How much does Sql Server Enterprise Edition licensing cost for a single m1.large instance on AWS? [closed]

Question

The combination of Sql Server pricing and Amazon Web Services Core Specifications confuses the hell out of me. Sql Server is currently licensed per core and I have found 2 core packs priced for around $13k. A single large instance on AWS provides 4 Elastic Compute Units, which depending on what documentation you read equates to 2 virtual cores (2x ECU = 1x Core), 4 virtual cores (1x ECU = 1x Core) or 8 virtual cores (1x ECU = 2x Core). By opening performance monitor on my existing Sql Server box, it appears that the first option (2 virtual cores) is correct, however, I have read documentation that leads me to believe the last option (8 virtual cores) is also possible and may be the way Microsoft calculates their licensing policy.

Is there anyone on Stack Overflow from Microsoft that can answer this question? Alternatively, is there someone who already has this setup that can disclose how enterprise edition licensing has been applied to their AWS servers, and without disclosing what they actually pay, help me calculate how much we would pay for a single server at the price I quoted above? The three options listed above lead me to believe we will be paying somewhere between $13k and $60k and the difference between the two makes a huge difference in deciding whether we should switch to MySQL or not.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Cross-reference with Amazon BYOL RDS http://aws.amazon.com/rds/sqlserver/#pricing

SQL Server 2017 Enterprise Per core (2 core bundle) $14,256 ----- Standard Per core (2 core bundle) $3,717

SQL Server 2016 and 2017 Standard has 90% of the Enterprise features Prices have not increased, they sell in two core packs and prices have not increased.

Further Auxiliary Reading Below

AWS Simple Pricing Calculator