Licensing and Subscriptions for Sun VDI Software 3

The new version of Sun Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Software 3 is available both as a perpetual license and as a subscription. Whether a startup or large enterprise is interested, Sun is offering its open architecture VDI at a price point that fits within an organization's parameters.

Besides the standard perpetual license explained below, Sun VDI Software 3's subscription pricing allows companies to pay a recurring fee that includes support and a right to use the software. This is an ideal option for organizations needing to shift from a CAPEX model to an OPEX model.

Perpetual License

This is a perpetual right to use license by concurrent user, which generally means a user consuming a session on the server. (Check for the latest definition in the software entitlement document.) Sun VDI Software and its components can be installed on as many servers as needed to support the number of licensed users.

Customers should select a basic, standard, or premium support offering when ordering the license. The following perpetual license and support packages are available for selection:

Single seat plus basic support for 1, 2, or 3 years
Single seat plus standard support for 1, 2, or 3 years
Single seat plus premium support for 1, 2, or 3 years

Customers who order support will have access to software patches, updates, and upgrades as part of their support contract.

Subscription License

This license is a right to use license by concurrent user for a limited time period (in one year increments) and includes support. Sun VDI Software and its components can be installed on as many servers as needed to support the number of licensed users.

Under this licensing, customers have the choice of the following:

Single seat plus standard support for 1, 2, or 3 years
Single seat plus premium support for 1, 2, or 3 years

Discounts for multi-year (2 or 3 years) and prepay are available. Subscription customers will have access to software patches, updates, and upgrades as part of their subscription.

End of Life

With the release of Sun VDI Software 3, Sun will be ending the life of Sun VDI Software 2. The last order date for version 2 is July 3, 2009, with the last ship date set for October 2, 2009.

Upgrading

Customers who purchased previous versions of Sun VDI Software and have a current basic, standard, or premium support contract are entitled to upgrade to the Sun VDI Software 3 perpetual license free of charge as part of their service contract. Those customers without a current service contract will need to pay full price to upgrade.

There is no upgrade path to the subscription license. Previous customers with the perpetual license wanting to purchase the subscription will need to pay the regular subscription price.

Highlights of Sun VDI Software 3

Reduce storage consumption: Integration with Solaris ZFS and Open Storage eliminates wasted disk space for identical virtual machine clones.

Choice of virtualization hosts: Use VMware or the built-in Sun virtualization to host virtual desktops.

Wide variety of virtual desktops operating systems: Provides virtual desktops of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 2000, OpenSolaris, and Ubuntu.

Larger deployments with VMware: Supports multiple vCenter servers for large enterprise VDI deployments.

Integration with ActiveDirectory: Assign virtual machines to users in ActiveDirectory.

Instant VM cloning: Instead of waiting for multi-gigabyte file copies, virtual machine clones are created instantly and consume virtually no disk space by using ZFS snapshots.

Multiple virtual desktops per user: A user can have multiple virtual desktops and can choose between them when logging in.

Use nearly any client: Access a Sun VDI Software 3 session from nearly any modern Windows PC or thin client without installing any software.

Simplified installation: Integration of the core components into a unified installer to make administration and setup easier.

Sun VDI Software 3's open architecture provides a broad choice of client devices, virtual desktop operating systems and virtualization hosts to meet data security, user experience, and TCO goals. Customers can choose to use existing Windows PCs and Macs as client devices or can step up to energy-efficient thin clients from Sun and other vendors. A wide variety of virtual desktop operating systems are supported, including Windows XP, Windows 2000, OpenSolaris, and Ubuntu. And, IT architects can opt for either VMware Infrastructure or Sun built-in virtualization to host the desktop environments, or even a mix the two together.

More Information

Sun Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Software 3 Released

Sun VDI Software 3 download

Sun VDI datasheet

FAQ for Sun VDI Software 3

Sun VDI Software 3 product page

Sun VDI Version 3 wiki home page - Login or registration required.

Sun Desktop Virtualization

Sun VDI Software - topic on Sun News Radio (15 mins.) [...read more...]

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