Dynatrace classic licensing is the licence model Dynatrace used before the Dynatrace Platform Subscription. Under it, consumption is measured in several monitoring units: host units for application and infrastructure monitoring, Davis data units (DDUs) for custom data, Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) units, and Application Security units (ASUs).[1] Dynatrace now calls it a legacy model, and all new contracts are signed on DPS.[1] The unit definitions remain relevant for existing SaaS and Managed licences. They also explain the “Classic” items still on the DPS rate card. The contractual weights are in the Dynatrace Platform Usage Supplement, which states that the elements of the platform are “generally licensed on a consumption-based model, up to the amount and for the time period specified in the Order Form”.[2] The overview is in Dynatrace licensing.
Editions
Classic licences are built from unit pools rather than editions:[2]
| Unit pool | Capabilities consumed from it |
|---|---|
| Host units and host unit hours | OneAgent application and infrastructure monitoring in Full-Stack or Infrastructure mode |
| Davis data units | Custom metrics, Log Monitoring, custom traces, custom events, serverless functions, Log Management and Analytics, Business Events |
| DEM units | Real User Monitoring, Session Replay, Synthetic Monitoring |
| Application Security Units | Runtime Vulnerability Analytics and Runtime Application Protection |
| MSUs | Mainframe monitoring of CICS, IMS and z/OS Java modules |
DEM units, DDUs and ASUs can be used flexibly on any eligible capability, up to the quantity and type on the Order Form. Each capability consumes the weight shown in the unit weighting tables. New capabilities that Dynatrace adds also consume the existing pools.[2]
Metrics
OneAgent is licensed per host, virtual or physical. Hosts are sized by their RAM, so larger hosts consume more host units.[3] The Platform Usage Supplement sets the weighting:[2]
| Maximum RAM | Full-Stack host units | Infrastructure host units |
|---|---|---|
| 1.6 GB | 0.1 | 0.03 |
| 4 GB | 0.25 | 0.075 |
| 8 GB | 0.5 | 0.15 |
| 16 GB | 1 | 0.3 |
| 32 GB | 2 | 0.6 |
| 48 GB | 3 | 0.9 |
| 64 GB and above (N x 16 GB) | N | 1 |
A host unit hour is one host unit consumed for one hour. A 16 GiB host running for a full day therefore consumes 24 host unit hours.[3] The DDU and DEM weights are listed under Counting below.
Counting / floors
Host units
When a host’s RAM falls between two table values it is rounded up, so a 12 GiB host consumes 1 host unit.[3] Total consumption is the sum of the host units of all monitored systems in all modes.[3] In Infrastructure mode, if the host unit cap is enabled for the Cloud Infrastructure licence, no host consumes more than 1.0 host unit. Customers whose existing agreement does not reflect the cap are told to contact Dynatrace Sales.[3] The number of JVMs on a host does not matter.[3] Catalog: Classic host units are weighted by RAM and rounded up; Classic Infrastructure mode is capped at 1.0 host unit per host.
Dynatrace calculates host-unit consumption every minute on true concurrency. Two hosts count as two host units only if they run at the same time.[3] Host unit hours are counted in calendar hours, not usage hours. A host that runs from 10:23 to 11:23 therefore consumes two host unit hours. A host that runs for less than 5 minutes does not count, and one that runs 5 minutes or more rounds up to a full host unit hour.[3] When monitoring of a host stops, its host units are released for another host within about five minutes.[3] Catalog: Host unit hours are counted per calendar hour on true concurrency.
Overages and host unit hours
If the account allows overages, use above the host unit quota is calculated in host unit hours. In Dynatrace’s example, exceeding a 10-host-unit quota by 2 host units for a week produces 336 host unit hours of overage.[3] Overages are calculated per account, not per environment. An account licensed for 100 host units across production and test incurs no overage until the two together exceed 100.[3] Host unit hours can also be bought as a pool for seasonal peaks or short projects. For example, 9,000 host unit hours spent in one day allow an extra 375 host units for that day.[3] Catalog: Classic host unit overages are calculated per account, not per environment.
DDUs
DDUs are bought in volumes of 1 million on one- to three-year terms. The full licensed amount renews at the start of each year.[4] Every new SaaS environment and each Managed licence gets 200,000 DDUs a year free. This free tier is not available to offline or pay-as-you-go accounts.[4] In-product notices appear at 90% and 100% consumption. Optional DDU pools can set monthly or yearly limits per environment, but they are not enforced by default.[4] The contractual weights are 0.001 DDU per custom metric data point, 0.0005 per log record, 0.0007 per span, 0.001 per custom event and 0.002 per serverless invocation. Log Management and Analytics, and Business Events, consume 100 DDUs per GB ingested, 0.30 per GB per day retained and 1.70 per GB queried.[2] Catalog: DDUs are bought in 1-million volumes that renew annually, with a 200,000 free tier.
DEM units
A Real User Monitoring session consumes 0.25 DEM units, or 1.00 if captured with Session Replay. Each additional property costs 0.01 per session. A synthetic browser action costs 1.00, and an HTTP monitor request or third-party synthetic result 0.10.[2] Sessions are charged per application. Sessions with only one user action are “bounced” and not counted, and synthetic and robot traffic is excluded.[5] A billed session ends when the user session ends or after 60 minutes of continuous interaction.[5] Catalog: Classic DEM units are consumed by weighted session and synthetic counts.
ASUs and MSUs
Each Application Security capability consumes 1 ASU per hour multiplied by the RAM weight. Runtime Application Protection relies on Runtime Vulnerability Analytics, so a server with protection enabled consumes ASUs for both. A 16 GiB server running both therefore uses 2 ASUs per hour.[6] Mainframe monitoring consumes MSUs, based on the peak rolling 4-hour average MSU of the most recent month for each monitored LPAR or subsystem. The customer must notify Dynatrace if this exceeds the licensed MSUs.[2] If the customer disables reporting, it must supply the peak values every six months.[2] Catalog: Classic mainframe monitoring is licensed on peak rolling 4-hour average MSUs.
Annual reset
Host unit hours, DEM units, DDUs and ASUs bought as an annual amount for a multi-year term reset on each anniversary of the Start Date. Additional units bought mid-year reset or end on the same date. Any unused annual amount expires and is not carried forward.[2] Catalog: Classic annual usage amounts reset each year and do not carry forward.
Virtualization & partitioning
Host units are counted per operating system instance, physical or virtual, and sized by the RAM available to that OS.[2] Application-only monitoring on container platforms such as Kubernetes, ECS, Fargate, Azure App Service and OpenShift calculates host units from the detected memory limit. If no limit is detected, the underlying host memory may be used, which can produce more host units. Solaris Zones and undetected containers count as hosts.[3] On Azure App Service on Linux, consumption is the plan instance’s memory multiplied by the number of running containers.[3] See virtualization and partitioning.
Cloud / BYOL
Classic terms apply to both SaaS and Managed deployments unless stated otherwise.[2] Dynatrace Managed is cluster software that runs on infrastructure the customer provides. Clusters need outbound access to Dynatrace for licence validation and updates, and monitoring data stays on the customer’s infrastructure.[2] Customers moving from Managed to SaaS can put both deployments under one DPS commitment with DPS for Hybrid.[7]
Programs
- Premium High Availability. Lets a Managed cluster span regionally distributed data centres. It is an additional licence measured by the peak host units the cluster monitors.[2] Catalog: Premium High Availability is measured on peak host units.
- Mission Control and Enterprise Success and Support. Managed Mission Control support requires an active maintenance or subscription contract. Enterprise Success and Support is an optional fee that is recalculated at renewal from the products then licensed.[2]
- Free-trial host unit hours. Free trials are granted as a quantity of host unit hours.[3]
- Classic items on the DPS rate card. DPS customers can still buy Custom Metrics Classic, Log Monitoring Classic, Custom Traces Classic, Custom Events Classic and Serverless Functions Classic, priced per 1,000 units.[8]
Out of scope
- Converting a classic licence to DPS. No public conversion ratio between host units and DPS spend was found.
- Earlier versions of the Platform Usage Supplement and older classic unit tables.
- Dynatrace AppMon and other discontinued products.