Specifications

Solution
A product that is packed and distributed independently from vSphere. You
install a solution in vSphere to take advantage of certain functionality. Every
solution has a licensing model specific for the solution, but can use the licensing
infrastructure of vCenter Server for license management and reporting.
Examples of solutions are vCenter CapacityIQ, vCenter Site Recovery
Manager, vCenter Chargeback, and so on.
Asset
Any licensable object in vSphere. The license administrator in vSphere can
assign one license key to one or multiple assets of the same type if the key has
sufficient capacity. Assets are vCenter Server systems, ESXi hosts, and solution
instances.
License Key Capacity
Amount of units that you can assign to assets. The units of a license key capacity
can be of different types depending on the product that the license key is
associated with. For example, a license key for vCenter Server determines the
number of vCenter Server instances that you can license with the key.
License Use
The number of units that an asset uses from the capacity of a license key. For
example, if you assign a per-virtual-machine license key to vCenter Site
Recovery Manager, the license use for Site Recovery Manager is the number of
protected virtual machines.
vRAM
The memory that is configured for virtual machines. vSphere 5.0 licenses entitle
a certain amount of vRAM capacity. vRAM entitlements are pooled across all
assigned vSphere 5.0 license keys of the same product edition for a vCenter
Server system or for a Linked Mode group. Only powered-on virtual machines
consume vRAM capacity from a vRAM pool. For details about vRAM and
vRAM pooling, see “vRAM Entitlement and Pooling,” on page 70.
Licensing for ESXi 5.0 Hosts
ESXi 5.0 hosts are licensed with vSphere 5.0 license keys. vSphere 5.0 license keys have per-processor capacity
with pooled vRAM entitlements. vRAM entitlements of vSphere 5.0 licenses are pooled across all assigned
vSphere 5.0 license keys of the same product edition for a single vCenter Server system or for a Linked Mode
group.
n
Assigning a vSphere 5.0 License Key on page 69
Each vSphere 5.0 license key has a certain processor capacity that you can use to license multiple physical
processors on ESXi hosts. When you assign a vSphere license key to a host, the amount of processor
capacity that is consumed is equal to the number of physical processors in the host.
n
vRAM Entitlement and Pooling on page 70
Every vSphere 5.0 edition includes a vRAM capacity entitlement. vRAM entitlements are pooled across
all assigned vSphere 5.0 licenses of the same edition for a vCenter Server instance or in a Linked Mode
group. Only powered-on virtual machines consume vRAM capacity in an amount that is equal to the
sum of their configured memory.
Assigning a vSphere 5.0 License Key
Each vSphere 5.0 license key has a certain processor capacity that you can use to license multiple physical
processors on ESXi hosts. When you assign a vSphere license key to a host, the amount of processor capacity
that is consumed is equal to the number of physical processors in the host.
To license an ESXi 5.0 host, you need to assign it a vSphere 5.0 license key with processor capacity that is
sufficient to license all physical processors on the host. For example, to license two ESXi 5.0 hosts that have
four processors each, you need to assign a vSphere 5.0 license key with a minimum capacity of 8 processors to
the hosts.
Chapter 7 License Management and Reporting
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