VMware announced a significant change to its licensing per CPU. This entire change took effect on April 2, 2020.
Keeping in mind before any technical analysis that VMware has never been concerned with the number of cores in each CPU and so should be the last of the big manufacturers to maintain a metric of processor per physical CPU. Most of them have already moved to licensing using more complex factors and indexes to calculate required licenses.
This change may impact the way your company provisions environments and especially how it plans to adopt hybrid clouds. Planning without taking into account public clouds or resources such as VMware Cloud on AWS could double the cost of VMware CPU licensing for customers with more than 32 cores.
VMware never worried about the number of cores in each CPU, now is the time
But what has changed?
In cases of processors running VMware with less than 32 cores, nothing changes. If these have more than 32, an extra license will be needed for the next 32 and additional licenses for each subsequent block of 32.
We know that AMD and Intel they already have chips with up to 64 cores, but it probably won't be long before we're talking about 96 or even 128 CPUs. It's worth mentioning that AWS, Google and Azure already have instances with 96 vCPUs.
How can I benefit from this now?
VMware is making a gradual move at no immediate cost, but to get this “benefit” you need to make some quick decisions and actions! If you don't make the changes now, the costs are bound to arrive in 2021.
For those customers who are already running VMware on CPUs with more than 32 cores per chip, or are planning to purchase soon, they can apply for the benefit of additional licenses at no charge, either through their software reseller or directly to VMware.
I canI will use this “benefit” if:
- Make the formal request for the benefit by January 29, 2021;
- If my servers and licenses were purchased before April 30, 2020. Please keep all hardware and software acquisition documents following the rules of Software Asset Management.
- I have a contract with SNS (VMware Technical Support and Subscription Services) active in the original licenses and contracted before April 30, 2020.
The burden of this benefit is that when you renew your support contract with VMware, you will normally be billed and supported for the additional free licenses you received under this “benefit”.
Our recommendation:
These changes in the rules of licensing they can be tracked and managed by a Center of Excellence in Software and Cloud Governance (CCoE). You can use a single hybrid cloud governance platform, where you can control the costs of your VMware datacenter as well as AWS, Azure and Google public clouds.
It is very common that companies only pay attention to the datacenter licensing architecture after the migration and that is why our work methodology shows that this study has to be done together with the technical architecture.
With the recent acquisition of VMware by Broadcom, the licensing and support landscape has undergone significant transformations, directly impacting the way enterprises use VMware solutions. These changes require strategic adaptation, especially for those who rely on the robustness of VMware vSphere and VMware ESXi for their data centers.
The transition to a subscription model instead of perpetual licenses drives the need for careful planning. Organizations now need to consider how to optimize their investments in VMware Cloud Foundation and other solutions while also exploring the benefits of hybrid cloud.
For companies looking to modernize applications and infrastructure, VMware Cloud offers a promising path forward. The ability to efficiently run virtual machines, whether on physical servers or bare metal environments, remains a cornerstone of IT strategy. Tools like VMware Workstation Pro and VMware Fusion Pro play a crucial role in application development and creating flexible development environments.
Integration with public clouds such as Google Cloud VMware Engine further expands the possibilities by enabling VMware workloads to run on Google Cloud. This approach facilitates digital transformation and the adoption of containerized and cloud-native applications.
High availability and disaster recovery are top concerns for any business. Solutions like VMware vSAN and VMware Cloud Foundation offer advanced capabilities to ensure business continuity and data protection. Additionally, VMware Engine simplifies the migration and operation of VMware workloads in the cloud, providing greater agility and scalability.
The ability to run different operating systems in virtual machines is essential for many businesses, especially those that rely on legacy applications. VMware Workstation and Workstation Player provide the flexibility and performance for these needs.
With the advancement of artificial intelligence and generative AI, the demand for high-performance computing resources is growing. VMware vSphere and VMware ESXi, together with VMware Cloud, provide the infrastructure needed to support these demanding workloads.
4MATT Tecnologia, with its expertise, helps companies navigate these changes, optimizing their investments in VMware Cloud and other solutions. Through a single hybrid cloud governance platform, it is possible to control the costs of the VMware datacenter and public clouds, ensuring efficient and strategic management of IT resources.
We believe that taking a proactive and strategic approach to licensing and infrastructure management is critical to success in the cloud computing era.
VMware by Broadcom continues to support a wide range of products and services, including VMware ESX and VMware GSX Server, ensuring customers can keep their legacy applications running while planning their migration to more modern solutions. The ability to create virtual machines with advanced 3D graphics, along with virtual disk support, enables a rich and immersive user experience.
For organizations looking to implement Virtual VDI, VMware Cloud offers a robust and scalable platform that enables the delivery of high-performance and secure virtual desktops. VMware’s sales team is available to assist customers in selecting the best solutions for their needs, sharing customer stories and analyst reports that demonstrate the value and effectiveness of VMware solutions.
Integration with management tools such as VMware Tools simplifies administration and maintenance of virtual environments, while support for SQL Server and Red Hat ensures compatibility with leading enterprise software platforms. In addition, the partnership with Dell Technologies further strengthens the VMware ecosystem by supporting a wide range of hardware and infrastructure solutions.
Implementing an efficient load balancer is crucial to ensuring high availability and performance of containerized and cloud-native applications. VMware Cloud offers advanced load balancing capabilities, enabling enterprises to optimize the use of their compute resources and ensure business continuity.
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