RE: Anyone Running Oracle on VMWare?

From: Storey, Robert \(DCSO\) <"Storey,>
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:36:07 -0500
Message-ID: <6727A8A8C9EAF343B21C48BF04DB64530B9450_at_dcsosvms01.dcso.org>

In my discussions with Oracle and reps on licensing, it matters not how many instances of oracle you are running on the physical box. So, I interpret this in that if you are running a native instance, or 5 guest hosts each with its own instance, then you're running oracle on that box. Oracle cares not that you are running multiple instances, as I read it.

So, the minute you install oracle on that box, whether it be in a guest host, or a native install, you license oracle for the physical hardware. So, on a Dell 710, if you're running dual processer, quad cores, for a total of 8 cores, that's 4 CPU of license, whether you load one or 10 instances on that box.

Now, that's non-virtual world setup. I've not read-up on how OracleVM licenses. Now, I'm not VM smart. So, out of your 5 host cluster, if oracle "could"reside on any of those physical hosts at any time, then you have to license all 5. I think someone referred to the point that you could do up to 10 days a year on a non-licensed box to handle failovers and such.

So, I'm betting donuts that Oracle would argue that if you're x-instances move around those physical hosts in that cluster fairly regularly, and not just in a emergency, then you would be asked to license all 5 boxes.

So, to me, if your 3 guests hosts are always on one box, then I read that's as licensing that host. However, if your instances will reside for longer than 10 days on any of the other boxes, then that box must be licenses as well.

I license my production box, and my dataguard box, because I may need to move to it at any time for undetermined periods of time.

Good discussion.

-----Original Message-----

From: oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org
[mailto:oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org] On Behalf Of Allen, Brandon Sent: Friday, April 16, 2010 11:09 AM
To: D'Hooge Freek; Taylor, Chris David; 'oracle-l_at_freelists.org' Subject: RE: Anyone Running Oracle on VMWare?

Are you saying that if you had a cluster of 5 physical hosts in a cluster and you were running 3 virtual guest hosts that were running

Oracle instances, then you'd have to license the physical hardware for 3
physical hosts even if you're running all three Oracle guest hosts on a
single physical box?  That's ridiculous, but again, I wouldn't be

surprised to hear it from Oracle Sales. Of course, just because it comes from Oracle Sales doesn't make it true - I've received conflicting answers from different Oracle Sales reps and had to correct them myself on more than one occasion.

The documentation from Oracle says that you have to license all the processors for the hosts on which you are running Oracle, regardless of the number of virtuals or any "soft partitioning". That's what the documentation says so that's what I'm going with until I see otherwise in official Oracle documentation.

Thanks,
Brandon

-----Original Message-----

From: D'Hooge Freek [mailto:Freek.DHooge_at_uptime.be]

I did some research a while ago about this topic and what I heared from Oracle is that you need to license the minimum between the number of virtual guests and the number of physical servers in the cluster.

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http://www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l Received on Fri Apr 16 2010 - 13:36:07 CDT