Vmware Audit
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@thwr said in Vmware Audit:
Xen
The cost of System Center with VMM isn't much cheaper at scale, and it also comes with a yearly audit call from a 3rd party in India who doesn't understand virutalization which leads to hilarious conversations. A Microsoft EA does not simplify auditing requirements.
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@John-Nicholson said in Vmware Audit:
@thwr said in Vmware Audit:
Xen
The cost of System Center with VMM isn't much cheaper at scale, and it also comes with a yearly audit call from a 3rd party in India who doesn't understand virutalization which leads to hilarious conversations. A Microsoft EA does not simplify auditing requirements.
YOu mean... Hyper-V. Xen is license free (other than GPL.)
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@thwr 7 days isn't actually that hard to meet with if your a Fortune 500 who properly tracks your licensing. If you don't then you need to ask for extra time (Which even Microsoft and Oracle will give you) and assistance (VMware has licensing optimization scripts that can be run even outside of audits to make sure your in compliance).
Do you just install Office on computers, and Windows and create Windows SQL servers without tracking your usage vs. licensing or do you just use BSD licensed software?
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@John-Nicholson said in Vmware Audit:
Do you just install Office on computers, and Windows and create Windows SQL servers without tracking your usage vs. licensing or do you just use BSD licensed software?
I just use OSS licensed software whenever possible. We're down to 3 computers that still have Windows installed here. I get way fewer complaints about things not working right now (that infamous caps lock key still gets one of the older ladies.)
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@travisdh1 Open Source can still require audits. The GPL has requirements (Cisco was sued over this). Redhat if I"m not mistaken can audit you for your usage of RedHat Enterprise Linux.
BSD is the only safe license
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@John-Nicholson said in Vmware Audit:
@travisdh1 Open Source can still require audits. The GPL has requirements (Cisco was sued over this). Redhat if I"m not mistaken can audit you for your usage of RedHat Enterprise Linux.
BSD is the only safe license
But you're only going to be audited (or put at risk of an audit) if you are using a software from a business that is offering OSS software with support.
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@John-Nicholson said in Vmware Audit:
@travisdh1 Open Source can still require audits. The GPL has requirements (Cisco was sued over this). Redhat if I"m not mistaken can audit you for your usage of RedHat Enterprise Linux.
Red Hat audits based on the EULA, not the GPL. GPL audits are for use of code, not for use of binary.
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@scottalanmiller said in Vmware Audit:
You would think. But it's a major reason why I've moved us to zero Windows servers. If you have a lot, whatever. If you get down to like just one, the audit risk could just go away. So we pushed hard to eliminate all of them. Why carry that risk unnecessarily.
Funny, in another thread that prompted this one to pop back up elsewhere, someone laughed at me for even taking audit risk into consideration with "you'd have to eliminate all audit risk" which, of course, makes no sense as each risk stands on it own. But we did just that... eliminated everything that had audit risk. It's very freeing.
Risk management has to be taken care of.
Not a question at all. -
With GPL there is nothing to audit over.
Q: How many of that products are you using?
A: As many as I want.Want to deflect an audit...
Q: Did you download this?
A: Yes
Q: Did you use it on any machines?
A: No
Q: Then why is it running on thousands of machines?
A: Oh, that's an identical copy that I licensed to myself.GPL makes you the license granter. So auditing it automatically eliminated from possibility.
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@scottalanmiller said in Vmware Audit:
@John-Nicholson said in Vmware Audit:
@thwr said in Vmware Audit:
Xen
The cost of System Center with VMM isn't much cheaper at scale, and it also comes with a yearly audit call from a 3rd party in India who doesn't understand virutalization which leads to hilarious conversations. A Microsoft EA does not simplify auditing requirements.
YOu mean... Hyper-V. Xen is license free (other than GPL.)
Actually, there are quite a few papers out there comparing the TCO of all major virtualization systems at large scales. Basically, Xen is the cheapest followed by Hyper-V with MSSC (SCVMM + SCOM) and vSphere being the most expensive.
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@thwr said in Vmware Audit:
@scottalanmiller said in Vmware Audit:
@John-Nicholson said in Vmware Audit:
@thwr said in Vmware Audit:
Xen
The cost of System Center with VMM isn't much cheaper at scale, and it also comes with a yearly audit call from a 3rd party in India who doesn't understand virutalization which leads to hilarious conversations. A Microsoft EA does not simplify auditing requirements.
YOu mean... Hyper-V. Xen is license free (other than GPL.)
Actually, there are quite a few papers out there comparing the TCO of all major virtualization systems at large scales. Basically, Xen is the cheapest followed by Hyper-V with MSSC (SCVMM + SCOM) and vSphere being the most expensive.
Which would be why we see all the largest players on Xen. At that scale that stuff adds up. They have to be very careful.
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@John-Nicholson said in Vmware Audit:
@thwr 7 days isn't actually that hard to meet with if your a Fortune 500 who properly tracks your licensing. If you don't then you need to ask for extra time (Which even Microsoft and Oracle will give you) and assistance (VMware has licensing optimization scripts that can be run even outside of audits to make sure your in compliance).
Do you just install Office on computers, and Windows and create Windows SQL servers without tracking your usage vs. licensing or do you just use BSD licensed software?
I'm in public EDU. We're running quite a bunch of MS products like SQL Server, SharePoint, Forefront UAG, System Center and others. I have a very exhaustive stack of paper about where we use what since when - and it's driving me nuts. It's very hard to keep track, especially in case of upgrades. Try to keep track of a machine upgraded since XP. Very funny.
That's why I am replacing quite a few things with FOSS alternatives wherever possible.
