[gpfsug-discuss] Spectrum Scale licensing - important correction

[Carl Zetie - carlz@us.ibm.com]

Folks, I need to correct a common misunderstanding that is perpetuated here:

> As IBM has completely switched to capacity based licensing in order to use SS v5

For new customers, Scale is priced Per TB (we also have Per PB licenses now for convenience). This transition was completed in January 2019. And for ESS, it is licensed Per Drive with different prices for HDDs and SSDs.

Existing customers with Standard sockets can remain on and continue to buy more Standard sockets. There is no plan to end that entitlement. The same applies to customers with Advanced sockets who want to continue with Advanced. In both cases you can upgrade from V4.2 to V5.0 without changing your license metric.

This licensing change is not connected to the migration from V4 to V5. However, I do see a lot of confusion around this point, including from my IBM colleagues, possibly because both transitions occurred around roughly the same time period. 

Regards,

 
Carl Zetie
Program Director
Offering Management 
Spectrum Scale
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(919) 473 3318 ][ Research Triangle Park
carlz at us.ibm.com