Optimizing Oracle Licensing

Delivering Oracle Success

Optimizing Oracle LicensingAn Oracle Primer

Esley Gustafson, DBAK

RMOUG QEWNovember 19, 2010

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Disclaimer

• This presentation does not constitute legal advice. Your Oracle licenses are governed by your Oracle License and Services Agreement and the Oracle Software Technical Support Polices. I would encourage you all to read both these documents and consult legal counsel before making any changes to your Oracle licensing.

• This presentations is intended to give you a better understanding of Oracle products, product versions, licensing policies and the common application of these policies.

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About DBAK

• Oracle solution provider• Co-founded in 2005• Based in Englewood, CO• 2008 “Emerging Business of the Year” – South Metro

Denver Chamber of Commerce• More than 130 implementations, upgrades,

conversions, and support projects for 80+ clients• Average 15 years of Oracle expertise• Oracle Gold Partner

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Agenda

• Things to Consider• Oracle Agreements• Key Terms• Product Versions• Licensing Models• Oracle Support• Virtualization• Questions

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1978 2010

Oracle 1977 to 2010

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Oracle Licensing

Things to consider:

• Understand key concepts and agreements• Understand how hardware impacts licensing• Know what products you need• Consider all licensing options, versions, financing,

leasing, etc.• Have a licensing plan• Monitor and track your licensing to ensure compliance

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License and Support Agreements

OLSA- Oracle Licensing and Services AgreementDefines terms, conditions between Oracle and End User. Also, commits End User to the terms and conditions Oracle Technical Support Policies

ELA- Enterprise Licensing Agreement Typically defines the users right to use specific quantities of specific products for a defined period of time. Usually discounted and usage must be certified at the end of the period. Typically used for deployments where it is impossible or impractical to track product usage or the IT environment is growing rapidly.

Ordering documentsDescribes quantities and price. May contain licensing terms and language that augments or amends OLSA.

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Key Terms:

• User Minimums The minimum number of Named Users you must purchase PER processor OR the actual number of users; whichever is greater.

• Processor (See Oracle OLSA for complete definition)Key points:

1. Calculate total number of cores2. Apply “Core Factor” (see Oracle multi core factor table)3. Results in number of cores/processors to be licensed

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License and Support AgreementsKey Terms:• Common Myth “You don’t have to license TEST environments”.Testing: “For the purpose of testing physical copies of backups, your license for the Oracle Database (Enterprise Edition, Standard Edition or Standard Edition One) includes the right to run the database on an unlicensed computer for up to four times, not exceeding 2 days per testing, in any given calendar year.”

• Common Myth “You don’t have to license DR”.Failover: “Subject to the conditions that follow below, your license for the programs listed on the US Oracle Technology Price List, which may be accessed at http://www.oracle.com/corporate/pricing/pricelists.html, includes the right to run the licensed program(s) on an unlicensed spare computer in a failover environment for up to a total of ten separate days in any given calendar year (for example, if a failover node is down for two hours on Tuesday and three hours on Friday, it counts as two days). The above right only applies when a number of machines are arranged in a cluster and share one disk array. When the primary node fails, the failover node acts as the primary node. Once the primary node is repaired, you must switch back to the primary node. Once the failover period has exceeded ten days, the failover node must be licensed. In addition, only one failover node per clustered environment is at no charge for up to ten separate days even if multiple nodes are configured as failover. Downtime for maintenance purposes counts towards the ten separate days limitation…”

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Product Versions

Oracle Database• Oracle Standard Edition One

– Use on max 2 Sockets– Includes Oracle RAC , but no other EE options– $5,000 per processor

• Oracle Standard Edition– Use on max 4 Sockets– Includes Oracle RAC, but no other EE options– $17,500 per processor

• Oracle Enterprise Edition– No limitations– EE Options available– $47,500 per processor

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Oracle Licensing Models

• Example 11g Database Enterprise Edition– Processor Model

Oracle has very specific language defining a processorMulti-core processors require a calculation based on type of hardware

– Named User PlusUnderstand the definition of a “user”Understand the concept of “user minimums”You must calculate the actual number of users ANDthe user minimums per processor. You must purchase whichever is greater.

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Named User Example 120 Users 2 Single-core Processor Server

=

*DBEE user minimum 25 Named Users per processor

50 Named UsersOracle Database EE

Rule: You must calculate the actual number of users AND the user minimums per processor.

**You must license whichever is greater**

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Named User Example 276 Users 2 Single-core Processor Server

=

*DBEE user minimum 25 Named Users per processor

76 Named UsersOracle Database EE

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Processor Example 1

Sun T2000 Server

1- Eight core 1.2 GHz UltraSPARC T1

Oracle Core Factor.25

(8 cores) x (.25 core factor)= 2 cores/processors

You must License 2 “processors” of Oracle DBEE

$115,900

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Processor Example 2

Oracle Core Factor.5

(8 cores) x (.5 core factor)= 4 cores/processors

You must License 4 “processors” of Oracle DBEE

Dell PowerEdge 605

2-Quad Core AMD Opteron 2.4GHz

$231,000

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Oracle Support

• 22% of the net price of your purchase• Entitles you to updates and support• Is governed by your OLSA and Oracle technical support policies• Support is difficult to change or correct!

• Know the support implications of your licensing decisions• Understand what you can and can’t do• Understand key support concepts: license sets, de-supporting,

back-support, penalties, co-terminate, etc.• Review and monitor your support agreements

Key Support Concepts

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Virtualization

The Evolution of Oracle’s Policy on Virtualized Environments

You can’t do it!!!!

You can’t do it! If you do; we won’t support you!!

You shouldn’t do it. If you do; we’ll make it difficult to support you!

You can do it and we will help you if it’s known problem.

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Virtualization FAQ

Q: Can I run Oracle products in a “virtualized” environment?A: Yes

Q: Are Oracle products certified in “virtualized” environments?A: No

Q: Will Oracle support me if I have a “virtualized” environment?A: Maybe, if the issue is a known issue on the native OS or can be demonstrated not to be the result of running VMware. Covered in Oracle Support Note ID 249212.1

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VirtualizationMy Oracle support document ID 249212.1

“Oracle has not certified any of its products on VMware virtualized environments. Oracle Support will assist customers running Oracle products on VMware in the following manner: Oracle will only provide support for issues that either are known to occur on the native OS, or can be demonstrated not to be as a result of running on VMware. If a problem is a known Oracle issue, Oracle support will recommend the appropriate solution on the native OS. If that solution does not work in the VMware virtualized environment, the customer will be referred to VMware for support. When the customer can demonstrate that the Oracle solution does not work when running on the native OS, Oracle will resume support, including logging a bug with Oracle Development for investigation if required. If the problem is determined not to be a known Oracle issue, we will refer the customer to VMware for support. When the customer can demonstrate that the issue occurs when running on the native OS, Oracle will resume support, including logging a bug with Oracle Development for investigation if required. NOTE: Oracle has not certified any of its products on VMWare, and use of Oracle products in the RAC environment is also not supported. “

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Oracle Licensing Strategy• Know what you want/need

• Understand the products and various methods of licensing• Understand how much you need

• Know when you need it• Consider consolidating purchases

• Allow enough time• 6-12 months isn’t too long• Develop a licensing plan and strategy

• Know what to ask for• Don’t waste time and power asking for things you will never get• Understand your legal obligations

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Oracle Licensing Strategy

• Know what a good deal looks like• Once you have what you need; take the deal• Policies change frequently regarding discounts and

concessions, don’t rely on past history or what was offered at other companies.

• Communicate• Build a relationship with Oracle and your Oracle Partner• Keep them informed

Oracle Partners and Resellers can help you with all of this

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Key Terms:Processor ”shall be defined as all processors where the Oracle programs are installed and/or running. Programs licensed on a processor basis may be accessed by your internal users (including agents and contractors) and by your third party users. The number of required licenses shall be determined by multiplying the total number of cores of the processor by a core processor licensing factor specified on the Oracle Processor Core Factor Table which can be accessed at http://oracle.com/contracts. All cores on all multicore chips for each licensed program are to be aggregated before multiplying by the appropriate core processor licensing factor and all fractions of a number are to be rounded up to the next whole number. When licensing Oracle programs with Standard Edition One or Standard Edition in the product name, a processor is counted equivalent to an occupied socket; however, in the case of multi-chip modules, each chip in the multi-chip module is counted as one occupied socket. For example, a multicore chip based server with an Oracle Processor Core Factor of 0.25 installed and/or running the program (other than Standard Edition One programs or Standard Edition programs) on 6 cores would require 2 processor licenses (6 multiplied by a core processor licensing factor of .25 equals 1.50, which is then rounded up to the next whole number, which is 2). As another example, a multicore server for a hardware platform not specified in the Oracle Processor Core Factor Table installed and/or running the program on 10 cores would require 10 processor licenses (10 multiplied by a core processor licensing factor of 1.0 for ‘All other multicore chips’ equals 10)…”

Optimizing Oracle Licensing

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