Pricing metric for Virtual Processor Cores (VPCs)

Virtual Processor Core (VPC) is a unit by which IBM® MQ can be licensed. A VPC can be either a virtual core assigned to a virtual machine, or a physical processor core, provided that the server is not partitioned for virtual machines. If the number of virtual cores exceeds the number of physical cores, then the number of VPCs that you must license is equal to the number of physical cores.

Usage of each VPC is measured in Virtual Processor Core-Instance-Hours, and captured in whole minute increments. An Instance is a running copy of IBM MQ (the Program), not including copies of the Program used for backup purposes, specifically those designated as "cold" or "warm", as defined in the IBM Software Licensed under the IPLA - Backup Use Defined Document located here: Software policies.

You must get sufficient entitlements for the total number of Hours that each VPC is made available to each Instance of the Program in a twelve (12) month fixed term. You must use the metering tool provided with the Program to monitor your usage of the Program. If the metering tool is not used, you must get entitlements for 720 Hours per calendar month for each VPC in your environment that can be made available to an Instance of the Program, regardless of whether the VPC is being made available or has been made available to an Instance of the Program.

For more information about how to determine the usage of VPCs, see Virtual Processor Core (VPC). This article explains how to use the IBM License Metric Tool to configure and create a report that you can use to determine the number of VPCs that you need to license. The article includes examples of how to calculate VPC consumption for virtual and physical server environments.