VMware offers a simple and flexible subscription model for vSphere+. You can either purchase a new subscription or upgrade your existing licenses to subscription. Subscriptions are for a predefined period of one or three years.
vSphere+ is available in different editions that provide different capabilities. See Understand Subscription Editions. When you are ready to purchase a subscription, contact a VMware sales representative or a VMware partner who will help you with the subscription that suits your vSphere environment.
- vSAN+ subscription
- If the vCenter instances that you plan to subscribe to vSphere+ manage vSAN clusters, you can either continue to use vSAN license keys or purchase a vSAN+ subscription. Do not use a combination of vSAN+ subscriptions and vSAN license keys within the same VMware Cloud account Organization. Combining vSAN+ subscriptions and vSAN license keys results in the entire vSAN deployment being converted to vSAN+ subscription metering and billing, where the license keys would be ignored. This could result in unexpected subscription usage.
- VMware Cloud Disaster Recovery (DR) subscription
- To protect VMs using VMware Cloud DR from the VMware Cloud Console, you can purchase a VMware Cloud DR subscription. For more information, see the VMware Cloud Disaster Recovery product page.
Determine the Required Subscription Capacity
vSphere+ subscription capacity is based on the total number of physical CPU cores of each CPU on all the ESXi hosts associated with the vCenter instances that you plan to subscribe to vSphere+. Similarly, vSAN+ subscription capacity is based on the total number of physical CPU cores for each CPU on all the ESXi hosts associated with the vSAN clusters managed by the vCenter.
You must purchase a minimum capacity of 16 cores per CPU.
Subscription capacity = number of cores required per CPU × number of CPUs per ESXi host × number of ESXi hosts
| ESXi Hosts | CPUs per ESXi Host | Cores per CPU | Subscription Capacity Required | Calculation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | 8 | 64 | Though the number of cores is 8 on each CPU, you must purchase 64 cores because the minimum subscription capacity is 16 cores per CPU and there are 2 CPUs on each of the 2 ESXi hosts. |
| 1 | 4 | 16 | 64 | Subscription capacity is the total number of cores × number of CPUs × number of ESXi hosts. |
Any additional usage beyond the number of cores you purchase is charged based on the overage pricing for which you sign up at the time of purchase.
To identify the number of core licenses required to subscribe your existing deployments to vSphere+ and vSAN+, VMware provides a script. For more information about using the script, see https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/89116.
Purchase Options
You can purchase subscriptions from multiple sources. Purchasing from different sources results in a different seller of record being associated with the purchased resources. The seller of record is responsible for billing the resources purchased from them. The seller of record also determines attributes such as payment types, terms of service, catalog, region, and currency. Multiple options help you to select the best seller attributes for your organization.
- Purchase Through VMware
-
When you purchase through VMware:
- VMware is the seller of record.
- Billing is done by VMware.
VMware terms of service, payment methods, currencies, regions, discounts, and pricing apply.
- You deploy and manage your vSphere+ infrastructure through the VMware Cloud Console.
- Purchase Through a Partner
-
When you purchase through a partner:
- The partner is the seller of record.
- Billing is done by the partner.
Through this purchase model, the payment instruments, terms of service, region, currency, and so on, are determined by your relationship with the partner. Contact your partner’s sales team for all questions related to pricing and billing.
- You deploy and manage your vSphere+ infrastructure through the VMware Cloud Console.
