As IT continues to virtualize and move towards IT-as-a-Service, software licensing needs to evolve to account for actual product consumption rather than arbitrarily licensing the physical hardware from which consumption is abstracted. With virtual machines now being the new unit of consumption, IT organizations need flexible deployment and licensing options that are more usage-based versus server-based.
Since September 1, 2010, VMware has begun offering some Infrastructure, Management, and Application Platform products using per VM licensing.
Moving to Per VM Licensing
Per VM licensing is more flexible. Rather than requiring licenses for every server deployed, you only need licenses for the average maximum number of virtual machines that are managed. Let’s look at an example:
VMware vCenter CapacityIQ, vCenter Chargeback, vCenter Site Recovery Manager, vCenter Operations, vCloud Director, and vFabric 5 are licensed per managed VM. A license will be required for each managed VM – this is based on the number of VMs that the specific product is managing. VMware vCenter Server will provide information on actual license usage for each of the products, and will alert you if average usage has exceeded the number of available licenses.
The table below summarizes how managed VMs are measured for each product.
Product | Managed VM Definition |
---|---|
vCenter Site Recovery Manager | Any VM that is part of a SRM protection group, regardless of power state (defined as a “Protected VM”) |
vCenter CapacityIQ | Any powered-on VM managed by CapacityIQ |
vCenter Chargeback | Any powered-on VM in a Chargeback hierarchy |
vCenter Operations | Any powered-on VM managed by vCenter Operations |
vCloud Director | Any powered-on VM deployed in a vCloud Director organizational virtual datacenter |
vFabric 5 | Any powered-on VM managed by vFabric 5 |
To simplify purchasing of per-vm licenses, licenses are generally sold in packs so that customers don’t need to purchase new licenses for every new VM that is onboarded. License keys are managed through vCenter Server. vCenter Server 4.1 or later is required to support per VM licenses. It will also support per processor licenses for all products. vCenter Server 4.0 and earlier versions will not accept per VM license keys for the products mentioned above.
Additionally, per VM licenses cannot be combined with per processor licenses for the same product on the same vCenter Server instance. You will need to use either per VM or per processor licenses for a given product.
If you have previously purchased per processor licenses for any of these products, you can continue to use the per processor licenses you already own. You can continue to renew VMware Support and Subscription (SnS) for the per processor licenses using your regular renewal terms. VMware will also provide a transition plan that allows you to exchange your current per processor licenses for ones that are based on the new per VM licensing model. If you own per processor licenses for the above products as of September 1, 2010 you will be able to exchange them for per VM licenses per the ratios stated below.
Product | Number of VMs for each Converted Per Processor License |
---|---|
vCenter Capacity IQ (per VM pricing available late 2010 / early 2011*) |
10 |
vCenter Chargeback | 20 |
vCenter Site Recovery Manager | 5 |
For example, if you own 6 per processor licenses for Site Recovery Manager and would like to convert to per VM, you will receive 6 license packs that contain 5 VMs each for a total of 30 VMs.
To initiate a conversion request, you should complete a Licensing Service Request. When you submit your request, please provide:
Alternatively, or if you have additional questions, call 877-4VMWARE and choose licensing support. (You can also visit the VMware Phone Page to find international phone numbers.)
Have additional questions? Read the FAQ.