Virtual Processor Cores (VPCs)

A virtual processor core (VPC) is a unit of measurement that is used to determine the licensing cost of IBM products [3]. It is based on the number of virtual cores (vCPUs) that are available to the product [3]. A vCPU is a virtual core that is assigned to a virtual machine or a physical processor core if the server is not partitioned for virtual machines [3].

A Virtual Server is either a virtual computer created by partitioning the resources available to a Physical Server or an unpartitioned Physical Server [3]. A Processor Core is a functional unit within a computing device that interprets and executes instructions, consisting of at least one instruction control unit and one or more arithmetic or logic units [3]. A Virtual Processor Core is a Processor Core in an unpartitioned Physical Server, or a virtual core assigned to a Virtual Server [3]. Licensees must obtain entitlements for each Virtual Processor Core made available to the Program [3].