About License Key Capacity - VMware ESX 4.0 - INSTALLATION GUIDE UPDATE 1 Installation Manual

ESX and vCenter Server Installation Guide
"License a Host When Adding It to the vCenter Server Inventory,"
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"View Which Features Are Licensed on a Host,"
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"Set an ESX/ESXi Host to Evaluation Mode,"
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"Troubleshooting Licensing,"
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About License Key Capacity

License keys have a certain amount of capacity. For hosts, capacity is based on the number of processors in the
host. For vCenter Server, capacity is based on the number of instances of vCenter Server. However, the licensing
of solutions can be based on processors, asset instances, virtual machines, etc.
The examples that follow might not apply to all solutions.
Though licensing is applicable to solutions as well as ESX/ESXi hosts and vCenter Server, solutions licensing
management is too variable and, therefore, specific to each solution to be discussed in general terms. For
information about licensing a specific solution, see the documentation for that solution.
Licensing for Each Processor
For most vSphere products, when you purchase vSphere licenses, you must consider the total number of
processors, not hosts, that will run the products. You can assign and reassign the processor capacity to any
combination of hosts. For example, suppose you purchase a 10-processor vSphere license key. You can assign
the 10-processor license key to any of the following combinations of hosts:
Five 2-processor hosts
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Three 2-processor hosts and one 4-processor host
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Two 4-processor hosts and one 2-processor host
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One 8-processor host and one 2-processor host
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Special considerations include:
Dual-core and quad-core processors, such as Intel processors that combine two or four independent CPUs
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on a single chip, count as one processor.
You cannot partially license a multiprocessor host. For example, a 4-CPU host requires 4-processors of
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vSphere license key capacity.
I From the ESX/ESXi license perspective, a CPU is a processor with a physical processor in it. When
MPORTANT
you purchase a license, you select the edition, the number of CPUs, and the maximum number of cores per
CPU. For example, if you purchase an enterprise license with 100 CPUs, you must also choose the maximum
number of cores per CPU. For example, you might select a maximum of 2 cores per CPU, 6 cores per CPU, or
12 cores per CPU. The choice depends on the type of hardware on which you are installing ESX/ESXi.
Licensing for Each Asset Instance
Products for which you purchase a license for each instance require a single unit of license key capacity,
regardless of the number of processors in the machine. The vCenter Server is an example of a product that
requires this type of license. If you purchase a vCenter Server license key with a capacity greater than one, you
assign one unit of the capacity to each instance of vCenter Server.
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