that product key will be reflected.

No loss of functionality will occur when the Trial Edition expires, so you can maintain lab, demo, training, and other non-production environments beyond 120 days without having to reinstall the Trial Edition of Exchange 2010.

As mentioned earlier, you can't use product keys to downgrade from Enterprise Edition to Standard Edition, nor can you use them to revert to the Trial Edition. These types of downgrades can only be done by uninstalling Exchange 2010, reinstalling Exchange 2010, and entering the correct product key. For more information, see Enter Product Key.

Exchange 2010 Build Versioning

For a list of Exchange 2010 versions, see Exchange Server Build Numbers and Release Dates. Version information currently installed version of Exchange 2010 is consistently displayed in the Exchange Management Console, the Exchange Management Shell, and in the About Exchange Server 2010 Help dialog box.

You can also use the Get-ExchangeServer cmdlet and examine the AdminDisplayVersion property for the Exchange 2010 build version. For more information about deploying fixes and update rollups for Exchange 2010, see Exchange 2010 Servicing.

Exchange 2010 License Types

Exchange 2010 on-premises is licensed in the Server/Client Access License (CAL) model in the same way that Exchange Server 2007 was licensed. There are three types of licenses:

  • Server Licenses   A license must be assigned for each instance of the server software that is being run. The Server license is sold in two server editions: Standard Edition and Enterprise Edition.

  • Client Access Licenses (CALs)   Exchange 2010 also comes in two client access license (CAL) editions, which are referred to as a Standard CAL and an Enterprise CAL. You can mix and match the server editions with the CAL types. For example, you can use Enterprise CALs with Exchange 2010 Standard Edition. Similarly, you can use Standard CALs with Exchange 2010 Enterprise Edition.

  • External Connector Licenses   This license type allows an unlimited number of clients to access an Exchange server in scenarios where the number of CALs is uncertain.

For more information about Exchange license types, see Licensing.

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