By Insight Editor / 24 Feb 2020 / Topics: Virtualization
VMware announced an important update to our per-CPU pricing model, reflecting our commitment to continue meeting our customers’ needs in an evolving industry landscape. This new pricing model will give our customers greater choice and allow us to better serve them.
While VMware will still be using a per-CPU approach, now, for any software offering that they license on a per-CPU basis, VMware will require one license for up to 32 physical cores. If a CPU has more than 32 cores, additional CPU licenses will be required. A FAQ related to this change is below.
The 32-core limit is designed to minimize customer impact given current core counts for most CPUs used in the industry. This change will likely have no impact on the vast majority of our current customers since they use Intel and AMD-based servers that are at or below the 32-core threshold. For the few customers who are currently deploying our software on CPUs with more than 32 cores, or for those that are in the process of purchasing physical servers with more than 32 cores per CPU, we are providing a grace period after the licensing metric change goes into effect on April 2, 2020. Any customer who purchases VMware software licenses, for deployment on a physical server with more than 32-cores per CPU, prior to April 30, 2020 will be eligible for additional free per-CPU licenses to cover the CPUs on that server.
A: VMware is more closely aligning to the industry standard of licensing software based on CPU cores as a primary licensing metric. With this change, VMware is still using the per-CPU licensing model, but we will require one license for any software offering that we license on a per-CPU basis, for up to 32 physical cores. That is, the license will cover CPUs with up to 32 physical cores. This change is effective starting on April 2, 2020.
A: VMware is working to align our product offerings to industry standard licensing models and projected changes in the hardware market. We cannot continue pricing on a per-CPU basis, where CPUs could have unlimited core counts. The 32-core limit is designed to minimize customer impact given current core counts generally used in the industry, and by the majority of our customers.
Any customer who purchases VMware software per-CPU licenses, to be deployed on a physical server with more than 32-cores per CPU, prior to April 30, 2020 will be eligible for additional free per-CPU licenses to cover the cores on those CPUs.
A: CPU cores are the main software licensing metric across the industry. Customers today license software from other major software vendors based on CPU cores. Because VMware is moving to this standard, it is easier for customers to compare software licensing and pricing between VMware (using per-CPU with up to 32 cores) and other vendors (using per-core pricing).
A: VMware Enterprise PKS and VMware NSX Data Center subscription are examples of some of the products that use CPU cores as the licensing metric.
A: Under the new model, one CPU license covers up to 32 cores in a single CPU. If the CPU has more than 32 cores, additional CPU licenses are required. To provide some examples:
A: Customers can raise a ticket via My VMware Portal and include the following information:
You will receive a response within 15 business days and additional licenses will be granted after approval.
A: The vast majority of the currently installed base of VMware software is deployed on existing Intel and AMD-based servers that are at or below the 32-core threshold. Any existing customers who purchase VMware software licenses, to be deployed on a physical server with more than 32-cores per CPU, prior to April 30, 2020 will be eligible for additional free per-CPU licenses to cover the CPUs on that server.
A: To be eligible:
A: Multithreading does not impact the core count for the purposes of VMware per-CPU licensing. Instead, core count is based solely on the number of physical cores of the individual CPU.
