IBM RVU (license type)

Note: This license type is available only when you have licensed the FlexNet Manager for Datacenters product.

As for Custom Metric licenses, consumption for IBM Resource Value Unit licenses is not measured by installation or usage but by some other measure. You may select one of the measures (a Metric) from the list available in the Identification tab of the license properties (and updated through the downloadable libraries), or you may define your own metric (using the same control, as described in Adding or Editing a Custom Metric).

Unlike a Custom Metric license, an IBM RVU license is also a points license, and has sets of points rules attached for many different measures. Different rules from the appropriate set are applied to provide volume discounts for the Metric resource being measured.

For example, if the measured resource is Per Premium Income ($US Billions) , one rule may specify 100 points consumed for the first billion, while others scale down to a mere 10 points per billion once you are measuring more than $15 billion in income.

Since these licenses do not use standard calculations, they are not updated by inventory imports. The value of the metric must be recorded in the Resources consumed field on the Identification tab of the license properties. (You may update this value manually, or for some resources you may be able to arrange for consumption to be updated by the Business Importer.) Using this value, FlexNet Manager Suite chooses the correct rules to use for calculating points consumed. Following the previous example, if your premium income was $2.2 billion, the following rules could apply:

• 100 points/billion for the first half billion (50 points)
• 130 points/billion for the second half billion (65 points)
• 74 points/billion for the range 1-2 billion (74 points)
• 46 points/billion for the range 2-3 billion (0.2 x 46 = 9.2 points).

As fractions are rounded up to the next whole number, the total is 199 points consumed in this example, applying four rules from the set.

Special case: Managed Activated Processor Cores

One metric available for RVU licenses is Activated Processor Cores, which IBM generally refers to as Managed Activated Processor Cores (MAPC). The RVU MAPC is a special case because, like PVU licenses, it introduces the concept of the highest number of RVUs consumed by a licensed application (either on a physical device, or for sub-capacity licensing, on a VM) – that is, management over time becomes important.

Since RVU licenses are not updated by inventory imports, you have one or two choices to meet IBM's licensing requirements:

• You may use ILMT to calculate the RVUs; and if you want to see your RVU license details along with all other licenses listed in FlexNet Manager Suite, copy the results from ILMT to the Resources consumed field in the Identification tab of the license properties.
• If you have the extended license from IBM allowing you to use FlexNet Manager Suite for sub-capacity IBM PVU license calculations (in place of ILMT), you can use the following process:
  1. Create an IBM PVU license (not a typo) and link it to the product being licensed with RVU MAPC points.
  2. In the Identification tab of the license properties for this license, use the Points rule set field to search for, and then select, the MAPC points rule. This rule consumes 1 point for each core (with all other settings matching any value). Because PVU licenses track historical values to record the peak in the reporting period, this license now records the highest number of cores (tracked as equivalent points).
  3. When ready (such as at the end of the reporting period), copy the total points from the PVU feeder license into your matching RVU license. The RVU license automatically applies the appropriate tiers to your core counts.

For more information about RVU MAPC licensing, see https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/en/SS8JFY_9.2.0/com.ibm.lmt.doc/Inventory/overview/c_resource_value_unit_licenses.html.

Product use rights

Downgrade rights, upgrade rights; both for record keeping purposes, with no effect on any calculations.

Group assignment

Not supported.

Consumption

License points, derived thus:

• The amount of the named resource produced or consumed (entered in the Resources consumed field on the Identification tab of the license properties)
• Looked up in the points rules attached to the license (through the Points rule set field on the Identification tab)
• The rule gives the appropriate points for license consumption (displayed in the Consumed field on the Compliance tab).

Included

Points assigned by the applicable points rule selected from the set attached to the license.

Compliance

Compliant when Consumed is less than or equal to Total licensed.

Changing from

Points rules will be deleted. Scoping rules will be deleted. Allocations to computers may be deleted.

Changing to

You will need to define one or more points rules. You may want to allocate the license to computers.