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TechBook—Dell EMC VxRail System
VxRail licensing
Licensing overview

Licensing overview

  • A suite of software licenses is included with a purchase of a VxRail cluster. The software license bundle includes VxRail HCI System Software for system management, operations, and automation. The following VMware software is included:

    • VMware vCenter Server
    • vSphere ESXi
    • vSAN (software-defined storage)
    • VMware vRealizeTM Log InsightTM
    • vSphere Replication

    Additional Dell EMC software includes:

    • RecoverPoint for VMs—5 VM licenses per node (for single node systems), 15 VM per chassis for the G Series

    Active management capabilities for SaaS multi-cluster management require a fee-based add-on license. In order to enable the functionality for each cluster, SaaS active multi-cluster management for HCI System Software needs to be purchased for each node in the cluster. The add-on software license is also available to clusters that have already been deployed.

    VxRail system allows customers to use any existing eligible vSphere licenses with their VxRail, or the licenses can be purchased with a VxRail. This VxRail vSphere license independent model (also called “bring your own” or BYO vSphere License model) allows customers to leverage a wide variety of vSphere licenses they may have already purchased. 

    Several vSphere license editions are supported with VxRail including Enterprise Plus, Standard, and ROBO editions (vSphere Enterprise is also supported, but is no longer available from VMware). Also supported are vSphere licenses from Horizon bundles or add-ons when the system is dedicated to VDI. 

    If vSphere licenses need to be purchased, they should be ordered through Dell EMC, the customer’s preferred VMware channel partner, or from VMware directly. Licenses acquired through VMware ELA, VMware partners, or Dell EMC will receive single-call support from Dell EMC.

    When determining the best vSphere license to use with the VxRail system, a key consideration is the effect of VxRail functionality. DRS, a significant vSphere feature, provides the greatest amount of functional variance to VxRail clusters. Customers should consider the degree of automation that DRS provides to determine if the vSphere license they desire includes this functionality. 

    VxRail supports flexible vSAN licensing options and requires vSAN to be ordered with VxRail or applied using a vSAN ELA from VMware. VxRail supports all license editions of vSAN including Standard, Advanced, Enterprise, and Enterprise Plus. Customers can upgrade vSAN licensing from one lower license edition to a higher license edition. vSAN ROBO licenses are supported with VxRail, but customers would need to acquire the licenses through a VMware ELA. 

    For details on the differences between the vSAN versions, see the VMware vSAN Comparison Guide here: https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/products/vsan/vmware-vsan-licensing-guide.pdf 

    vSphere and vSAN licenses that are purchased from Dell EMC expire with the node in which they are deployed, and they are not transferrable. 

    The vCenter Server license that is included with the VxRail cluster can only be applied to the vCenter Server that is deployed by VxRail Manager as an embedded vCenter. It is not transferrable to any customer-deployed vCenter Server. The customer must use their own vCenter Service license when using an external vCenter configuration.

    For more information about VMware software, see Additional resources.