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SuperSpike
Contributor
Contributor

vSphere 5 Licensing

I took a minute to read the licensing guide for vSphere 5 and I'm still trying to pull my jaw off the floor. VMware has completely screwed their customers this time. Why?

What I used to be able to do with 2 CPU licenses now takes 4. Incredible.

Today

BL460c G7 with 2 sockets and 192G of memory = 2 vSphere Enterprise Plus licenses
DL585 G7 with 4 sockets and 256G of memory = 4 vSphere Enterprise Plus licenses

Tomorrow

BL460c G7 with 2 sockets and 192G of memory = 4 vSphere Enterprise Plus licenses
BL585 G7 with 4 sockets and 256G of memory = 6 vSphere Enterprise Plus licenses


So it's almost as if VMware is putting a penalty on density and encouraging users to buy hardware with more sockets rather than less.

I get that the vRAM entitlements are for what you use, not necessarily what you have, but who buys memory and doesn't use it?

Forget the hoopla about a VM with 1 TB of memory. Who in their right mind would deploy that using the new license model? It would take 22 licenses to accommodate! You could go out and buy the physical box for way less than that today, from any hardware vendor.

Anyone else completely shocked by this move?

@Virtual_EZ
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hmtk1976
Contributor
Contributor

Licensing cores doesn't work either due to different processor architectures.  Just license the edition per socket and sell blocks of pRAM which you can keep indefinitely without paying SnS.  That's something I could live with (if the blocks were decently sized).  If VMware would want us to pay SnS for pRAM they would also have to increase the blocks in size following increasing memory usage.  But then we would have to trust VMware to do a decent analysis of relevant numbers.  Oh well, it was jsut a thought...

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Baddos
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Paying SnS for vRAM doesn't make sense at all. You should still have your support covered via the socket licenses and vcenter licenses anyways.

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meistermn
Expert
Expert

My Favorit Hyper-V, KVM +Fusionio + IP-Storage Appliance !!!

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Dracolith
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

aroudnev wrote:

I think that we will not see migrations to V5 in the next 2 years at all (a very - very little), and it will be exact answer to the new model. After Vmware will see drop in sales, they can rethink but it will be too late.

Too late?   Not really...    VMware has a top notch product today, and a lead by a couple years over the

competition.    If their sales drop, and they reverse and reduce prices in time, by a sufficient amount

their sales will increase.   However, the premium they will be able to charge will be less  than they

have been able to charge for their product in the past.

In other words --  it will take a larger price reduction than mere "reversing" to repair the damage,

if they go with this vRAM stuff,

but the damage is not infinite in magnitude,   and their  "experiment"  with vRAM could turn out

to be profitable,  if someone in their management is right, and their sales revenues doesn't go down.

There is a small possibility we could all be wrong about vRAM,  and  it doesn't significantly impact their

sales in the long run.  

On the other hand,

If they lose 90% of their sales in the next year, and then get rid of vRAM, make vCenter Std $1000, and

slash Enterprise+ to  $1000/socket or  $0.1 per Mhz,  12 months later,    VMware would become relevant

again in short order.

This will be dictated by basic laws of economics.  In other words;  if VMware's

sales do go down,  they likely wind up having to slash their prices

by much more than they increased them  (if their objective becomes to recover sales

and maximize return on capital).

There is a certain capacity of demand in the market for virtualization software.

That demand can be readily met by VMware and by some VMware competitors

today.

VMware cannot command a price premium for that alone;  to the extent that

competitors provide that functionality,  the rational buyer will take the lowest price.

VMware vSphere has some unique features, functionalities, tools, technical

characteristics,  and track record/good will that are more beneficial than what

other virtualization solutions have.

There is a certain amount of demand  for the unique characteristics of VMware,

which is also their competitive advantage;  those unique characteristics must have

value and be maintained.

However, if  VMware's sales do drop  with a price increase,  it will mean that

the price increase is so great that the market response is a drop in demand

for the unique characteristics of VMware's product  in response to the price increase.

One of those characteristics though is VMware's reputation;  if that loses value,

it has  a lasting effect on how their product is perceived.

The other possibility, is competitors will begin to meet more and more of that demand

for what are currently uniquely  VMware features,  by introducing innovations and

functionalities of their own.

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manu101914
Contributor
Contributor

My client is running with VSphere 4 Essential Plus having 3 hosts, now he want to add one more host? What will be the best way?

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vmwareking
Contributor
Contributor

download and install xenserver

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dicen
Contributor
Contributor

manu101914 wrote:

My client is running with VSphere 4 Essential Plus having 3 hosts, now he want to add one more host? What will be the best way?

Perhaps your client should hire someone who has experience in such matters. VMware does offer professional consulting services at very affordable rates. Either that or you could subcontract to one of the professionals who frequent this forum. They generally do not work for free. Do you?

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Dracolith
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

manu101914 wrote:

My client is running with VSphere 4 Essential Plus having 3 hosts, now he want to add one more host? What will be the best way?

I would suggest,

Either replace one or more of the existing hosts with a bigger/denser server  with at most  2 CPU sockets and  at most 256GB of RAM,

so that a new host is no longer required,  at a cost that depends on your current type of server, and how much extra spend for the higher

capacity server,   or get vCenter

standard and  Standard level [or higher] licenses for all the hosts,  including the new one,

e.g.  by  purchasing a   vSphere4 Standard Acceleration kit,  and then additional  vSphere4 licenses for the new host.

However,  if you increase and utilize total physical ram above 144GB on the 3 hosts  or avg48GB per host,  keep in mind you may need to upgrade to Standard Edition licensing anyways and purchase a couple more CPU licenses, once  VS5 comes out and you wish to upgrade.

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

Welcome to the VMware Communities forums.  If you're need to expand beyond 3 hosts running one of the Essentials kits then you need to upgrade to one of the Acceleration kits.  See page 10 http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/vsphere_pricing.pdf

Dave
VMware Communities User Moderator

Free ESXi Essentials training / eBook offer

Now available - VMware ESXi: Planning, Implementation, and Security

Also available - vSphere Quick Start Guide

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manu101914
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for your quick reply. So i believe best option will be go for Vsphere 5 Standard Accelaration kit. Hope this upgrade path is possible. 🙂

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manu101914
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks Dave 🙂

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chanaka_ek
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Finally...... Our effort to give VMware a reality check with these unrealistically low vRAM limits may be paying off...

The (potentially) new licensing limits would make Ent 64 and Ent plus 96GB with a CAP of 96GB per VM regardless of the vRAM allocated???

Sounds a little fairer than the current (ridiculous) model?? if this is true, I can now start looking more in to vSphere 5 now

http://derek858.blogspot.com/2011/07/impending-vmware-vsphere-50-license.html

Any vExpert / VMware moderator want to confirm whether this is tru or gospell??

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GVD
Contributor
Contributor

Since I'm currently working on a project involving Essentials Plus one of our partners gave us a little inside line: On 22/08 the prices of Essentials Plus are going to rise substantially.

Now:

Essentials Plus + 3 years of Production Support is now 4645 euros excl VAT

After 22/08:

Essentials Plus + 3 years of Production Support is will likely cost 6622 euros excl VAT

Essentials Plus + 1 years of Production Support is will likely cost 5055 euros excl VAT

That's no small increase, as it makes E+ with 3y support now, cheaper than E+ with 1y support after 22/08. As such, if you have an E+ project pending, do try to order before 15/08 to make sure you fall under old licensing (you will still have upgrade rights).

Also:

If the same margin (42,5% increase in price!) is applied to other VMWare licensing, expect a second wave of complaints... Sure hope VMWare won't make the mistake of increasing prices AND severely restricting the usefulness of said products (ridiculous vRAM pools) at the same time.

PS: Even at this pricing, the Essentials Plus kits are still a hell of a good deal for small deployments. Equivalent vCenter Foundation + 6x Standard licensing puts you at 13500 euros excl VAT (list prices from before 22/08).

PPS: I see no reason to doubt my source. If this info turns out to be blatantly false it will only harm our future dealings.

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J1mbo
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

In fact the price rise was mentioned in the analysts' meeting (transcript here) - directly from that,

Gregg Moskowitz - Cowen and Company, LLC

With vSphere 5, the pricing for Essentials Plus will be, I believe, I  think $1,000 higher per CPU than it was under vSphere 4.1. Clearly,  that would seem to reflect a lot of optimism around the SMB segment. But  if you could perhaps speak to your expectations around buying behavior  in the SMB, as well as elasticity of demand and the value profit you  have there, that would be helpful.


Paul Maritz

Well, as I said earlier, we've been gratified by the success that  we've seen with vSphere Essentials, clearly delivering a lot of value to  customers. And with the new features coming in, we think that the price  is justified.

What stands out for me is the reply "...and with the new features coming in..." - in Essentials?  As I don't see anything of note for that market in v5.

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sergeadam
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

J1mbo wrote:

In fact the price rise was mentioned in the analysts' meeting (transcript here) - directly from that,

Gregg Moskowitz - Cowen and Company, LLC

With vSphere 5, the pricing for Essentials Plus will be, I believe, I  think $1,000 higher per CPU than it was under vSphere 4.1. Clearly,  that would seem to reflect a lot of optimism around the SMB segment. But  if you could perhaps speak to your expectations around buying behavior  in the SMB, as well as elasticity of demand and the value profit you  have there, that would be helpful.


Paul Maritz

Well, as I said earlier, we've been gratified by the success that  we've seen with vSphere Essentials, clearly delivering a lot of value to  customers. And with the new features coming in, we think that the price  is justified.

What stands out for me is the reply "...and with the new features coming in..." - in Essentials?  As I don't see anything of note for that market in v5.

I think he either does not understand the SMB market, or is blinded by shinny toys. I use Essentials Plus. I got it because of price and HA. That's it. vMotion is cool, but in the SMB market, we can live without it. Do I appreciate beeing able to do maintenace during the day? You bet I do. Can I live without it? You bet I could. 

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J1mbo
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

vMotion was included with Essentials Plus since 4.1.

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rjb2
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

DSeaman wrote:

I have a reliable contact that provided me with some possible licensing modifications that will be announced next week. Changes include increased vRAM entitlements, and a cap on vRAM licensing per VM to help control costs for large VMs. Of course these are just internal rumors and are subject to change until formally announced, so use a pinch of salt for the time being.

http://derek858.blogspot.com/2011/07/impending-vmware-vsphere-50-license.html

But the good news is that it seems the uproar is being heard at VMware, and some changes are likely.

According to this article, which references Derek's post, the new licensing changes will be announced tomorrow (Wednesday)

http://www.crn.com/news/data-center/231003052/vmware-set-to-unveil-vsphere-5-licensing-changes.htm

from the article:

"However, VMware has communicated the vSphere 5 licensing changes to channel partners, who confirmed the Wednesday announcement and appear impressed with the adjustments the company has made.

"The deal is done at this point and customers will be thrilled," said one VMware partner with knowledge of the changes, who requested anonymity.

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sergeadam
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

J1mbo wrote:

vMotion was included with Essentials Plus since 4.1.

I know. But maritz refernces the great features in the Essentials kit. I'm just pointing out that some of those features are more nice to have as opposed to have to have. He is seriously overestimating the value of his product. 

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ClueShell
Contributor
Contributor

They shall license per core in 2-increments. That would allow many

customers to keep their old gear for some lower-priority jobs. Meaning

they would probably see an increase in licenses instead of transfers to

new machines. Because per socket licensing is just not attractive to

keep the old server virtualised.

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RogerThomas
Contributor
Contributor

At the end of the day even if the vRAM allowance is increased it just causes the problem to re-appear in 12-18 months time as the average amount of RAM used by systems (and can be installed into a system) increases. At the same time the number of physical CPUs required to run the workload will continue to fall as they gain more and more cores. The result will be the same - having to purchase CPU licences that are not required to be assigned to CPUs within the environment.

It seems that all VMWARE plan to do is remove this year's pain point and kick it down the road so that each VMWARE customer suffers at different times of the year rather than all at once.

If anyone does a 3 year plan for their future VMWARE requirements it's still a rather costly product.

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