VMware hates it's loyal customers
Now that vSphere 5 has officially been announced, has anyone else reviewed the licensing changes [PDF]? They are changing the model to begin capping the total vRAM at a socket-license level. So, it works out like this, for each socket, these are the vRAM entitlements per license level:
- 24GB vRAM for Essentials Kit
- 24GB vRAM for Essentials Plus Kit
- 24GB vRAM for Standard
- 32GB vRAM for Enterprise
- 48GB vRAM for Enterprise Plus
Let's say that you are using an 8-node cluster, each with 96GB of Physical RAM, and each with Enterprise Plus licensing. That means you are now entitled to 768MB of Virtual RAM. Now let's say that you use a script, such as this one, to determine how much vRAM is in use in your current environment. If the answer is >768MB, you are now out of compliance. Let's say that you have fairly low consolidation ratios and you are consuming 1024MB of RAM. That means you need to purchase and additional 256MB of vRAM licensing, which equates to 6 additional Enterprise Plus licenses. No one pays list, but for the sake of argument, let's assume $4,229 per license, which equals $25,374. For a version upgrade. That you are probably also paying SnS on for the "privilege" of software subscription, which I always thought meant you received free upgrades. Guess not.
VMware is punishing it's existing customers for failing to have a well-designed licensing mechanism in place. I understand they want to make more money, but they should not be coming back to the coffers of existing customers who are already paying SnS maintenance - changing the licensing scheme for every major version will eventually cost them customers. This new licensing mechanism seems be here only to give cloud providers another billing mechanism, and to punish enterprise customers who want to actually virtualize memory-bound applications.
- 24GB vRAM for Essentials Kit
- 24GB vRAM for Essentials Plus Kit
- 24GB vRAM for Standard
- 32GB vRAM for Enterprise
- 48GB vRAM for Enterprise Plus
Let's say that you are using an 8-node cluster, each with 96GB of Physical RAM, and each with Enterprise Plus licensing. That means you are now entitled to 768MB of Virtual RAM. Now let's say that you use a script, such as this one, to determine how much vRAM is in use in your current environment. If the answer is >768MB, you are now out of compliance. Let's say that you have fairly low consolidation ratios and you are consuming 1024MB of RAM. That means you need to purchase and additional 256MB of vRAM licensing, which equates to 6 additional Enterprise Plus licenses. No one pays list, but for the sake of argument, let's assume $4,229 per license, which equals $25,374. For a version upgrade. That you are probably also paying SnS on for the "privilege" of software subscription, which I always thought meant you received free upgrades. Guess not.
VMware is punishing it's existing customers for failing to have a well-designed licensing mechanism in place. I understand they want to make more money, but they should not be coming back to the coffers of existing customers who are already paying SnS maintenance - changing the licensing scheme for every major version will eventually cost them customers. This new licensing mechanism seems be here only to give cloud providers another billing mechanism, and to punish enterprise customers who want to actually virtualize memory-bound applications.
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