Oracle Licensing on IBM LPAR:
- Dedicated LPARs: License by counting virtual processors.
- Micro-partitions: Must be capped, count entitlement, disable LPM.
- Core-based Licensing: Count physical cores and apply core factor.
- Processor Pools: License all processors in the pool.
- Compliance: Ensure adherence to Oracle’s partitioning policy and licensing rules.
Introduction Oracle Licensing IBM LPAR
Most organizations seeking to optimize their Oracle licenses with IBM LPAR find significant cost savings and efficiency improvements. In this article, we’ll explore Oracle licensing for IBM LPAR and how it can help streamline your IT budget.
Understanding Oracle Licensing on IBM LPAR
What is PowerVM?
PowerVM is IBM’s virtualization technology for its Power platform. While it offers more configuration options compared to other hypervisors like VMware, it also introduces added complexity for Oracle licensing. These configurations can dictate the number of physical processors used, down to fractions of a core in micro-partitions.
Key Terminology:
- Frame: A physical server.
- Processor Pool: A collection of subdivided processors within a frame.
- Logical Partition (LPAR): A virtual machine in PowerVM.
- Dedicated LPAR: Built on dedicated cores, not micro-partitioned.
- Micro-partitions: Built on shared CPU resources.
- Virtual Processor: Represents a physical core to an LPAR.
- Entitlement: Guaranteed CPU resources for a micro-partitioned LPAR.
- Capped: An LPAR that cannot exceed its entitlement.
- Live Partition Mobility (LPM): Allows live migration of an LPAR to different processor pools.
PowerVM Licensing
When running Oracle workloads on LPARs, there are two licensing options:
- Licensing the Underlying Hardware:
- Count the number of cores where Oracle software is installed or running.
- Apply the core factor to determine the required licenses.
- Oracle’s Hard Partitioning Policy:
- Dedicated LPARs: Count the number of virtual processors.
- Micro-partitioned LPARs: They must be capped and have LPM disabled. The entitlement determines the number of processors in use.
Oracle Licensing for LPARs
Licensing LPARs requires understanding the relationship between frames, processor pools, and LPARs. A frame can have multiple processor pools, and LPARs can migrate between them.
If LPARs are restricted to a processor pool, you only need to license the processors in that pool. Otherwise, you must license all processors that LPARs have run on.
Oracle’s Partitioning Policy for AIX Systems
- Dedicated LPARs:
- Use up to 100% of the number of physical IBM processors configured as virtual processors.
- Micro-partitioned LPARs:
- Must be capped and use entitlement to determine the number of processors.
- LPM must be disabled to avoid licensing risks.
How Our Oracle Licensing Experts Can Help
Our Oracle licensing services for IBM LPAR ensure compliance and optimize Oracle investments on IBM hardware. We offer:
- Reviewing Oracle Licensing Agreements: Understand terms and conditions for using Oracle software on IBM LPAR.
- Identifying Compliance Issues: Spot potential areas of risk.
- Optimization Recommendations: Provide cost-saving strategies for Oracle licensing on IBM LPAR.
- Migration Assistance: Help migrate Oracle workloads to IBM LPAR, ensuring proper licensing.
- Ongoing Support: Ensure continuous compliance with Oracle licensing rules and policies.
Our team of Oracle licensing experts has extensive experience with IBM LPAR and can provide customized solutions to meet your organization’s needs. We are committed to helping you protect and optimize your Oracle investments in IBM hardware.
