Re: IBM i hosting "in the cloud"

From: Jim Oberholtzer
The problem is two fold, first a licensing model that can
be monitored and measured needs to be devised.

I'm not sure that I understand the problem. My understanding is that most IBM i licensing is according to "processor", or "user". It seems that you can certainly monitor users. And it seems that Power blades would offer an opportunity to begin with a 4-core processor, which is in the P05 tier, and you could add blades and disks to chassis a new tenants come on board. Start out small, and add capacity as new tenants come on board. And if push comes to shove, you could swap out early 4-core blades, with 8-core, or 16-core alternatives, based on growth. If I understand correctly, the licensing would only go up, when you need more capacity. What am I missing?

Blades offer more CPW bang for the buck. And it seems that you could partition 4-core Power7 (P05) processors in 1/10th increments, for smaller tenants.

The second and by far and away more difficult side is the method to
order, obtain license keys and pay for temporary use of the software.

If temporary is the issue, then IBM's Virtual Loaner Program would be the way to go. But Aaron prefaced this thread with the idea that a permanent, long-term commitment on the side of both hosting providers and tenants.

-Nathan.