I think so, I have a 1 physical CPU box (waiting for the 2nd CPU to arrive from the supplier) and it only take 1 licence and therefore surmise that, if I had another similar one, it would licence ok.

Chris

from what Chris said, a license server can hand out licenses per CPU (even though you bought the licenses per 2 CPUs). And moreover, an ESX with 1 CPU asks for only one license. So 2 ESXes, each with one CPU, can be serviced by a license server that has a 2-CPU license.

Now please do keep in mind that an ESX with one CPU is unsupported !

Yes, but you'll need to use the license server rather than host based licensing.

with host based licenses it's even easier: run 2 1-CPU servers with the same 2-CPU license file.

Again: you're in unsupported territory here !

I am not a lawyer, but this is very thin ice you are treading.

A License is PER host (sever)

1.9 "Server" means a single physical computer of a type that meets the specifications as set forth in the applicable product data sheets or systems compatibility guide posted at www.vmware.com. Multiple computers that share processing power or operate in a networked configuration as a single logical computer, such as a "server farm" or similar arrangement, constitute multiple Servers for the purpose of this EULA.

Therefore you can only use the license PER host basis, as defined by the license.

1.6 "Processor" means a single, physical chip that houses no more than two (2) processor cores.

You can read into this whatever you want, but misleading people into thinking they can use the License in ways that was not meant by the Vendor (VM Ware) can get people into trouble.

You must be a license PER Host / Server.

Rather than guess or ASSUME that just because the product lets you operate in a way that isn't defined by the license, doesn't mean its within the EULA. READ the agreement, and when it doubt, you can always CALL VM Ware.

http://www.vmware.com/download/eula/esx_server.html

I'm guessing that was probably written when quad core processors did not exist. A processor is still a single physical chip even if it does have 4 cores.