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Chapter 3 VirtualCenter and ESX Server 3 Licensing Overview
Figure 31illustratesthethreetypesoflicenseenvironments.
Figure 3-1. License File Locations in Single-Host, Mixed, and Centralized Environments
Centralized Licensing
Centralizedlicensingsimplifieslicensemanagementinlarge,dynamicenvironments
byallowingaVMwarelicenseservertoadministerlicenses.Withcentralizedlicensing,
youmaintainallyourVirtualCenter ServerandESX Serverlicensesfromoneconsole.
CentralizedlicensingisbasedonFLEXnetmechanisms.Withcentralizedlicensing,a
licenseservermanagesalicensepool,whichis
acentralrepositoryholdingyourentire
licensedentitlement.
ESX host
license
file
ESX host
license
file
VI Clients
host-based
licensing
mixed: host-based &
server-based licensing
ESX host
license
file
ESX host
license
file
VI Clients
ESX host
ESX host
VirtualCenter
(recommended)*
license
server
license
file
server-based
licensing
VI Clients
ESX host
ESX host
VirtualCenter
(recommended)*
license
server
license
file
* Features such as VMotion and VMware HA require VirtualCenter.