VMware Cloud Community
taylorb
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

AMD users getting forced into Enterprise Plus?

We've always run ESX Enterprise and have not upgraded to Plus because mainly we don't need any of the extra features like the Cisco Nexxus, Net I/O, etc.    Now I am needing to add another host to my farm and what do I discover?  AMD newest series only has 8 and 12 core options and to use 8 or 12 cores you need Enterprise plus.   There are still some 6-core options on older server models left at most vendors but as the stock of the old chips runs dry, I suspect only 8 or 12 core will be the only options soon.    So is this really it, then?  AMD = Enterprise Plus?  Can Intel's 4 and 6 core options be available for too much longer, either?  How long will any of us be able to run anything but Enterprise plus on new hardware?

Kinda frustrated so I am hoping someone has news of a licensing shift based on current specs.

Reply
0 Kudos
13 Replies
Troy_Clavell
Immortal
Immortal

you can still use Enterprise, but the remaining cores per, will be masked out after 6.

Reply
0 Kudos
khughes
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Obviously the licensing scheme will have to change at some point when the low end hardware will be coming out with 8+ cores in the coming years.  I don't think Intel will phase out its quad-core as fast as AMD apparently is so I suspect the licensing scheme wont change until Intel phases out its 4 core CPUs.

Like Troy said you can still buy the hardware and ESX just wont use the remaining Cores, but then again why pay for that hardware when you wont use it.    

-- Kyle "RParker wrote: I guess I was wrong, everything CAN be virtualized "
Reply
0 Kudos
taylorb
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

I might just have to run them as 6-cores because the memory is much cheaper for the newer architecture, like thousands cheaper for a 64-128Gb setup.

Anyone know what an upgrade from Enterprise to Ent. Plus costs?

Reply
0 Kudos
khughes
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Depending on your vendor, probably around 600-800$ I believe

-- Kyle "RParker wrote: I guess I was wrong, everything CAN be virtualized "
Reply
0 Kudos
taylorb
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

That's not terrible, I guess.  I am still a little peeved about the situation, though!  It wouldn't be so bad if ESX 4.1 wasn't so buggy compared to previous releases.

Thanks guys.

Reply
0 Kudos
Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

I haven't tried this myself, but you can combine CPU licenses to cover the 6+ cores - http://www.vmware.com/download/eula/multicore.html.

Reply
0 Kudos
dquintana
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Hello Taylorb

Here you have a link to the vmware pricing site but you can select a partner in your region if you want to understand better the differences.

Ing. Diego Quintana - VMware Communities Moderator - Co Founder & CEO at Wetcom Group - vEXPERT From 2010 to 2020- VCP, VSP, VTSP, VAC - Twitter: @daquintana - Blog: http://www.wetcom.com-blog & http://www.diegoquintana.net - Enjoy the vmware communities !!!

Reply
0 Kudos
taylorb
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

I haven't tried this myself, but you can combine CPU licenses to cover the 6+ cores - http://www.vmware.com/download/eula/multicore.html.

Ooh, I would be using the dual 8 core box to replace two dual 4-core boxes, so that would actually work for me.  Thanks.   I guess if I ever needed the license back I could upgrade one or both to Plus.

I can sort of see where VMware is coming from as these new boxes are going to be able to replace a lot of individual hosts.   I was just checking out a DL585 G7 and you can configure that with 384GB of RAM and 48 Cores for under $40k.  Two of those with ESX could pretty much run most mid sized companies!

Reply
0 Kudos
taylorb
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Upgrade is actually $2300 per CPU including 1y production level support.    Not too cheap for a 2-4 CPU server.

Reply
0 Kudos
ThompsG
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Hi,

I know this is off topic but something to think about before purchasing uber servers for VMware is the scaling up vs scaling out argument. While you could run your entire environment from 2 of these servers, would you want to? If you only have the two and one goes down then you drop 50% of your environment whereas if you have more less spec'd servers then you might only drop 33% or less of your environment. Another thing to contemplate is maintenance - I work on a N+1(+1) rule so if I have host out for maintenance and lose a host production continues. Another reason is to do with maintenance contracts, not sure what others do but we don't purchase additional hardware maintenance for our hosts. By having additional hosts in the cluster we can afford to have a ESX server down for an extended period while parts are replaced during work hours.

Just something to think about.

Kind regards,

Glen

Reply
0 Kudos
taylorb
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

These aren't "uber-servers".  These are basic DL385 2U servers from HP.  Minimum spec is 8 core now. 

Reply
0 Kudos
ThompsG
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Hi TaylorB,

Sorry this was referring to this comment -

I was just checking out a DL585 G7 and you can configure that with 384GB of RAM and 48 Cores for under $40k.  Two of those with ESX could pretty much run most mid sized companies!


Not the DL385's.

Kind regards,

Glen

Reply
0 Kudos
taylorb
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

I guess that is the peril of digging up weeks' old threads.  You forget what you were talking about! Smiley Happy

Reply
0 Kudos