Oracle Easing Multi-Core License Terms

Oracle plans to introduce new software licensing schemes today that are kinder to users of multi-core processor machines.

The move could curb the harsh criticism the company weathered from customers who protested paying for each socket or core in a multi-core chip.

Going forward, Oracle said on its Web site that it will price its database and application server software by designating each socket on a multi-core processor as three-quarters of a chip.

A multi-core chip with ”n” cores shall be determined by multiplying ”n” cores by .75, with all fractions of a number to be rounded up to the next whole number, Oracle said.

As a result, a multi-core chip with 9 cores would require a 7 processor license because 9 multiplied by .75 equals 6.75, which is then rounded up to the next whole number, 7.

However, for those customers licensing Oracle Standard Edition One or Standard Edition software on servers with a total of 1 processor with 1 or 2 cores, only 1 processor shall be counted.

The total number of processors needed is calculated by adding the number of processors in each computer where the programs are installed or running.

For example, customers licensing the Oracle Database Enterprise Edition for 1 computer which has 2 processors must have 2 processors for each program they plan to license for the machine. Customers running Oracle Database Enterprise Edition for 4 computers, each with 1 processor and 1 computer with 8 processors would need 12 processors, Oracle said.

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