Navigating the Complexities of Oracle Licensing on VMware

Cece Kintner
August 8, 2024
06:01 pm

Tools and Resources Guide

Organizations running Oracle and VMWare are increasingly looking to save money since both vendors are actively increasing support costs annually. Often both types of software are running on the same machine, meaning there is a significant opportunity for savings associated with an in-depth review. This blog will explore these ideas in more detail and outline some options for resolving them.

With Broadcom’s new acquisition of VMware, there’s uncertainty about future licensing strategies from major IT vendors, which may pose new challenges. Expert consulting is handy for navigating these changes, as it guides the Oracle virtualization licensing process, optimizes costs, ensures compliance, and prepares for audits.

Understanding Oracle Database Licensing

Oracle provides two primary licensing models for its database software: Processor Licensing and Named User Plus (NUP) Licensing. Choosing the right model depends on your organization’s requirements and usage patterns. Understanding Oracle licensing details is important for budget planning and ensuring compliance.

Processor Licensing

Oracle’s processor licensing model counts the number of physical cores in the servers where you’ve installed the Oracle database. Processor licensing is ideal for monitoring individual users, which can be challenging, such as for web applications with thousands of anonymous visitors. It removes the requirement to count users and provides flexibility for varying user loads.

To calculate the number of licenses required for processor licensing, you multiply the number of cores by Oracle’s processor licensing factor. To understand the licensing factor, Oracle assigns a processor factor value between 0 and 1 to each CPU type based on factors like architecture or number of cores.

Named User Plus (NUP) Licensing

Named User Plus is a more common licensing model as it charges per user and devices that access the Oracle database. In simpler words, it’s a pay-per-license model, and only a predefined number of authorized users can access resources under this model. The users can be human users or non-human devices or servers that make requests to the database. The licensing requirement depends on the minimum number of users required for the Oracle database edition.

To calculate licensing for Named User Plus licensing, identify all access points, human and no-human, calculate a total user count, confirm that it matches the minimum requirements, and then purchase the higher number of licenses needed.

Oracle Licensing Policies for VMware Environments

Deploying Oracle databases in a virtualized VMware environment changes the licensing approach compared to traditional physical servers. The fluid nature of VMs complicates the assignment of licenses to static IPs or physical hosts. Oracle requires licensing all physical CPUs that VMs can access, regardless of the number of CPU cores each VM uses.

Oracle’s rate cards specify that only the virtual CPUs (vCPUs) assigned by VMware to each database VM count toward licensing. However, because VMs can move between physical servers, you must license all physical CPUs in the VMware cluster where the Oracle database could potentially run.

Licenses can move quickly between VMs, allowing multiple databases to share a single VM license instead of requiring separate licenses for each server. This flexibility can help optimize licensing costs but requires careful management to ensure compliance.

In November 2023, Broadcom completed its acquisition of VMware, which may influence future Oracle licensing for VMware strategies. The long-term impacts on VMware’s product roadmap and client relationships are still uncertain. Broadcom introduced a “bring-your-own-subscription license” option, allowing customers with existing VMware subscription licenses to use them on approved VMware Cloud Foundation environments, both on-premises and in public clouds.

Understanding these policies is essential for managing Oracle licenses in VMware environments, ensuring compliance, and optimizing costs. As the landscape evolves, staying informed about policy changes and leveraging expert consulting can help navigate these complexities.

Common Challenges in Oracle Database Licensing on VMware

While VMware is a widespread virtualization platform, Oracle licensing on VMware presents several complexities. One significant challenge is licensing Oracle databases across multiple VMware hosts and clusters. Oracle requires licensing based on a server’s total number of physical cores. However, since VMs can move around, this can make licensing complex, as Oracle mandates covering all potential physical cores the VM could use.

Key Challenges:

Licensing Across Hosts: VMs can span multiple hosts, necessitating licenses for all physical cores in the cluster.
Migrations Between Clusters: Migrating VMs between clusters without a host may trigger re-licensing requirements. This adds complexity as it involves reassessing and potentially acquiring new licenses to remain compliant.
Temporary CPU Spikes: Compliance issues arise if peak VM core utilization exceeds licensed physical cores, leading to potential violations.
Incorrect Processor Counts: Miscounting processors can limit access to Oracle software upgrades and support. A thorough inventory of servers, VMs, and infrastructure is essential.
Licensing Only VMs: It’s a common mistake to think licenses are needed only for VMs running Oracle software. In reality, the entire physical server must be licensed.
Overlooking Non-Human Devices: Non-human devices like sensors and scanners also count towards licensing requirements.
Using Unlicensed Features: Activating unlicensed Oracle features can lead to compliance issues and penalties. Oracle audits check for feature usage, not just installed software.

Monitoring and managing these aspects are essential to avoid non-compliance, audits, and penalties. Consulting with an Oracle licensing expert can help navigate these challenges effectively and ensure proper licensing.

Tools and Resources for Oracle Licensing Management

Managing Oracle licensing can be a complex task requiring accurate software usage tracking across physical and virtual environments. With proper tools and resources, organizations can seamlessly handle Oracle licensing and stay compliant.

Oracle License Management Services (LMS): LMS is Oracle’s flagship license management platform, designed to track software usage, users, and cores. It provides insights into optimization for both on-premise and cloud-based services.
Third-party tools: Other third-party solutions provide advanced capabilities for Oracle optimization. They automate inventory collection, user and core counting, usage tracking, spend projections, and license true-ups.[1]
Asset and configuration management databases: Integrations with existing IT asset databases, like IBM Configuration Manager, allow Oracle data to be centralized, aiding in comprehensive management.
Custom scripts: For environments lacking tools, administrators can write SQL and other scripts to query databases, scan server configurations, VMs, and files to pull inventory and usage details.
Oracle resources: Websites with documentation on licensing metrics, policies, audit programs, and support entitlement details help interpret licensing requirements accurately.
Consulting services: Oracle license VMware consulting services offer licensing assessments, optimization strategies, educational workshops, and licensing reviews to help customers better understand requirements, licensing models, and best practices.

At TekStream, we understand Oracle’s complex licensing models and offer expert consulting, Oracle migration management and managed services to reduce audit risks. We conduct a thorough inventory and assessment of your current VMware environment, including applications, VMs, storage, networks and performance metrics to help you understand licensing needs.