Oracle Licencing Changes

Do you run multi core CPUs in your server and run Oracle Databases?

If you do here’s some good news for you. Oracle has changed the way they calculate their pricing for software. The old licensing model was based on CPUs or Cores.

The new method is based on Sockets which can have multi core processors installed. The number of cores on a chip or socket don’t matter when determining the number of processor licenses for Standard Edition licenses.

Oracle Database Standard Edition can only be licensed on servers that have a maximum capacity of 4 sockets. This may hold benefits for your organization as IBM now have quad core CPUs available in p550 (2 sockets) and p560 (4 sockets). This means that in a p560 you could be running 4 x quad core CPU (effectively 16way) at Standard Edition pricing.

Previously this would have meant enterprise level licensing on this type of server and of course increased costs. The savings on licensing could be significant for your company in fact; enough in some cases to pay for the hardware.

It also means that you can now purchase a 16 way system without making the jump up to a p570 or above. Again this can be a significant price saving.

The Enterprise Level licensing has also undergone some rationalization with Oracle introducing a “Processor Factor” on multicore sockets. That can mean savings on licensing of 25%.

There is more information to be found at the following URL:
http://www.oracle.com/corporate/pricing/multicore_faq.pdf