On July the 12th VMware announced VMware vSphere 5. As part of the release VMware announced changes to the vSphere licensing model. These changes caused much debate & many headaches within the VMware community. The new licensing model like VMware vSphere 4.x is licensed on a per processor basis the major change (& headache) surrounds the new vRAM licensing entitlements. Each vSphere 5 license provides a vRAM capacity entitlement, vRAM is defined as the memory configured to a virtual machine. The vRAM entitlements of VMware vSphere processor licenses are pooled across all CPU licenses managed by a VMware vCenter instance to form a total available vRAM capacity (pooled vRAM capacity) The initial vRAM entitlements released on the 12th of July were as follows:
vSphere 5 Edition | vRAM entitlement (12/07/2011) |
vSphere Enterprise+ | 48GB |
vSphere Enterprise | 32GB |
vSphere Standard | 24GB |
vSphere Essentials+ | 24GB |
vSphere Essentials | 24GB |
Obviously many of us within the VMware community reacted in shock & anger to the radical licensing changes. Despite removing the physical CPU & memory limits of vSphere hosts VMware created a fair amount of bad press. This was because under the initial vSphere 5 licensing model a physical server with 1TB of RAM & 8 CPUs would result in you requiring a whopping 22 licenses costing over £46,000! Previously with vSphere 4.x the licensing of the same physical server would of cost approximately £17,000. VMware analysed the feedback received on the new licensing model, saw the light & reacted & on the 3rd of August releasing an updated set of vRAM licensing entitlements:
vSphere 5 Edition | vRAM entitlement (03/08/2011) |
vSphere Enterprise+ | 96GB |
vSphere Enterprise | 64GB |
vSphere Standard | 32GB |
vSphere Essentials+ | 32GB |
vSphere Essentials | 32GB |
As well as releasing the updated set of vRAM licensing entitlements VMware announced they would also be capping the amount of vRAM counted in any given virtual machine at 96GB. This is so that no virtual machine, not even the "MONSTER" 1TB vRAM virtual machine would cost more than one vSphere Enterprise+ license, substantially dropping potential licensing costs. The final key announcement within the updated licensing model was that VMware will calculate a 12 month average of consumed vRAM rather than tracking the higher water mark for licensing. audits.
A full overview of the differences between the VMware vSphere 4.x & VMware vSphere 5 licensing models is below.
So what do we think? My personal opinion is that VMware needed to change the licensing model but unfortunately they have caused more fuss surrounding the new licensing mess rather than the cool new features in vSphere 5, but then if they didn't make the changes now when should they of? One of the positives to come out of the licensing model is proof that VMware pro actively listen to their customer & user base & acted upon feedback showing that our opinions are valued.
Right I'm off for a lie down in a cold dark room. For anyone still slightly confused the full release from VMware regarding the changes in licensing within vSphere 5 are available here
No comments:
Post a Comment