Demystifying Oracle RAC Licensing

Oracle RAC is renowned for its robust feature set, which equips organizations with the necessary tools for exceptional database management.

Key features include:

1. Scalability: Oracle RAC allows for the horizontal scaling of databases across multiple servers, enabling organizations to effectively manage an increasing data load.
2. High Availability: With Oracle RAC, businesses can maintain continuous database availability, even in the event of hardware or software failure.
3. Load Balancing: Oracle RAC optimally distributes the load across all available instances, improving performance and efficiency.
4. Fault Tolerance: Oracle RAC can recover swiftly from hardware or software failures, ensuring minimum downtime.

Components Included in Oracle RAC

Oracle RAC consists of several components, including:

• Oracle Database: The primary part where all data is stored and managed.
• Oracle Clusterware: This component manages high-availability operations and is essential to establish a clustered environment for Oracle RAC.
• Automatic Storage Management (ASM): ASM simplifies database file management by controlling the file system’s metadata.
• Cluster Synchronization Services (CSS): CSS monitors and maintains synchronization services for Oracle RAC.
• Cluster Ready Services (CRS): CRS manages high-availability operations in a clustered environment.

Delving Deeper into Oracle Real Application Clusters

Oracle RAC has various cost options and inclusions, accommodating multiple organizational needs.

Oracle RAC is renowned for its rich suite of features, some of which are as follows:

• Multi-Server Scaling with Real Application Clusters: This feature allows businesses to effortlessly scale their applications across multiple servers, enhancing their capacity to handle larger workloads.
• Connection Load Balancing: Oracle RAC intelligently balances a load of connections to the database, ensuring optimal performance and avoiding any single point of overloading.
• Fast Connection Failover: This feature ensures that connections are quickly switched to a functioning instance in case of a failure, minimizing downtime.
• Hot Cluster Failover: Oracle RAC enables a smooth transition during system failover situations, ensuring that your database remains available and your business operations are uninterrupted.

Oracle RAC Licensing

Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) is an add-on license for Oracle Database Enterprise Edition (DB EE). The RAC license metric and quantity must match the Oracle Database EE license.

Processor Licensing and Named User Plus (NUP) Licensing are two main licensing metrics.

Processor Licensing

• Definition: Based on the total number of processors used.
• Calculation: Uses the Oracle Core Factor Table to determine the number of licenses needed.
• Cost Example:
  • If you have ten processors, the cost would be $230,000 x $23,000 per processor.

  Named User Plus (NUP) Licensing

  • Definition: Licenses are granted to individual users.
  • Calculation: The number of NUP licenses must equal the number of users accessing the Oracle Database.
  • Cost Example:
    • If you have 200 users, the cost would be 200 users x $460 per NUP = $92,000.

    All nodes in a cluster must have Oracle RAC licenses.

    Example Calculations

    Processor-Based License:

    • Scenario: You have a cluster with 8 nodes, each with 2 processors.
    • Calculation: Total processors = 8 nodes x 2 processors = 16 processors.
    • Cost: 16 processors x $23,000 per processor = $368,000.

    Named User Plus (NUP) License:

    • Scenario: You have 500 users accessing a clustered Oracle Database.
    • Calculation: Total users = 500 NUP licenses.
    • Cost: 500 users x $460 per NUP = $230,000.

    FAQ on Oracle RAC Licensing and Costs

    What is Oracle RAC?

    Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) allow multiple computers to run Oracle RDBMS software simultaneously, providing high availability and scalability.

    Is Oracle RAC an add-on license?

    Oracle RAC is an add-on license for Oracle Database Enterprise Edition (DB EE).

    How is Oracle RAC licensed?

    Oracle RAC can be licensed by Processor or Named User Plus (NUP).

    What is Processor Licensing?

    Processor Licensing is based on the total number of processors used. The number of licenses required is determined using the Oracle Core Factor Table.

    What is Named User Plus (NUP) Licensing?

    NUP Licensing is based on the number of users accessing the Oracle Database. Each user requires a license.

    How do I calculate the number of processor licenses needed?

    Count the total processors across all nodes in the cluster. Multiply the number of processors by $23,000.

    Example: How do I calculate costs for 16 processors?

    16 processors x $23,000 per processor = $368,000.

    How do I calculate the number of NUP licenses needed?

    Count the total users accessing the Oracle Database. Multiply the number of users by $460.

    Example: How do I calculate costs for 500 users?

    500 users x $460 per NUP = $230,000.

    Do all nodes in a cluster need Oracle RAC licenses?

    Yes, all nodes in the cluster must have Oracle RAC licenses.

    Is the licensing model for Oracle RAC required to match the primary Oracle Database license?

    Yes, the licensing model for Oracle RAC must match the primary Oracle Database Enterprise Edition license.

    Are there additional costs for Oracle RAC?

    Consider potential additional costs for support and maintenance. Consult Oracle for detailed pricing.

    Can Oracle RAC be used in cloud environments?

    Yes, but always confirm specific cloud licensing terms with Oracle.

    Can I switch from a NUP license to a Processor license?

    Yes, but ensure the new licensing model aligns with your Oracle Database Enterprise Edition license.

    How does Oracle RAC support high availability?

    Allowing multiple nodes to run Oracle RDBMS simultaneously ensures system availability in case of node failure.

    Expert Oracle Services

    Author

    Fredrik Filipsson brings two decades of Oracle license management experience, including a nine-year tenure at Oracle and 11 years in Oracle license consulting. His expertise extends across leading IT corporations like IBM, enriching his profile with a broad spectrum of software and cloud projects. Filipsson's proficiency encompasses IBM, SAP, Microsoft, and Salesforce platforms, alongside significant involvement in Microsoft Copilot and AI initiatives, improving organizational efficiency. View all posts