I'm guessing I'm not going to like the answer to the question but here goes.
I'm looking at virtualising a server that has an Oracle database as the backend. This server has two single cores. Our VMware ESX environment has 6 hosts each with 2 x dual cores..
Looking at the Oracle license blurb as well as various posts, Oracle says I'll need to license it for the full 24 cores, but at 50%. That still leaves licensing for 12 CPUs versus 2.
I've looked at the Named User, but that still seems to insist that there's an underlying processor constraint, and taking the previous blurb, that would again mean I have to take into account all of the available cores.
So how have people handled virtualising oracle databases from a license perspective, especially where the number of cores in the ESX infrastructure is considerably more than the original server?
TIA Rob
Moved to the Virtualizing Oracle forum
Ken Cline
Technical Director, Virtualization
VMware Communities User Moderator
A number of years ago we were able to due the licensing with Named Users but it looks like as you that has changed. They name have Named Users Plus which looks to be tied to processors as well.
From the Oracle Web Site on Named Users Plus:
If the user minimum is 25 Named Users Plus per processor, then follow the instructions below to calculate the minimum number of named user plus licenses required for your intended hardware configuration.
Determine the number of processors on each server where the programs are
installed and/or running.
Add together the processors on each server.
Multiply the total number of processors by 25.
The resultant number represents the minimum number of named user plus
licenses required for this hardware configuration
Yes that's my intepretation.
If anything, Oracle licensing for virtual server environments seems to have got worse not better.
This just makes it impossible to virtualise Oracle here.
Hopefully they get the licensing in line since they are so many benefits for running Oracle under VMware.
Oracle has their own virtual server platform and their own relabeled Linux platform - I haven't checked the restrictions on virtualization on the Oracle platforms but I suspect you'll find them more generous than on the non-Oracle platforms.
A cynic might see this as a way of these vendors undermining the obvious advantages of VI3, e.g. DRS and HA which are not typically available on other virtualisation platforms.
For this application I'm going to have to stay physical. Alas the application only runs on Oracle, otherwise I would migrate off that database platform. It's certainly not going to tempt me to use another virtualisation product.
Sadly that's the state of things at the moment. Oracle only fully supports products on physical hardware or running under Oracle VM (Xen based). One argument is that supporting products on VMware too would mean there's a lot more regression testing required; even so I would expect a company the size of Oracle could cope with that (especially when you consider how many different operating systems the database, for example, runs on).
Can I suggest that someone at your organisation raises it quite strongly with your Oracle account manager? Nothing's going to happen straight away, but if enough customers keep moaning...
If the Oracle licensing is such a trouble to fix, why is Oracle a VMWare partner? Link At least that's what's on the VMWare site.
I can't find the listing of VMWare as a partner on the Oracle site... strange.
They called out Microsoft a couple of years ago and microsoft changed their policy. Why do they partner up with Oracle instead of calling them out??
I know its a old topic but, check out oracle licensing within solaris containers. Its a good way to grow as your database demands do without having to implement new hardware.
