Advanced POWER Virtualization on IBM System p5 - Previous ...

p5-570 can run up to one processor license of i5/OS and Models 590 and 595
can run up to two processor licenses of i5/OS.
The rest of this section covers the main aspects about software licensing for
System p systems configured with IBM AIX 5L and Linux operating systems. For
more information about software licensing for i5/OS partitions on an IBM System
p system, contact your IBM sales representative.
2.7.2 Software licensing methods for UNIX operating systems
Although a discussion of software licensing on a per-server basis is not part of
this redbook, we should mention that the term server is defined by the ISV for
licensing purposes. In most cases, since each partition has its own operating
system and hardware resources (either partition with dedicated processors or
micro-partition), the partition where the software is installed is considered the
server. In this case, the software is charged one time for each partition where it is
installed and running, independently of the processors in the partition.
Many of the new licensing methods are offered on a per-processor basis, so it is
important to determine the quantity of processors in which the software is
running to determine the licensing requirements of such software, either physical
or virtual processors, to determine software charges. The rest of this section
applies only for per-processor based licensing methods.
Clients should use the quantity of active processors declared by IBM in an IBM
System p5 server as the cores to license in a per-processor basis. For example,
if IBM configures a p5-570 to have eight installed processors, six of them active,
the p5-570 should have six active cores for licensing purposes from a total of
eight installed cores, regardless the quantity of chips or processors cards.
2.7.3 Licensing factors in a virtualized system
Clients planning for the purchase of software for a partitioned IBM System p
platform should understand the drivers for licensing, since charges depend on
the way the processors in the system are used by the operating systems.
Active processors and hardware boundaries
In a per-processor basis, the boundary for licensing is the quantity of active
processors in the system (assigned and unassigned), since only active
processors can be real engines for software. It works for any type of
per-processor based software.
Chapter 2. <strong>Virtualization</strong> technologies on System p servers 55