Superseded — Processor Value Unit (PVU)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.
- Counting rules
- Full Capacity: entitlements sufficient to cover 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 that is available for use in a physical or virtual server, regardless of whether the capacity of the processor core can be or is limited through virtualization technologies, operating system commands, BIOS settings, or similar restrictions. Sub-capacity: entitlements for activated processor cores made available to or managed by the Program per Virtualization Capacity License Counting Rules. Lower of: maximum virtual cores available to the Eligible Product at any time, or physical capacity of the host when virtual capacity exceeds physical; then multiply cores by PVUs/core from the PVU table. SMT/hyperthreading ratios are not adjusted for with sub-capacity licensing. License the maximum (peak) processor core capacity; IBM FAQs: no averaging, no true-up grace period. Container licensing (IBM: the PVU table does not apply): 1 VPC equals 1 vCPU and 70 PVUs equals 1 vCPU; PVU rate set at 70 PVUs per VPC or vCPU. ILMT mandatory for sub-capacity PVU. PVU table as printed: RISC/System z 25 September 2024; x86 08 May 2024. IBM examples: Intel post-Nehalem Xeon including Xeon 6 and Xeon Scalable 70/100/120 PVUs/core for max sockets 2/4/>4; AMD EPYC 70; AMD Opteron 50; Intel Core i3/i5/i7/i9 70 (newest generation Performance Hybrid Architecture with two core types excluded); Any/All others 100.
- Floors / minimums
- The minimum requirement for software licensing is the appropriate number of license entitlements for one processor core. / No. The minimum requirement for software licensing is the appropriate number of license entitlements for 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.
- Related metrics
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