A customer asked this question about Oracle Linux support. When Oracle Linux installed on OracleVM, on an ODA: is this support per VM, or per physical server (in this case the ODA-node). Could be quite a difference in paying and getting support.

Quite a simple question again, bit harder to answer. Starting with the support you get with the ODA and what metric is used.

  • When buying an ODA (or any other Oracle server) you get Oracle Premier Support for Systems for free. This includes Oracle Linux Premier Support. Not very obvious in the documentation but sorted it out in this blogpost.
  • The licensing metric of Oracle Linux Premier Support is based on ‘system’ :“is defined as the computer on which the Oracle Linux programs are installed. Where computers/blades are clustered, each computer/blade within the cluster shall be defined as a system.” Source: Oracle Linux and Oracle VM pricelist . But what is a system, is this a VM or a physical server?

The final answer comes from a blogpost from the infamous  Wim Coekaerts.

“Oracle Linux support subscriptions are per physical server.
If you plan to run Oracle Linux as a guest on Oracle VM, VMWare or Hyper-v, you only have to pay for a single subscription per system, we do not charge per guest or per number of guests. In other words, you can run any number of Oracle Linux guests per physical server and count it as just a single subscription. “

So the answer : per server.

A bit peculiar: when registering an ODA CSI on ULN, there is a number mentioned of 26. A customer’s example:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is the difference by the way between Oracle Linux Premier Limited and Oracle Linux Premier support?

Some important information by the way about the meaning of ‘Limited’ in the footnotes of Oracle Linux and Oracle VM :

– Oracle Linux Premier Limited and Oracle Linux Basic Limited support services are available only for systems with no more than 2 physical CPUs per system. Where computers are clustered, each system within the cluster must have no more than 2 physical CPUs.

– Oracle Linux Premier, Oracle Linux Basic and Oracle Linux Network support services are available for systems with any number of physical CPUs per system.

Sources:

What kind of Oracle linux support on oracle-hardware is included: https://www.jobacle.nl/?p=2020

Oracle Linux and Oracle VM pricelist: http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/pricing/els-pricelist-070592.pdf 

Wim Coekaerts pricing guide:  https://blogs.oracle.com/wim/oracle-linux-and-oracle-vm-pricing-guide