Teradata sells its database for on-premises and customer-managed deployment in several forms. Teradata Factory is the current on-premises deployment of the Teradata Autonomous Knowledge Platform, for regulated and mission-critical environments.[1] VantageCore (renamed Teradata Factory) is the software-only form that runs on VMware or other virtualization.[2] The IntelliFlex and IntelliBase appliance platforms are also on-premises options.[1][3] Software entitlement is expressed as a licence tier with a number of licensed cores.[4] Maintenance is delivered under the Teradata Product Support Policies.[8] Teradata describes TCore as “a metric used to price Teradata software”.[10] See Teradata licensing for the overview.
Editions
Platforms. Teradata Factory combines Teradata software with Dell compute and storage, NVIDIA GPU acceleration and high-performance networking.[1] Teradata also lists Bring Your Own Hardware (BYOH) and Teradata IntelliFlex as on-premises options. It states that AI Factory was formerly IntelliFlex.[1] The Hardware Product Guide covers IntelliBase, IntelliFlex 1.x and 2.x and the 9400 cabinet. IntelliBase 2.0 supports database releases 16.20 to 17.20, while IntelliBase 1.0 and IntelliFlex 1.x support Teradata Database only up to 16.10.[3] The hardware a customer runs therefore limits which software releases it can license and support.
Licence tiers. VantageCore VMware and VantageCore on Virtualization are each sold in four tiers.[6][4]
| Base | Advanced | Enterprise | Developer Standard | Developer Preconfigured | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support | Premier | Premier | Premier | Community | Community |
| Node limit | 64 VMs | 64 VMs | 64 VMs | 2 | 1 |
| System concurrency limit | 15 | Unlimited | Unlimited | 2 | 2 |
| Maximum database size | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited | 6 TB | 3 TB |
| Workload management | None listed | TIWM | TASM | None | None |
| Teradata Intelligent Memory | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| In-Memory Optimization | No | No | Yes | No | No |
Source: VantageCore VMware 4.2 and VantageCore on Virtualization license tier tables.[6][4] Every tier includes Teradata Studio, Tools and Utilities, Query Service, Server Management and Viewpoint at no additional cost. Teradata Data Mover and QueryGrid (Teradata Fabric) are “sold, deployed, and supported separately”.[4] Premier support is the base level included with Base, Advanced and Enterprise. Essential, Performance and Optimize Success levels cost extra.[4]
Metrics
| Teradata term | Catalog row | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| License cores | License cores | “License cores must match or exceed deployed system size”.[4] |
| TCore | TCore-Hour | Rating used to price Teradata software. VoV sizing tables state TCore per VM and per host.[10][5] |
Counting / floors
Core match. To deploy VantageCore on Virtualization, the customer needs a “Valid Teradata license entitlement ID”, and the licensed cores must match or exceed the size of the deployed system.[4] The recommended configuration for a 24-core host allocates 22 cores to two Trusted Parallel Application (TPA) virtual machines. It is rated 6.6 TCore per VM, 13.2 TCore for two TPAs and 13 TCore per host.[5] As commentary: the documents do not say whether licensed cores are counted at host level or TPA level. Because host cores and allocated TPA cores differ, the definition in the order should be confirmed. Catalog: VantageCore license cores must match or exceed the deployed system.
Tier limits. The Base tier caps system concurrency at 15. The Developer tiers cap nodes, concurrency and database size, as shown in the table above.[4]
Developer tier. The Developer tier is a fully functional database for “evaluation purposes such as proof of concept, development and testing, data validation, and as a sandbox”. Its deployed software cannot be updated. There is no upgrade path, and moving to a later version needs a new installation that loses existing data.[6] A Developer system used for production would be outside its stated purpose. Catalog: Developer tier is for evaluation and cannot be updated.
Virtualization & partitioning
VantageCore VMware requires the customer to hold VMware ESXi, vCenter and PowerCLI licences. VMware management features “such as distributed resource scheduler (DRS), vMotion, Storage vMotion, HA, and VMware Snapshots are not supported”.[7] The VMware licences are a separate cost and compliance position with Broadcom. Because live migration is unsupported, Teradata VMs are expected to stay on defined hosts. VantageCore on Virtualization is fully supported on KVM on bare metal, and support for Harvester is listed as “TBD”. As a Bring Your Own Hardware offering, it runs on any hardware that supports SLES 15 SP7.[5] Teradata publishes no hard- or soft-partitioning policy beyond the core-match rule. Catalog: VantageCore VMware needs customer-supplied VMware licences; DRS and vMotion unsupported. See virtualization and partitioning.
Cloud / BYOL
The Product Support Policies note that do-it-yourself (DIY) public cloud deployments are not eligible for Extended Database Maintenance unless Teradata makes it available for a release.[8] Teradata’s own managed cloud services follow the Teradata Cloud Description, not these policies. See Teradata Cloud and VantageCloud Enterprise licensing.
Programs
Premier Support. The Product Support Policies cover maintenance and support for Teradata, Teradata Vantage, Teradata Solutions powered by Dell, Aster Data, Hadoop software and Teradata equipment. They do not cover VantageCloud services.[8] To receive support, the customer must:[8]
- have a signed Teradata Master Agreement that includes Maintenance & Support terms;
- have a signed maintenance order listing the products, support level, options and rates;
- “have currently licensed and supported software versions”; and
- pay a maintenance and support fee.
Some subscription-based software licences include Premier Support.[8] Coverage options are 24x7, 9x5 and 24x7 Priority. The 9x5 option is “Only available for Perpetual License”.[8] Hours of coverage must be the same for all equipment and software products.[8] Teradata Essential is an optional, Teradata Database-only service that requires Premier Support. Its “Customer-Level” program requires Essential coverage on all of the customer’s Teradata database platforms.[9] Catalog: Support requires a Master Agreement, a maintenance order and currently licensed versions; 9x5 Premier Support coverage is only for perpetual licences; Coverage hours must be the same for all products.
Release entitlement. A Software Subscription or Software Upgrade License entitles the customer to generally available major (X) and minor (Y) releases of licensed software. Implementation is not included.[8] All maintenance levels include maintenance releases, patches and fixes. The customer may apply them to each copy of the Software for which it has paid the applicable fees and licences.[8] Catalog: Software Subscription / Software Upgrade Licenses grant major and minor releases.
Lifecycle (3+2). Teradata Database 16.10 and later releases get 3 years of maintenance and support from the General Customer Availability date of each minor or major release until End of Maintenance. After that comes a 2-year Extended Database Maintenance (EDM) period, at Teradata’s discretion.[8] EDM costs extra and provides code-level maintenance only for critical Severity 1 emergency fixes (e-fixes). It is available only to stable environments on the latest maintenance release. After EDM, the system moves to a fee-based Support Only period with no patches and no crash dump analysis.[8] Teradata Tools & Utilities releases get at least 36 months of problem resolution from General Customer Availability. Teradata hardware platforms get remedial maintenance for six years after the Platform Sales Discontinuation Date.[8] Catalog: Teradata Database releases follow a 3+2 support policy.
Audits and compliance
The public documents contain no audit clause for on-premises licences. That clause, if any, is in the Master Agreement. Two support-policy rules affect compliance cost:
- Reinstatement. Products returning to maintenance must first pay all lapsed maintenance and support fees and any re-certification fees. Equipment that Teradata has not warranted or maintained for more than 90 days is subject to re-certification.[8] Letting support lapse therefore does not save the lapsed fees if the customer later needs support again. Catalog: Reinstating lapsed support requires back fees and possibly recertification.
- Support tools. Teradata installs a Support Services Tools Suite on customer systems. These tools “are not licensed or transferred to Customer”, and Teradata may remove them when a service agreement ends.[8] Customers that connect through ServiceLink or a VPN instead lose some tool functions and must take responsibility for coordinating support delivery.[8] Catalog: Teradata support tools are not licensed to the customer.
Moves, additions and removals of products need 30 days’ written notice to Teradata.[8] The notice requirement gives the customer a written record of where each licensed system is, which helps with licence management. See software maintenance and support.
Out of scope
- The Teradata Master Agreement, its licence grant and any audit clause, and order documents.
- Prices for on-premises tiers, cores and support. The 2024 policies list optional services but publish no rates.
- Hardware maintenance details for IntelliFlex, IntelliBase and Dell platforms, beyond their effect on software support.
- Legacy Aster Data, Hortonworks Hadoop and Teradata Analytic Applications support, which the policies also cover.
- Teradata Express and other free downloads, covered in Teradata Express and download agreements.