Superseded — Virtual Processor Core (VPC)
Catalog row in Vendor License Metrics · Draft
- Unit
- VPC
- Aliases
- VPC; VPCs; VPCs in Containers; vCPU (IBM: a vCPU is also referred to as a Virtual Processor Core (VPC))
- Definition
- Virtual Processor Core (VPC) is a unit of measure by which the Program can be licensed. A Virtual Processor Core is a Processor Core in an unpartitioned Physical Server, or a virtual core assigned to a Virtual Server. (IBM Passport Advantage, Commonly used license metrics.) Cloud Paks Licensing Guide: A VPC is either a physical or virtual processor core made available to an IBM program. If the IBM program is running on a virtual environment and qualifies for Virtualization Capacity licensing, it is the virtual CPUs (vCPUs) that are counted; if Full-Capacity, it is the physical processor cores of the physical infrastructure that are counted.
- Counting rules
- A Virtual Processor Core is a Processor Core in an unpartitioned Physical Server, or a virtual core assigned to a Virtual Server. Blade/rack-mounted devices with the required components are separate Physical Servers. Deploy Full Capacity, sub-capacity, or Container Licensing if the Program supports it. Some programs take the lesser of the sum of virtual cores versus all physical cores on the Physical Server; some count VPCs of managed systems; some are referenced-basis. Sub-capacity (live Passport Advantage Virtualization Capacity page): For VPCs: 1 VPC equals 1 virtual CPU (vCPU). Effective 10 May 2022, VPC sub-capacity requires ILMT or an approved validated tool; manual capacity counting is no longer permitted. Container Licensing terms are not included in that VPC policy change. Containers (live IBM Container Licenses page): For the purposes of this guidance, 1 VPC is equal to 1 vCPU (and 70 PVUs is equal to 1 vCPU). License the vCPU Limit of each licensable container in a Pod, summed, capped at worker-node capacity; without IBM License Service, count combined vCPU capacity of all worker nodes in the cluster. Unspecified limit → entire worker-node vCPU capacity. Cloud Paks guide: counted vCPUs or physical cores are converted to VPCs and in some cases adjusted for hyperthreading or SMT — no public HT/SMT conversion table is published. 70 PVU = 1 VPC is not a general Passport Advantage rule for VMs.
- Floors / minimums
- No VPC-per-processor floor in retrieved IBM documents. Failure of VPC sub-capacity tooling/reporting → full-capacity charge on activated physical cores. Container Licensing is a separate policy from sub-capacity and was excluded from the 10 May 2022 VPC ILMT policy change.