DPA license requirements and license types
License requirements depend on the type of DPA deployment:
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If you deploy DPA on a self-managed server or in the Azure Marketplace, you must purchase an individual license for each monitored database instance.
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If you deploy DPA in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace, the AWS Marketplace Metering Service is used to calculate DPA charges.
Individual licenses
SolarWinds sells individual licenses by category according to the database edition they are authorized to monitor. You must purchase an individual license for each database instance you monitor. In addition, you can purchase virtual machine licenses to monitor the virtual infrastructure hosting a database instance.
You can monitor database instances without licenses during the 14-day trial period. After the trial period, you must allocate a license for each database instance to continue monitoring.
The following table indicates which DPA license types can monitor each type of database.
No additional functionality is provided by a Category 1 or Category 2 license. The only difference between the licenses in the following table is the types of databases they can monitor.
| Database type | Category 1 license | Category 2 license | Azure SQL Database license |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle Enterprise Edition |
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| Oracle Standard and Express Editions |
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| SQL Server, all editions |
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| MySQL, all editions |
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| Percona, all editions |
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| MariaDB, all editions |
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| PostgreSQL, all editions |
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| EDB Postgres, all editions |
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| IBM Db2, all editions except Express |
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| IBM Db2 Express Edition |
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| SAP ASE (Sybase), all editions except Express |
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| SAP ASE (Sybase) Express Edition |
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| Azure SQL Database, all editions including databases in elastic pools |
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Monitoring VMs with VM Option licenses
If a database instance runs on a virtual machine (VM), you can apply an optional VM license in addition to the Category 1 or Category 2 license. When you apply a VM license, DPA collects performance metrics from the VM and the physical host on which the database instance runs. This information is displayed in the Virtualization view.
Perpetual and subscription licenses
Two types of individual licenses are available:
- Perpetual licenses can be used to monitor database instances indefinitely. Perpetual licenses do not expire.
- Subscription licenses have an expiration date. If a subscription license allocated to a database instance is not renewed before it expires, historical data is available for the instance but DPA does not continue to collect new data.
All individual licenses are floating
You can register more instances than you have licenses for. On the license allocation page, assign the licenses to the instances you want to monitor.
DPA does not collect data from registered database instances that are not licensed. However, you can view previously collected data on those database instances.
Clustered environments
For information about registering SQL Server AGs and Oracle RACs, see Registration and licensing options for clustered environments.
If you are monitoring a database instance that runs in a virtual machine (VM) cluster, a user with at least read-only permissions is required on the hosts and VMs that will be monitored.
AWS Marketplace Metering Service
When you deploy a DPA server from the AWS Marketplace, DPA uses the AWS Marketplace Metering Service to calculate charges. You can register database instances and immediately begin monitoring them without purchasing or allocating DPA licenses. DPA charges are based on the number of database instances you monitor each hour, and the charges are billed through Amazon. See the AWS Marketplace for details and pricing.
With the AWS Marketplace Metering Service, you can monitor any supported database type (like the Category 1 individual license). However, you cannot access the VM-related information that is available with a VM Option license.
If you want to use individual DPA licenses in the Amazon cloud, you can deploy an EC2 instance, install DPA, and apply your licenses. You cannot use both individual DPA licenses and the AWS Marketplace Metering Service on a single DPA server.
Learn more
For more information about purchasing and allocating individual licenses, see: