VMware Licensing

VMware Licensing: with SureSkills lead VCI Calvin Riskowitz

Calvin’s -SureSkills VMware LicensingLast week, I was delivering a VMware Install, Configure and Manage (ICM) course in our Belfast offices and I was again asked about VMware Licensing, so I thought to comment on the topic, as it regularly crops up for discussion.

VMware licensing is not as simple as most people believe so allow me to clarify.

Firstly:

VMware’s Hypervisor (ESXi ver 5.5 being the current version) is licensed per physical CPU socket on the physical server hardware. e.g. If you have 2 physical servers, one has 4 sockets (6 cores each) and the other has 2 sockets (8 cores each) you would have a total of 40 logical CPU’s ((4 x 6) +(2 x 8)), but you would only require 6 VMware licenses

Secondly:

Each VMware CPU Socket License is sold as an ‘Edition” (or if you prefer – a “bundle of features”) and this is where the confusion comes in. It is the Edition type that gives you certain features.

VMware Licensing

e.g. The “Enterprise Plus Edition” gives users the complete suite of VMware ESXi features, but the central management component (vCentre) must be licensed separately.

The “Small Business Essentials Kit Edition” only gives you the Hypervisor (no additional features) but it includes the central management component (vCenter). [NB: The Essentials Kit is limited to a maximum of 3 physical servers with a maximum of 2 sockets each].

Here are some references for further assistance:

- http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/compare

The final step before purchasing your license is to decide on how long you want the license to be valid for (1 year, 3 years or 5 years). The longer the license period, the more cost effective it becomes.

VMware's Product Licensing Models Explained

See below video with Creighton Hicks, VMware Product Line Manager, as he describes the different VMware product licensing models.