New Itanium Processors: New Oracle CPU Count?
I just read on Tweakers.net that the new Intel Itanium processor series has been introduced, namely the 93Xx series. Faster, faster faster! Itanium processors are very good for your Oracle environment. They do many calculations with a relatively low number of processors. And that saves money. So also the heart of the Oracle licensing specialist beats faster: Will it be slightly cheaper now, or not?
Background
With the introduction of multicore processors for John Doe, Oracle has persistently kept you paying the full price for each Core for quite some time. Which is odd, as nowhere was stated in the first place that each ‘core’ had to be counted separately: Licensing agreements were simply definin a “Processor”. No more, no less, but everybody pulled his wallet. After a lot of negativity about this practice, some years ago a separate system was created, which in real life “retroactively” applied to all clients.
Itanium 93Xx your old license
Let’s say you have an old Processor license from 2006. Your definition says that you have to count the Processor amounts as defined in your definition, which is probably in accordance with that separate system Oracle introduced for multicore processors. These contracts cannot be changed randomly, and you are allowed to count Intel based (multicore) Processors with the 0.5 multiplier. So a Dual Core 93xx license (if licensed with that old Processor license), only requires one Processor license!
Itanium 93Xx: Your calculation today
Today, February 9, 2010, your new licenses and definitions are already linked to an external website from Oracle: www.oracle.com/contracts. It tells you that everything beyond the Somewhere in this URL, at the very bottom in the section of “License and Services Agreement”, an Oracle Core Processor Factor Table has been added. Oracle modifies it as it pleases, and the version available today was updated on 24/9/2009. The table available there right now will show that you will have to count each Processor core of a 93xx Processor as a full Oracle license.
IT Architects will now already want to notice the 93XX Itanium family for their Oracle farms. If you already today a server with this processor, you must therefore also a larger number of Oracle processor licenses than when you buy a 91xx series Itanium (which does not count as 1.0 but only as 0.5). So if you intend to use 4 Cores, the difference is a whopping US$ 95.000.-. And I’m not even talking about the annual support of US$ 20.900.-.
The challenge
If you do buy the latest processor and pay indeed 4 times the full price paid: What happens when Oracle decides a day later to adapt the Core table and make it 0.5 instead? In any case, you will have to discover yourself, because Oracle won’t notify you of any updates. And, will you in fact be allowed to use the 0.75 factor, even though that change was made after you bought the license? And, will you get a refund? Ask Oracle…
Update
As per 16 Feb, Oracle has updated the sheet and states that the 93XX will be counted as 0.5.
This content is published under the Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported license.
Replies
3 replies op “New Itanium Processors: New Oracle CPU Count?”
Respond
Contact
Your Update stating As per 16 Feb, Oracle has updated the sheet and states that the 93XX will be counted as 0.5 – this should also state that only relates (For servers purchased on or after Dec 1st,2010)
Steve, thanks for the heads up! In fact, Oracle states 0.5 for Multicore 93xx, and 1.0 for Singlecore 93xx. It’s getting more and more simple every time, I should fear for my job
Hi Guys,
The 0.5 core factor on Itanium 93xx only applies to products purchased prior to Dec 1st, 2010. All other will count as 1.0 per core
See more in detail here – http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/contracts/processor-core-factor-table-070634.pdf