Superseded — Processor Value Unit (PVU)
Catalog row in Vendor License Metrics · Draft
- Unit
- PVU
- Aliases
- PVU; PVUs; Processor Value Units; PVU-based licensing; Full Capacity vs Virtualization Capacity (Sub-Capacity)
- Definition
- Processor Value Unit (PVU) is a unit of measure by which the Program can be licensed. The number of PVU entitlements required is based on the processor technology (defined within the PVU Table by Processor Vendor, Brand, Type and Model Number) and the number of processors made available to the Program. IBM continues to define a processor, for the purpose of PVU-based licensing, to be each processor core on a chip. A dual-core processor chip, for example, has two processor cores. — Passport Advantage / Passport Common License Types & Definitions, ibm.com, retrieved 2026-08-31.
- Counting rules
- Full Capacity: entitlements covering all activated processor cores in the physical hardware environment made available to or managed by the Program, except servers from which the Program has been permanently removed. Activated processor core: a processor core available for use in a physical or virtual server, regardless of whether capacity is limited through virtualization, OS commands, BIOS, or similar. Sub-capacity: entitlements for activated processor cores made available to or managed by the Program per Virtualization Capacity License Counting Rules; take the lower of maximum virtual cores available to the Eligible Product at any time, or physical host capacity when virtual exceeds physical; then multiply cores by PVUs/core from the IBM PVU table. SMT/hyperthreading ratios are not adjusted for with sub-capacity licensing. License the peak (no averaging). Container licensing only (IBM; PVU table does not apply): 1 VPC = 1 vCPU and 70 PVUs = 1 vCPU; 70 PVUs per VPC or vCPU. IBM publishes no global PVU↔VPC conversion for traditional (non-container) VM licensing.
- Floors / minimums
- The minimum requirement for software licensing is the appropriate number of license entitlements for one processor core / one whole processor core (Sub-Capacity FAQs). Fractional PowerVM cores: IBM aggregates fractions, applies shared-pool capping, and rounds up at the server level to the next whole processor core.