The base license that is provided with your system includes the
use of its basic functions. However, extra licenses can also be purchased to expand the
capabilities. Each system model or software version supports different licensing options and
types of licensing. The management GUI displays options that are available to your specific
model and software version. Verify the licensing support for your model or software
version to determine additional requirements for support. Administrators are responsible for
purchasing extra licenses and configuring the systems within the license agreement, which
includes configuring the settings of each licensed function on the system.
The system supports differential, capacity,
and key-based licensing. For example, with external virtualization differential licensing charges
different rates for different types of storage, which provides cost effective management of capacity
across multiple tiers of storage. Licensing for these functions are based on the number of storage
capacity units (SCUs) purchased. With other functions, like remote mirroring and FlashCopy®, the license grants a specific number of terabytes
of capacity for that function. Key-based licenses require an authorization code and key to be
downloaded to the system before the function can be used.
Differential licensing is the
term used to refer to the measurement of external virtualization and compression licenses, where
different types of storage are charged at different rates.
Differential licensing uses a storage capacity unit (SCU)-based license scheme. For each SCU, a
client is entitled to manage different amounts of usable capacity based on a storage category
classification.
Table 1 identifies the
storage categories and SCU ratios for each category.
Table 1. Supported SCU licenses, drive classes, and ratios
| License |
Drive Classes |
SCU
Ratio |
| SCM |
Storage Class Memory (SCM) devices |
1 SCU equates to 1.00 TB usable of Category 1 storage |
| Flash |
All flash devices, other than SCM drives |
1 SCU equates to 1.18 TB usable of Category 1 storage |
| Enterprise |
10K or 15K RPM drives |
1 SCU equates to 2.00 TB usable of Category 2 storage |
| Nearline |
Nearline Serial ATA (SATA) drives |
1 SCU equates to 4.00 TB usable of Category 3 storage |
provides an
example of how SCU licensing might work based on category types.
Table 2. Example of SCU usage
| Storage category |
TB usable |
SCU
ratio |
Total SCUs |
| 1 |
42 |
1.18 |
35 |
| 2 |
400 |
2.00 |
200 |
| 3 |
800 |
4 |
200 |
| Totals |
1242 |
|
435 |
The system supports the following licensed functions:
- External Virtualization
- Enter the total number of storage capacity units (SCUs) you are licensed to virtualize across
tiers of storage on your system. The system supports virtualization licensing for different tiers of
storage. A license can be purchased for a specific quantity of storage capacity units (SCU) which
can be used to virtualize a designated number of tebibytes (TiB) of storage. The used capacity for
each tier can be monitored to learn how the virtualization license is distributed across the
following tiers of storage:
- Storage class memory (SCM)
- Tier 0 Flash
- Tier 1 Flash
- Enterprise
- Nearline
- FlashCopy
- FlashCopy license is applicable to external storage only and is charged per terabyte. FlashCopy
operations used on internal storage are part of the base license. The FlashCopy function copies the contents of a source volume to a target volume. The
FlashCopy function is also used to create cloud
snapshots of volumes in systems that have transparent cloud tiering enabled. The used capacity for
FlashCopy mappings is the sum of all of the volumes that
are the source volumes of a FlashCopy mapping and
volumes with cloud snapshots. The Used TiB value indicates the amount of TiB that this system has
used of the total amount of licensed TiBs for all FlashCopy operations on the system.
- Remote Mirroring
- Remote Mirroring license is applicable to external storage only and is charged per terabyte.
Remote Mirroring operations used on internal storage are part of the base license. The Remote
Mirroring function configures a relationship between two volumes. This function mirrors updates on
one volume to the other mirrored volume. The volumes can be in the same system or on two different
systems. The remote-mirroring function is licensed by capacity. For remote-copy partnerships, a
license is also required on any remote systems that are in the partnership.
- Encryption
- In addition to these licensed functions, you can also purchase a separate license to use
software-based encryption. Software-based encryption protects data at rest and protects other keys
that are used on self-encrypting drives. For each enclosure in the system, you must have an
encryption license.