Margaret Lewis

1
How Multi-Core Technology Will Influence
Traditional Models of Software Licensing

• Margaret Lewis
• AMD
• Commercial Solutions Strategists

2
Software LicensingTechnology Pressures

• Technology trends are pushing against the
  boundaries of traditional software licensing
• Multi-core processors
• Virtualization
• Grid computing

3
Software LicensingUser Pressures

• Users continue balk at significant increases in
  software costs for emerging technologies
• Many ISVs are resorting to one-off licensing to
  address user concerns
• Industry continues to debate software licensing
  models

4
Why Multi-Core Technology?

• More performance without increasing costs
• More CPU horsepower in smaller footprint
• Smaller form factor provides more CPU
  capabilities
• Industry-standard server provide the capacity of
  high-end proprietary servers
• Better leverage existing infrastructure
• Increased performance with same power
  requirement as single core
• More servers per rack

5
Why Multi-Core Processors?

• More horsepower for less space and power

• 2P Dual-Core AMD Opteron processor-based server
  out performs 4P single-core server
• 4P Dual-Core AMD Opteron processor-based server
  has 2x the performance of a 4P single-core server

6
Why Multi-Core Processors?
Increases performance without increasing
infrastructure costs

• IDC believes that dual-core processing could
  accelerate workload shifts from mid- and high-end
  systems to entry- or volume-server-based
  platforms
• Vernon Turner, group vice president and general
  manager of Enterprise Computing, IDC

http//www.egenera.com/display_pr.php?id218
7
Eliminating Architectural Bottlenecks
PCI-E Bridge
I/O Hub
PCI-E Bridge
PCI-E Bridge
I/O Hub
USB
PCI

• Legacy x86 Architecture
• 20-year old front-side bus architecture
• CPUs, Memory, I/O all share a bus
• Major bottleneck to performance
• Faster CPUs or more cores ? performance

• AMD64 Technology with
• Direct Connect Architecture
• Industry-standard AMD64 technology
• Direct Connect Architecture helpseliminate
  bottlenecks of traditional front-side bus
  architecture
• HyperTransport Technology interconnect for high
  bandwidth and low latency

8
Why Multi-Core Processors? AMD Opteron
Processor Pricing
9
Multi-Core Processors Software Licensing Update

• The introduction of dual and multi-core
  processing is triggering a long overdue debate
  and forcing software vendors to reassess the way
  they've traditionally sold enterprise software.
• David Znidarsic, vice president of technology,
  Macrovision

10
Multi-Core ProcessorsSoftware Licensing Update
Industry has been forced to re-evaluated the
definition of a processor

• Silicon package defines the physical processor
• Processor has two or more execution cores
• Number of cores becoming
  a feature that drives improved
  
  performance and efficiency

11
Multi-Core ProcessorsSoftware Licensing Update
Software Licensing Trends

• Trend with ISVs surveyed is to move toward a
  usage or financial metric as a major licensing
  method

Key Trends in Software Licensing survey by
Macrovision, Oct 2004
12
Multi-Core ProcessorsSoftware Licensing Update

• Software most likely to license by processor
• IT Infrastructure
• Database
• Business Processing
• Software least likely to license by processor
• Operating Systems
• Application Development
• Web Infrastructure
• Collaboration
• Decision Support
• Virtual Processing/Grid/Cluster software

Software Licensing in Multi-core, Multithreaded,
and Virtual Environments Executive Interviews,
IDC Special Study, Sept. 2005
13
Multi-Core ProcessorsSoftware Licensing Update
Since Sept. 2004, AMD has taken a leadership role
in addressing the issues of multi-core processor
licensing, recommending ISVs license by processor
instead of by core
http//www.amd.com/us-en/Corporate/VirtualPressRoo
m/0,,51_104_543_1260590042,00.html
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Multi-Core ProcessorsSoftware Licensing Update

• Licensing by core has the most immediate effect
  on 4
• processor/8 core servers
• You can maintain software costs by
• Negotiating alternate licensing method, such as
  site or user licensing
• Buy smaller servers to stay within processor
  limits of software versions
• Move to alternate software that offers a
  processor licensing scheme
• You should closely evaluate TCO
• Smaller numbers of larger server could be more
  economic even with more expensive licensing if
  you compare hardware, infrastructure, and
  management costs
• You need to bring licensing concerns directly to
  your software provider!

15
Virtualization and Grid Computing

• Companies are estimating that 25 to 50
• of their hardware infrastructure will be
• dual core by 2008
• Primary workloads for multi-core systems will
  include
• IT infrastructure
• Database
• Virtual processing/clustering/grid
• The adoption of virtualization and grid computing
  technologies are fueling the next round in the
  software licensing debate

Software Licensing in Multi-core, Multithreaded,
and Virtual Environments Executive Interviews,
IDC Special Study, Sept. 2005
16
Virtualization Making Resource Consolidation a
Reality!

• Partitions a server into independent virtual
  machines
• Enables consolidation of multiple applications
  onto more powerful and efficient servers
• Helps to reduces costs associated with
• floor and rack space
• power and cooling
• software installation
• administration

17
Virtualization Approaches
Hardware-Enabled Virtualization
Software Virtualization
18
Grid ComputingMaking Resource Consolidation a
Reality!

• Cluster of industry-standard 2P and/or 4P servers
  
• Creates as single set of shared resources that
  can be dynamically scaled up or down to meet
  demands
• Reduces space, power, hardware, and
  administration costs while providing an efficient
  and secure computing infrastructure

19
Virtualization and Grid ComputingSoftware
Licensing Issues
Per processor licensing model continues to fall
apart
Single application owns all available
processors, even if it does not use them
One application to one server
A single application only uses some of available
processors of a server or cluster
One application to a subset of CPUs
20
Virtualization and Grid ComputingSoftware
Licensing Issues

• Common Questions
• If you run software on less than the full server,
  will you still have to pay for the full server?
• If you have more virtual machines than there are
  processors in the server, will you have to pay
  for every instance of software?
• How can software license models adapt to grid
  environments that can quickly scale up or down
  depending on demand?

21
Virtualization and Grid ComputingSoftware
Licensing Issues

• What type of licensing model could work?
• Usage metric or pay for performance approach
• Number of users
• Timed use (CPU hours)
• Number of transactions
• Number of threads
• Amount of data transferred
• Software license that allows for multiple
  installations
• One fee covers numerous installations on a server
  or grid
• Stepped licensing plan with 100 cost for first
  copy and percentage discount for any additional
  copies

22
Virtualization and Grid ComputingSome Software
Licensing Examples

• Oracle and virtualization
• Hardware partitioning - customers running a
  Solaris 10 license only the processors or cores
  that are running the Oracle binaries
• Software partitioning - customers running
  virtualization software like VMware must license
  for all processors cores available on the server
• Sun and grid computing
• Sun charges 1 CPU/hour for its grid computer
  services

23
Virtualization and Grid ComputingSoftware
Licensing Recommendations

• AMD recommends that ISVs support emerging
  x86-based virtualization and grid computing
  technologies by moving to software licensing
  models based on
• Usage metric (pay for performance)
• License that allows multiple software
  installations on virtualized server or computer
  grid

24
Pending Announcement
25
Virtualization and Grid ComputingSoftware
Licensing Recommendations

• Bring your licensing concerns directly to your
  software provider!
• Move to software that offers alternate licensing
  scheme
• ISVs taking leadership position (such as
  Microsoft and Sun)
• Open Source Software
• Negotiate alternate licensing method, such as
  site or user licensing

26
Solving Todays IT Challenges

• Multi-core processors
• Server virtualization
• Grid computing

New Data Center Architectures

• Accelerate application performance
• Improve asset utilization
• Reduce computing complexity
• Control infrastructure costs

27
Closing Thoughts . . .

• With technologies such as multi-core,
  virtualization, grid and on-demand, the per CPU
  model is falling over
• William Fellows, principal analyst, The 451
  Group

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Trademark Attribution

• AMD, the AMD Arrow Logo, AMD Opteron, AMD Athlon,
  AMD PowerNow!, and combinations thereof are
  trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other
  names used in this presentation are for
  identification purposes only and may be
  trademarks of their respective owners.

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