4 Oracle Database License Models

Four Oracle Database License Models.

When choosing an Oracle database license, you should consider the following aspects:

End customer license:

1. Full use license - Normally no restrictions simply follow the license terms and Oracle licensing rules and policies.

Oracle provides two types of licenses: Named User Plus and Processor. Named User Plus licenses are based on the number of users who will access the database. Processor licenses, on the other hand, are based on the physical characteristics of the server. Named User Plus licenses are appropriate when the number of users is known. If the total number of users is unknown, a Processor license is required. Using the Named User Plus license can be costly if the number of users is large. The Processor license, however, has few challenges in virtual environments. You should carefully review Oracle Partitioning document before deploying on virtual servers.

Partner/OEM Licenses

2. The ASFU license is a restricted license that is sold as part of an application package by an Application Vendor or Solution Provider. The license is designed to be used only for the specific application package it is sold with. It requires an annual renewal with the Application Vendor, which provides all the supports. You can migrate from an ASFU license to a Full Use license, although you will need to pay a fee for this.

Oracle ASFU is a well known database model that is most commonly used by different solution partners to Oracle.

It provides the end customers always with the same usage rights as they would for a full use license.
The owner of the license will be the end customer of the solution. They can only use only use the database
license for usage of the specific application. The ASFU name is short for "Application Specific Full Use" license.
There are some minor restrictions that you can read about more about license Oracle ASFU restrictions.

3. Oracle ESL - Embedded licensing.

This is an extremely limited license where the end customer have no right to perform daily DBA tasks and the only person who can login to the ESL
database is the solution provider using a pre-made API. Generally end customers should not even be aware that it is an Oracle Database.
I wont go into the details, but you can read all about the limitations in Oracle ESL

4. Oracle PAH - Hosting licenses

If a company wants to setup a SaaS offering or any environment where there are multiple different legal entities that are accessing the same application running on the same Oracle technology software. The hoster needs to obtain PAH hosting licenses. PAH stands proprietary application hosting. There are a bunch of restrictions that the hoster needs to fullfill in order to stay compliant. Many customers have incorrectly purchased these licenses when they need full use licenses.

Hope this was helpful to sort out which license models are available for Oracle customers and partners.