vmdirectpath i/o ESX 4.0

[colintyrrell]

Hi,

what type of licensing do I need to ensure that VMDirectPath i/o is allowed?

As it stands, we are using the Evaluation License. We are about to purchase the VMWarev Essentials license.

But I've set up the host to use VMDirectPath for a tape unit.

So, basically I want to know if the Essentials license will cover this current configuration?

Thanks

[lamw]

afaik, it's not governed by any one specific license model: http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/buy/editions_comparison.html , this is primarily a hardware feature such as that with Intel vmdirectpath IO on the Nehalem. You may want to contact your VMware sales rep/support but I believe so long as you have the hardware that supports it, you can get this feature enabled. Another quick way to verify this, you can download ESXi 4.0 and register for the free license which pretty much removes all the cool features and you can test to see if vmdirectpath I/O will work which gives you a good idea if any of the above licensing models is specific to this feature, which I don't believe is the case.

=========================================================================

William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

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Twitter: @lamw

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[colintyrrell]

Hi lamw,

I hope you're right; this is what I was suspecting.

It took me ages to get the tape device to work; I'd hate a license issue to mess thing sup..we've already agreed a price with the customer!!

[colintyrrell]

Thanks