Even though Oracle recently acquired virtualization software developer Virtual Iron, analysts are saying that Oracle has yet to move into the “century of the virtual server” regarding the support and licensing of Oracle software running on virtual servers

Oracle databases and applications will run on virtual servers. The point of x86-based hypervisors is that their virtual nature is “invisible” to the software running on them. Oracle has’t certified any
of its products to run on hypervisors other than its own, and hasn’t changed its licensing to make virtualization any easier, according to Chris Wolf, analyst at the Burton Group.

If a customer encounters a known problem on a VMware ESX server, Oracle support will provide the solution. However if it is not a known problem, the customer either has to reproduce the problem on a physical server or solve it themselves. This is one of the most restrictive policies of any enterprise software vendor, Wolf says.