VMware vFabric™ Suite

Please see the list of supported operating systems and JVMs for vFabric Suite.

See Product Packages Included in vFabric Suite.

Download from the vFabric product evaluation center.

VMware vFabric is supported on all currently supported versions of VMware vSphere, Workstation, Fusion, and Player. There are two exceptions:

• vFabric Elastic Memory for Java memory balloons are only active on vSphere 5.0 and later
• vFabric Application Director requires vCloud Director, which in turn requires vSphere.

Nearly every component of vFabric Suite has an integration with Spring Framework or related tools and technologies:

• SpringSource Tool Suite (STS) and WaveMaker can deploy Spring applications to vFabric tc Server.
• Spring Insight, part of vFabric tc Server Spring Edition, and vFabric Hyperic provide deep application performance visibility for Spring applications.
• Spring AMQP simplifies the incorporation of vFabric RabbitMQ messaging into a Spring Java application.
• Spring Data project simplifies access to vFabric GemFire, SQLFire and Postgres.
• vFabric Application Director can be used to deploy and rapidly scale out Spring applications.
• vFabric Suite support and subscription contracts include support for Spring applications deployed into production.

• vFabric tc Server, RabbitMQ, SQLFire, and GemFire have lightweight footprints that allow for greater consolidation ratios and improved utilization.
• vFabric Application Director is integrated with vCloud Director, and enables automated provisioning for rapid scale-out of application infrastructure running on vSphere.
• vFabric Postgres has virtualization optimizations such as elastic database memory to share database memory pools rather than over-provisioning, and smart configuration to reduce tuning time after resizing virtual machines.
• vFabric Elastic Memory for Java automatically distributes Java heap memory to application server instances that need it most. This facilitates smaller Java heaps, smaller VMs, and improved consolidation ratios. It also prevents out of memory errors that can cripple an application.
• vFabric Suite can be priced per-VM, leverages vSphere and vCenter to track license usage, and average use pricing allows bursting of app infrastructure running on vSphere.

vFabric Suite lets you easily scale out application infrastructure as-needed, using your existing vSphere virtual infrastructure running on commodity hardware. Here is how each component of vFabric Suite contributes to scalability:

Runtimes

• vFabric tc Server is a lightweight Java application server that reduces memory and disk consumption at scale. Fast startup times mean that new instances can be created to scale within seconds.
• vFabric GemFire Application Cache Node is a fast, in-memory data cache that dramatically reduces time spent fetching session and Hibernate data and reduces database load at scale.
• vFabric Elastic Memory for Java lets you scale tc Server and Apache Tomcat by automatically allocating memory to application server instances.
• vFabric Web Server: a performance-optimized version of Apache HTTP Server, the world’s most popular web server.

Data

• vFabric SQLFire Professional lets you easily create fast in-memory data fabrics that run on any number of VMs and appear to an application as a single database, accessible through standard SQL and JDBC.
• vFabric RabbitMQ lets you build clusters of high-performance message queues.
• vFabric Postgres: fully compatible with PostgreSQL, vPostgres has virtualization optimizations such as elastic database memory to share database memory pools and reduce memory usage at scale.

Management

• vFabric Application Director enables automated provisioning of Spring Java applications on vFabric components for rapid scale-out in response to business needs.

Yes. Application Director, when purchased via vFabric Suite Advanced, can provision non-vFabric components. These includes application servers such as Oracle WebLogic, Red Hat JBoss, IBM WebSphere; databases such as Oracle, MySQL, DB2; and so on. Provisioning non-VMware components may require you to create custom blueprints.

BOSH is specifically for use in the operation of production instances of Cloud Foundry. vFabric Application Director is for provisioning vFabric Suite components, as well as third party middleware components from Oracle, IBM, Red Hat, and others.

No, powered-off and suspended VMs do not count towards vFabric Suite license consumption.

No. vFabric Suite is licensed by powered-on VM, not vRAM.

One.

Each incremental one or two vCPUs requires an additional vFabric Suite license. A VM with three or four vCPUs requires two vFabric Suite licenses; a VM with five or six vCPUs requires three vFabric Suite licenses; and so on.

No. Splitting vFabric Suite license to run vFabric Suite on two VMs, each with a single Virtual CPU, is not allowed.

No, because vFabric Suite is licensed per-VM. Many vFabric Suite components are also licensed on a per-CPU basis, for customers that need to run them on physical infrastructure. For pricing details, see the “Buy” tab of each vFabric component you are interested in.

No, this conversion option is not currently available.  

The following vFabric Suite components report their usage to vFabric License Server, which runs on vCenter License Reporting Manager:

• vFabric tc Server Spring Edition
• vFabric GemFire Application Cache Node
• vFabric Web Server
• vFabric SQLFire Professional
• vFabric Postgres
• vFabric RabbitMQ
• vFabric Hyperic

The following vFabric Suite components do not report license usage to the vFabric license server:

• vFabric Application Director
• vFabric Elastic Memory for Java   
• Supported instances of Apache Tomcat
• Supported instances of Apache HTTP Server
• Supported instances of RabbitMQ (open source version)

vFabric Suite provides Windows command-line tools to monitor current and periodic vFabric license usage by the VMs. For example, you can display current license usage; total usage of all licenses over a specified period of time; year-to-date usage of a particular license; and average, minimum, and maximum usage over a specified period.
You run the license-monitoring tools on the same Windows computer on which you installed vCenter Server. For detailed instructions about running license-monitoring tools, including a command reference, refer to the license monitoring section in the vFabric platform documentation.

The vFabric Suite license requires that you check your average license usage at least once every 90 days. You should check your trailing 90 day usage, and if you’re over, purchase additional licenses to cover the difference.

Licensing is tied to the vSphere virtual machines (VMs) on which you install one or more components of vFabric Suite Standard or Advanced. One license unit covers one virtual machine with a maximum of two VCPUs. Each incremental one or two vCPUs requires an additional vFabric license. For example, a VM with three or four vCPUs requires two vFabric licenses.
However, powered-off and suspended VMs do not count towards license consumption. The number of licenses required equals: total seconds all vFabric Suite Standard VMs were powered on in a given period / Number of seconds in the period, and assuming one license per VM/two VCPUs, as described in the preceding paragraph.
In the following examples, it is assumed that each VM has a maximum of two VCPUs.
A simple example:

• Period is exactly 90 days, equivalent to 7,776,000 seconds.
• Customer has purchased one license.
• One VM has been powered on this entire time.

Calculation is 7,776,000 seconds / 7,776,000 seconds = 1. One license is required.
Another example:

• Period is exactly 90 days, from 1/1/12 through 3/31/12.
• Customer owns 2 licenses.
• One VM is powered on for 30 days straight, from 1/1/12 at 12:01 am through 1/30/12 at 11:59 pm. Another VM is powered on 60 days straight from 1/1/12 12:01 am through 3/1/12 at 11:59 pm. A third VM is powered on 90 days straight from 1/1/12 at 12:01 am through 3/31/12 at 11:59 pm.

Calculation is:
(30 days + 60 days + 90 days) / 90 days =
180 days/90 days = 2 licenses required.

Can I install all vFabric Suite components on each vFabric machine instance? Yes, you can install all vFabric Suite components on each vFabric machine instance and be in compliance with your license. This is fine for very lightly loaded applications. However, a best practice is to set up your application infrastructure so that you have four types of vFabric machine images: Web Server, Application Server, Messaging Server, Database, each with the components outline below.

This is an example of separation of concerns, and helps you elastically scale your application infrastructure as workloads fluctuate.

Licensing depends primarily on whether you purchase vFabric products individually ("a la carte") or as part of vFabric Suite.
Pooled licensing (also referred to as network licensing) is for customers who buy vFabric Suite. vFabric Suite is licensed on a per-VM/Machine and average-usage basis, exclusively for virtual, physical and cloud environments. You obtain a pool of licenses that you activate by adding only one license key to vFabric License Server. Rather than installing a license key on each instance, you register one license key with the license server that represents the number of license units that you have purchased. Each licensed machine instance can run any or all vFabric Suite components. Thus licensing is tied to machine instances, rather than to component installations.
Customers who purchase a vFabric product "a la carte", rather than as part of a vFabric Suite package, use a local license. A local license allows you to install the product on virtual and physical machines. Unlike network licensing, local licensing does not involve integration with vCenter and the vFabric License Server. You install the license keys locally, on physical machines and/or VMs.

• Decide how many vFabric license units you need.
• Purchase the license units from your account manager.
• Get your license key from the VMware license portal. This is a single serial number representing the number of license units you purchased.
• Install the vFabric License Server.
• Add the license key to the Fabric License Server.
• Install vFabric Suite components, and where necessary, perform additional steps in individual component installations to activate licensing.

For detailed instructions, see the product installation and license activation procedures in the vFabric platform documentation and the vFabric component documentation.

If you have previously installed vFabric GemFire, vFabric Hyperic, or vFabric tc Server, you might already have a license key (also referred to as a serial number). However, you need to confirm whether it is valid for the latest release of the component or in the context of vFabric Suite. The vfabric-licensetool checkserial utility checks the validity of your existing license key. For each license key that you input, the utility displays detailed information such as the vFabric component to which it is associated, the type of license key, the capacity, and its expiration date.
From the Drivers and Tools tab of the download page for tc Server, Hyperic, or GemFire download the vfabric-licensetool checkserial utility ZIP file onto the computer on which you want to run it. Refer to the vFabric licensing section in the vFabric platform documentation for details about how to check the validity of your license key.

EM4J is part of vFabric Suite Standard and Advanced. No separate license is required. tc Server Spring Edition also includes Spring Insight Operations. It is a separate download but no additional license is required.

Yes. You need to configure the location of the vFabric License Server that administers the network license for vFabric Suite. In the vFabric Hyperic product documentation, refer to the license activation procedure.

Yes. You need to configure dynamic licensing in your vFabric GemFire installation so that vFabric GemFire can obtain network licenses from the vFabric License Server. Refer to the installation procedures under the licensing section in the vFabric GemFire product documentation.

The vFabric Suite Standard and Advanced offering for GemFire is GemFire Application Cache Node. GemFire Data Management Node is not covered by vFabric Suite Standard or vFabric Suite Advanced licensing; it requires a separate license.

Yes. You need to configure dynamic licensing in vFabric SQLFire so that vFabric SQLFire can obtain a network license dynamically from the vFabric License Server. For detailed instructions, refer to the installation procedures under the vFabric licensing sections in the vFabric SQLFire product documentation.

GemFire uses two main license types, which can be combined and upgraded depending on your topology:

• Application Cache Node license: Provides licensing for clients or for distributed system members that are not servers. This license is used for licensing peer-to-peer systems and for client/server deployments with limited clients. (Application Cache Node is the vFabric GemFire offering for vFabric Suite. vFabric Suite customers can buy a Data Management Node license separately, since it is not included with vFabric Suite.)
• Data Management Node (DMN) license: A Data Management Node license is required for servers in client/server deployments. You can also install Unlimited Client Upgrade and Global WAN Upgrade options alongside this license.

Your deployment topology determines the licensing requirements for vFabric GemFire. Licensing options are available for the following topologies:

• Simple peer-to-peer
• Peer-to-peer with global WAN
• Client/server with limited clients
• Client/server with global WAN and limited clients
• Client/server with global WAN and unlimited clients

For detailed guidance on what works best for your particular system, refer to the license options information in the vFabric GemFire product documentation.

When you purchase a vFabric tc Server local production license, you receive one or more license keys (serial numbers) that you install on each physical or virtual machine that runs tc Server. In the tc Server product documentation, refer to the license activation section.

When you purchase a vFabric SQLFire local license, you receive one or more license keys (serial numbers). The number of license keys you need will depend on the number of SQLFire members you have. (A SQLFire member is an instance of the SQLFire code that runs in a JVM.)
To install a local license, refer to the license installation sections in the vFabric SQLFire product documentation.

When you purchase local licensing for vFabric RabbitMQ, you receive one or more license keys (serial numbers). In the vFabric RabbitMQ product documentation, refer to the license activation procedure under the Server installation section.

When you purchase a vFabric GemFire local license, you receive one or more license keys (serial numbers). How you activate your vFabric GemFire local license varies according to the type of license you purchased and the license installation method you choose. Refer to the installation procedures under the licensing section of the vFabric GemFire product documentation.

When you purchase a vFabric Hyperic local production license, you receive one or more license keys (serial numbers) that you install on each managed platform. A managed platform is a physical machine or a VM with a Hyperic Agent running on it. A platform can also be a network device or network host managed remotely by a Hyperic Agent. A machine with Hyperic Server installed on it does not count as a managed platform unless a Hyperic Agent is also installed. In the vFabric Hyperic product documentation, refer to the license installation section.

No. vFabric Suite SnS only provides support for applications in production and functional/load testing phases of the application development lifecycle. vFabric Suite SnS does not provide support for developers building applications that run on vFabric Suite. To obtain development time support, customers should acquire vFabric Developer Support.