December 21, 2005 at 2:48 pm
I may need my own database and application to figure this out over time, but apparently Oracle has lowered multicore pricing, but in an interesting way.
If you aren't familiar with this, many new CPUs in computers contain multiple cores. The new Itanium 2s, for example, have 2 cores. Some of the IBM Power CPUs have 4, and other ones have differing amounts. Some software companies, like Microsoft, price their per-CPU software by the physical socket, so hytperthreaded Intels or the new dual core Itaniums, will count as one CPU, not 2 (or more).
Oracle, however, has been taking the number of cores and multiplying by .75 to determine the number of licenses you need. However they've changed it so that the multiplier is different for different CPUs. For Intels, it's .5, but for the new Sun T1, it's .25. Now the T1s can have 8 cores, so you'd be buying 2 licenses per socket. IBM Power CPUs are still .75 and single core CPUs have a multiplier of 1.
So licensing in a hetero environment, with multiple kinds of CPUs just became a full time position for some large corporations. Heck, if you work for a Fortune 1000, maybe you should apply to "create" this position for yourself. Or maybe not. The next version of Oracle licensing might require partial differential equations to figure out.
Or just stick with SQL Server, where a 4 way box requires 4 licenses and no complex math.
Steve Jones
PS, apologies to everyone for yesterday's Question of the Day. I mistakenly forgot to paste in the query Kathi had sent me. I removed all the answers and edited the question, so you can go back and re-answer today.
December 22, 2005 at 7:04 am
People working with oracle is used to work with complex software and understand this easily. If you are used to work with right-click programms like MSSQL this might be a problem
December 22, 2005 at 7:34 am
I'm not a big fan of complexity where simplicity will do.
Having said that, multiplication and addition aren't exactly complex. It's being done thousands of times an hour at the cash register as Christmas day approaches. Oracle, like any software (SQLServer included), has its flaws. Attacking it on its pricing formula seems trivial.
December 22, 2005 at 9:20 am
I agree, since you have to spend 3 years to figure out RMAN, spending an extra day and a half pricing out your server should be no problem right?
Maybe Oracle will make a new function FMAN. This will calculate how many times you will be swearing while managing your licenses as you enjoy the flexibility of moving from platform to platform.
B
December 22, 2005 at 1:30 pm
Except someone else will be in charge of it and they'll be bugging you for CPU counts, which is in which class, what the multipliers are, etc.
Plus it's not an automatic process. You have to know which CPUs, with which affinities, on which platforms are being used for Oracle.
Licensing is a pain. It's always simple and always ends up being a hassle for IT to deal with. Oracle is making this unnecessarily complex.
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