vSphere 5 Essentials Plus vRAM Entitlement?

[dkraut]

I was considering upgrading our current vSphere 4 Essentials Plus environment to vSphere 5 until I ran into the great vRAM debate!  :smileyplain:

Now I'm pretty clear on how it works on Standard and Enterprise editions, but it gets a bit fuzzy in "Essentials Plus" since they reference a vRAM "cap" of 192MB.  Does this cap mean that I could never use any active RAM above and beyond 192MB or is it burstable like Standard and Enterprise?  The reason I ask is because we currently have 3 Servers, each with dual CPU's and 96GB of RAM.  This means I have the capability to use up to 288MB. Obviously this would never happen, but it is conceivable that I could run into a situation where I would need to utilize above and beyond 192MB for short periods of time.  So is this a hard cap that will never allow me to exceed 192MB of active vm RAM?

[Troy_Clavell]

the 192GB of vRAM entitlement is a soft limit.  With that said, going beyond that violates the EULA and you risk not being able to power on guests.  What that soft limit is, I'm not sure.

[mwpreston]

From the FAQ in the vSphere 5 pricing guide.. vCenter Server Standard would allow you to 'burst', but you may require additional lisensing depending on your 12 month average.  Also, note that the most vRAM one VM can consume is 96GB.

Q: How am I compliant with this licensing model? Is there a

“hard stop” at my vRAM limit?

A: To be compliant, the 12 month rolling average of the daily high

watermark of configured vRAM must be equal to or less than

the available pooled vRAM capacity. VMware vCenter Server

will not impose a hard limit (with the exception of VMware

vCenter Server for Essentials) on configured vRAM, but will

provide alerts that configured vRAM is approaching or has

surpassed available pooled capacity. The VMware policy is

that customers should buy licenses in advance of use.

[dkraut]

"(with the exception of VMware vCenter Server for Essentials)"

Thanks, since essentials appears to have a hard cap, I'll pass on the upgrade and stay at 4.x.