ArcGIS Server and CPU cores

[ThomasMathew1]

There are two ways cores on a physical machine affect ArcGIS Server.

1. Licensing - Every license of ArcGIS Server is for 4 CPU cores.

2. Performance - The System Design Strategy guide states that peak throughput for ArcGIS Server is reached if total map services instances are 3 - 5 (average 4) per core. Therefore, on a 4 core machine you could get peak throughput by configuring a total 16 map services instances.*

Many computers today have a hyper-threaded CPU which show more number of logical processors than cores. See image below. 

On such machines, is ArcGIS Server licensing and performance to consider this as a 4 core or a 8 core machine?

For licensing - should I purchase two licenses?

For performance - can I configure 16 or 32* map service instances?

*4 map service instances per core may not always be the case and this number may change as per you service contents and configuration. For more details, refer to the Server Software Performance section of the System Design Strategy guide.

[VinceAngelo]

Actually, you are not asking how the technology works, but how it is licensed, which is a legal question. Since an incorrect answer provided by anyone except an official Esri representative does not protect you from a lawsuit, you probably ought to be more concerned about getting official Esri clarification (which is not generally provided in this community). If you had consulted with your own legal staff, and the documentation I referenced did not make it clear, they would want you to have something in writing, or at least in a one-on-one discussion with resellers, with a follow-up e-mail.

I did not, and will not, explicitly answer the question because my answer has no value.  If all the documentation references leave you unsure of their meaning, then you should contact your legal staff or Esri's formal representatives for clarification.  In the end, free legal advice on the Internet isn't worth what you paid for it.

- V

[JamalNUMAN]

I got your point Vince

Thanks

Jamal

[SadiqS]

Thank you for the detailed explanation. This really helps to understand how ArcGIS Server licensing works.

[MichaelRobb]

Thomas Buchmann wrote:

A per-core-license is for the physical core and not for the logical.

Attention: in a virtualized environment the license would be on vCPU's - whatever there is behind that number.

HyperThreading does not double the performance of your machine. In best cases there is a little gain ( 15%-30% ). For more infos see: Will Hyper-Threading Improve Processing Performance

If ArcGIS Server can really benefit from HyperThreading is a good question. In my opinion ArcGIS Server can be single-threaded (high isolation) or multi-threaded (low isolation) (see: Process threads). If I'm getting this right, I suppose: to take advantage of HyperThreading you should use low isolation (on a physical machine).

High and Low isolation is no longer a configurable option in 10.5.x  through the AGS Manager.  Adjusting this has to be done using ArcCatalog or AGS Admin

[StephanieWidas]

With 10.5 - - and the migration from "ArcGIS for Server" to "ArcGIS Enterprise" - - are the number of cores on the server still a factor in licensing and costs?  As we move forward and develop our upgrade and migration plan, I'm trying to understand the new licensing structures and how the changes will affect our current configuration (licenses for ArcGIS Desktop, licensing for ArcGIS Server, etc). Am I looking at number of named users, number of cores on my server, a combination of the two, etc?  

Thanks in advance,

Stephanie

[AzinSharaf]

4-core license model is for ArcGIS Server site or ArcGIS Server machines? What happens if we have 1 ArcGIS Server site and two machines (each has 4 cores)  (HA mode)?

[ThomasMathew1]

4-core license model is for ArcGIS Server licenses, and not for ArcGIS Enterprise Sites. You cannot (should not) set up an active-active HA with only 1 license of GIS Server.

If you have more than 1 machine available for your deployment, the option to split the components available with an ArcGIS Enterprise site (Portal for ArcGIS, Web Adaptor, ArcGIS Data Store and ArcGIS Server) is available to you.

[MichaelRobb]

Azin Sharaf wrote:

4-core license model is for ArcGIS Server site or ArcGIS Server machines? What happens if we have 1 ArcGIS Server site and two machines (each has 4 cores)  (HA mode)?

Then you are required to buy two (2)  4-core Enterprise Standard or Advanced licensing for each discrete installation instance. 

FYI: 4-core Enterprise ArcGIS Server is a separate SKU vs buying additional core licenses.  

The wording would be as follows - Any discrete NODE (VM) must start with 4-core license purchase.  Each discrete setup can add additional cores (any number) thereafter (separate SKU when purchasing)  Any discrete site can be added to a SITE.  (this used to be called NODES and CLUSTERS).