Vmware changes ESXi license because of AMD Epyc and Intel CPUs with more than 32 cores

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Rand__

Well-Known Member
Mar 6, 2014
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Have not seen anything, so assumptions only:

Given that they don't do online verification of licenses the new schema will be applied with a new product release/patch, so everything older than the new release will not be affected ; so VMUG users will similarly be affected when they deploy the new software. I assume the number of cpus usable will not change in VMUG, so it will directly impact you.


Starting from May 1st 2020 you will need an additional ESXi license with 32+ cores:
Update to VMware’s per-CPU Pricing Model
Thanks for the heads up :)
 

Evan

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Jan 6, 2016
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Was only a matter of time and surprised they even set the limit at 32 cores and not less like Microsoft and others.
 

ReturnedSword

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Jun 15, 2018
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Mostly this seems to be targeted at enterprises that have been shifting to more core per socket in order to reduce TCO under the previous licensing scheme. In effect it mostly affects those enterprises that are planning to move to Epyc 700x platforms with more than 32 cores, since Intel's XCC die maxes out at 28 cores. Sure there's the up to 56 core Xeons using the two XCC die MCM, but who buys those? :) This new licensing scheme will definitely make enterprises have a look again at their TCO analysis for sure.
 

schujj07

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May 10, 2018
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"Any customer who purchases VMware software licenses, for deployment on a physical server with more than 32-cores per CPU, prior to April 30, 2020 will be eligible for additional free per-CPU licenses to cover the CPUs on that server."
Note to self: Be sure to buy 64 Core CPUs before then so you don't have to pay extra.
 
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Rock

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  • Customers must be on active VMware support (SnS) contracts at the time of the request for additional licenses.
  • Note that customers will be charged for Service and Support on the additional free licenses at the time the customer’s Service and Support contract for the existing licenses renews.
 

ReturnedSword

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Jun 15, 2018
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I think this is hardly some Intel-sponsored conspiracy to take a dig at AMD. Cores per socket are just ballooning, similar to the days gone by where we were taken aback by the introduction of SMT, then dual, quad cores into the mainstream. Sure, Intel has a history of providing "marketing" incentives to partners, but the last time I looked every industry does this. Whichever company has more money will provide more incentives, and have more room for price cuts if asked by a large enough customer. We ask all the time.

Furthermore, enterprises are not fly-by-night. Relationships are built and maintained between enterprise customers and the suppliers over a period of many years. Often in the enterprise we work with what we know and who we know. It takes a momentous paradigm shift (e.g. the rapid introduction of many more cores per socket for lower prices) to dedicate additional resources to analyze solutions the enterprise is not familiar with. In my experience as a PM and EA, we are dealing with OPM (other people's money), and thus the solution is developed accordingly. It matters not that personally I have a soft spot for AMD since many years going back.

With regard to this licensing change by VMWare though, I do feel that VMWare could have fine tuned the change a bit, perhaps per core or per block of 12 cores. Per 32 core seems a bit excessive. But ask around enough and people smarter than I will point out that Epyc's high core counts were targeted almost perfectly towards server consolidation, and thus lowering TCO. In the end the cost of the license is a minor data point in the TCO calculation for enterprises that would have enough machines to consider consolidating to begin with.

I do wonder what will become of CPUs with cores that are not a multiple of 32 though. It makes sense to buy a 32 core, or 64 core with this change. Let's say Cascade Lake/Refresh vs Rome. Even if the highest Intel 56 core SKU was considered, aside from situations where AVX512 is needed, Rome offers more cores, more IPC, higher interconnect, at a lower price point. IMHO, it's not really the end of the world as many are claiming.
 
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cheezehead

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I do wonder what will become of CPUs with cores that are not a multiple of 32 though. It makes sense to buy a 32 core, or 64 core with this change. Let's say Cascade Lake/Refresh vs Rome. Even if the highest Intel 56 core SKU was considered, aside from situations where AVX512 is needed, Rome offers more cores, more IPC, higher interconnect, at a lower price point. IMHO, it's not really the end of the world as many are claiming.
The 48c sku likely will take a hit in favor of either higher clocked 32c or 64c skus for vmware deployments. If the hardware is used for bare metal, hyperv, kvm, proxmox, ect they would be unaffected.

The single socket 64c, while going forward eventually will not be as much of a TCO savings there still is a fair amount. Single proc servers tend to carry a lower entry point, likely less power draw, saves a large chunk over a dual Platinum Cascade Lake deployments, and can still save with the single socket for some 3rd party applications (backups, monitoring, ect).
 

cesmith9999

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Mar 26, 2013
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there is still a way to reduce the core count on windows...

1. Open the Start menu. Click the "Search programs and files" box at the bottom, type "msconfig" and press "Enter." A new window titled "System Configuration" appears.

2. Click the "Boot" tab at the top of the window.

3. Click the "Advanced Options" button. A new window titled "BOOT Advanced Options" appears.

4. Click to place a check in the "Number of processors" box.

one way to reduce cost. not the best way... or maybe a change in the license count for additional cores would be a nice choice...


Chris
 

Spartacus

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May 27, 2019
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there is still a way to reduce the core count on windows...

1. Open the Start menu. Click the "Search programs and files" box at the bottom, type "msconfig" and press "Enter." A new window titled "System Configuration" appears.

2. Click the "Boot" tab at the top of the window.

3. Click the "Advanced Options" button. A new window titled "BOOT Advanced Options" appears.

4. Click to place a check in the "Number of processors" box.

one way to reduce cost. not the best way... or maybe a change in the license count for additional cores would be a nice choice...


Chris
Does that work? Might be worth doing for a 32 core chip, drop 1 to save a few thousand in licensing.
Most BIOS lets you limit it at a mobo level too (which you'd have to do since this really only applies to VMware for this talk)
 

sirsquishy

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Aug 6, 2018
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This license change is probably going to ship with 7.0, when 7.1 releases is when we will start to see Intel CPUs break 32cores and then 7.1 will roll back the license cost to be Intel Friendly. Remember the vRAM tax? Same shit IMHO. We are looking at Proxmox to replace our Ent+ deployment around the time 7.x ships. So if VMware continues to pull shit like these they are going to lose us as a customer around then.
 

Dev_Mgr

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Sep 20, 2014
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there is still a way to reduce the core count on windows...

1. Open the Start menu. Click the "Search programs and files" box at the bottom, type "msconfig" and press "Enter." A new window titled "System Configuration" appears.

2. Click the "Boot" tab at the top of the window.

3. Click the "Advanced Options" button. A new window titled "BOOT Advanced Options" appears.

4. Click to place a check in the "Number of processors" box.

one way to reduce cost. not the best way... or maybe a change in the license count for additional cores would be a nice choice...


Chris
I don't think Microsoft looks like how many cores you give a VM of how many you restrict the OS to (via bios or advanced boot options); they just license by core count on the physical processor (no matter if you limit core count in bios or via another method). This is the same as when you're running ESXi on a 32-core CPU and give each (Windows Server) VM 4 cores; you still have to license for 32 cores that the physical server has and based on whether you're running Standard (comes with 2 Windows Server VM licenses per license (that covers the core count in the physical server)) or Datacenter (unlimited Windows Server VMs, but again has to be licensed based on core count in the physical server and not how many you assign to the VM).
 
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Spartacus

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^ This is the information I got from our rep as well, as a secondary note, you're technically only allowed to move the VMs every 90 days to a different host (including HA vmotion etc).
So if you update your hosts monthly you technically need to license at least two hosts to migrate between.

All of this only really comes to play if Microsoft knocks on your door for an audit.
 

Dev_Mgr

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Sep 20, 2014
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Another piece of useful info is that if you're running a cluster (vSphere, Hyper-V or any other), if a VM can move from one host to another, it has to be licensed on both (all) hosts as there is a chance that (at least for a short while) all VMs could be running on 1 host and therefor that 1 host has to be licensed to run all the (Windows Server) VMs.

With numbers and simplified:
- 2 ESXi hosts with 16 cores each
- running 5 Windows Server Standard VMs

1 Windows Server Standard license supports up to 16 cores and 2 VMs.

You'll have to get 6 Windows Server Standard licenses (that each support 16 cores).

All 5 VMs could run on 1 host (e.g. for VMware patching, maintenance, hardware upgrades or any other reason), so you need 3 Standard licenses per host (each license is 2 VMs) and there are 2 hosts.

With Datacenter you only have to 'worry' about having enough licenses to cover the physical core count as that license tier comes with unlimited Windows Server VMs (they even auto activate if you provide it the data center license keys that you can find in one of the Microsoft KB articles).

Though a dual 64-core EPYC system does consume a whole lot of Windows Datacenter licenses (8 x 16-core licenses (@~US$4k)).
 

Spartacus

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May 27, 2019
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Our rep told us that runing a rule only on X host DRS rules were sufficient for licensing (i’d double check with your own though we kept our communique outlining this just in case)