IBM processor value unit (PVU) and resource value unit (RVU) licenses

  • Release version: Washingtondc
  • Updated February 1, 2024
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    Summary of IBM Processor Value Unit (PVU) and Resource Value Unit (RVU) Licenses

    The Software Asset Management publisher pack for IBM allows you to efficiently track and manage your IBM Processor Value Unit (PVU) and Resource Value Unit (RVU) licenses. This pack adds specific license metrics for IBM, enabling precise calculations for these licensing types across both physical and virtualized environments.

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    Key Features

    • Processor Value Unit (PVU) Licensing: PVUs are measured based on processor technology in your physical hardware. The number of rights required is determined by multiplying the PVUs per core for the processor type by the number of activated processor cores.
    • Full and Sub-capacity Licensing: Full capacity requires accounting for all activated cores, while sub-capacity only considers cores available to the IBM software.
    • Usage Type Visibility: The Usage Type field in the license workbench helps track how PVU licenses are applied, allowing for adjustments based on your integrations with tools like ILMT or BigFix Inventory.
    • Resource Value Unit (RVU) Licensing: RVUs measure licensing needs based on the number of activated cores linked to tiered factor values. The total rights needed are calculated using a tier-based approach.
    • Tiered Licensing Structure: RVU tiers range from 0-2,500 cores to 150,001 and above, with decreasing factor values impacting the total rights required.

    Key Outcomes

    Implementing the IBM publisher pack allows customers to ensure compliance by accurately calculating licensing needs for both PVU and RVU models. This clarity helps you avoid licensing shortfalls, as failing to license all activated cores results in non-compliance. By leveraging the license workbench and integration options, you can streamline your license management process and maintain comprehensive visibility across your IBM licenses.

    You can use the Software Asset Management publisher pack for IBM to track and manage your IBM processor value unit (PVU) and resource value unit (RVU) licenses. The publisher pack adds license metrics that are specific to IBM so that you can calculate licensing for these license types.

    Note:
    IBM PVU and RVU licensing is supported in both physical and virtualized environments.

    Processor value unit (PVU) licensing

    A processor value unit (PVU) is a unit of measure that enables you to determine the licensing requirements for an IBM software product based on the processor technology that is used in your physical hardware environment. Each processor technology is assigned a PVUs per Core value based on the processor vendor, processor name, and model number. You can determine the number of rights that are required for a PVU license by multiplying the appropriate PVUs per Core value by the number of activated processor cores in the physical hardware environment that is available to or managed by your IBM software product.

    The IBM publisher pack supports both full capacity and sub-capacity PVU licensing. If you are using a full capacity PVU license, you must account for all activated processor cores in the physical hardware environment that is available to or managed by the IBM software product. If you are using a sub-capacity PVU license, you must account for only the specific activated processor cores that are available to or managed by the IBM software product, as defined in Virtualization Capacity License Counting Rules.

    You can gain visibility into how your PVU licenses are applied to your devices by using the Usage Type field in the license workbench. Use this information to determine whether your PVU licenses are applied to the full capacity or sub-capacity of each device. Depending on the type of IBM integration that you are using, specify how a PVU license is applied to a device using one of the following options:

    • If you are integrating the IBM publisher pack with the IBM License Metric Tool (ILMT) or BigFix Inventory, navigate to Integration - ILMT/BigFix Inventory > Import Set Data > IBM License Metric Peak Usage to modify the value of the corresponding Usage Type field in the IBM Peak Consumption [samp_ilmt_sw_install] table. By default, the Usage Type field for devices on the IBM Peak Consumption [samp_ilmt_sw_install] table is automatically set to Sub-capacity. However, the Usage Type field for devices with allocations in your full capacity PVU entitlements is automatically set to Full capacity instead.

      For more details on ILMT and BigFix Inventory, see IBM License Metric Tool (ILMT) and BigFix Inventory integrations.

    • If you are integrating the IBM publisher pack with an authorized Software Asset Management provider, navigate to Workspaces > Software Asset Workspace. When the Software Asset Workspace launches, open the License operations view. From the left navigation menu of the License operations view, navigate to IBM ASP Integration > Device Settings to modify the value of the corresponding Usage Type field. By default, the Usage Type field is automatically set to Sub-capacity. However, the Usage Type field for devices with allocations in your full capacity PVU entitlements is automatically set to Full capacity instead.

      For more details on the available device settings, see Verify the meta data for your IBM hosts.

      For more details on authorized Software Asset Management providers, see IBM Authorized SAM Provider (IASP) integrations.

    Refer to Processor Value Units (PVU) for more information on IBM PVU licensing, including the complete list of supported processor technologies and corresponding PVUs per Core values.

    Resource value unit (RVU) licensing

    A resource value unit (RVU) is a unit of measure that enables you to determine the licensing requirements for an IBM software product based on the number of activated processor cores that are available to or managed by that product. The number of activated processor cores corresponds directly with an RVU tier number and factor value.
    Table 1. RVU tiers and factors
    Number of Activated Processor Cores Tier Factor
    0 to 2,500 1 1.00
    2,501 to 10,000 2 0.80
    10,001 to 50,000 3 0.60
    50,001 to 150,000 4 0.40
    150,001 and above 5 0.20

    You can determine the number of rights that are required for an RVU license by using a step function based on these RVU tiers. First, you must divide the total number of activated processor cores into tiers based on the RVU tiers and factors table. Since RVU licensing is calculated at the product level and not the individual device level, you must account for all devices that the product is installed on when determining the total number of activated processor cores that must be licensed. Then, you must multiply the number of activated processor cores within each tier by the corresponding factor values. Finally, you must add the resulting numbers together to determine the total number of rights that are required for the RVU license.

    Important:
    If you do not have enough rights to license all activated processor cores across all devices, none of the devices are licensed and the product is marked as Not Compliant.
    For example, a product has access to a total of 150,000 activated processor cores across 100 devices. The total number of rights that are required for the RVU license is 72,500, based on the following calculations:
    Tier Number of Activated Processor Cores within the Tier Factor Number of Rights Required
    1

    (0 to 2,500 activated processor cores)

    		 2,500 1.00 2,500 x 1.00 = 2,500
    2

    (2,501 to 10,000 activated processor cores)

    		 7,500 0.80 7,500 x 0.80 = 6,000
    3

    (10,001 to 50,000 activated processor cores)

    		 40,000 0.60 40,000 x 0.60 = 24,000
    4

    (50,001 to 150,000 activated processor cores)

    		 100,000 0.40 100,000 x 0.40 = 40,000
    n/a 150,000 total n/a 2,500 + 6,000 + 24,000 + 40,000 = 72,500 total
    Note:
    The number of rights that are consumed for RVU licenses is reported differently from the number of rights that are consumed for PVU licenses. For PVU licenses, this number is reported at the individual device level. For RVU licenses, this number is reported at the product level.

    Refer to Resource value unit (RVU MAPC) for more information on IBM RVU tiers.

    The IBM publisher pack supports both full capacity and sub-capacity RVU licensing. If you are using a full capacity RVU license, you must account for all activated processor cores in the physical hardware environment that is available to or managed by the IBM software product. If you are using a sub-capacity RVU license, which is available only in virtualized environments, you must account for only the activated processor cores that are used by the virtual machines (VMs) on which the IBM software product is installed.

    You can gain visibility into how your RVU licenses are applied to your devices by using the Usage Type field in the license workbench. Use this information to determine whether your RVU licenses are applied to the full capacity or sub-capacity of each device. Depending on the type of IBM integration that you are using, specify how an RVU license is applied to a device using one of the following options:

    • If you are integrating the IBM publisher pack with the IBM License Metric Tool (ILMT) or BigFix Inventory, navigate to Integration - ILMT/BigFix Inventory > Import Set Data > IBM License Metric Peak Usage to modify the value of the corresponding Usage Type field in the IBM Peak Consumption [samp_ilmt_sw_install] table. By default, the Usage Type field for devices on the IBM Peak Consumption [samp_ilmt_sw_install] table is automatically set to Sub-capacity.

      For more details on ILMT and BigFix Inventory, see IBM License Metric Tool (ILMT) and BigFix Inventory integrations.

    • If you are integrating the IBM publisher pack with an authorized Software Asset Management provider, such as Anglepoint, navigate to Workspaces > Software Asset Workspace. When the Software Asset Workspace launches, open the License operations view. From the left navigation menu of the License operations view, navigate to IBM ASP Integration > Device settings to modify the value of the corresponding Usage Type field. By default, the Usage Type field is automatically set to Sub-capacity.

      For more details on the available device settings, see Verify the meta data for your IBM hosts.

      For more details on authorized Software Asset Management providers, see IBM Authorized SAM Provider (IASP) integrations.