Grid Control Lincesing - Confused

Question

Hi! Please help me understand Grid Control interoperability and licensing scheme!
1. Is it possible to manage Standard Edition instances (I mean management packs functionality) by Grid Control? (We have one Enterprise Edition instance).
2. If so, what licenses should we purchase?
Thanks in advance!
Ilya.

Answer 1

As I see it, it is based on what features you have or use "in" the Database - not on use of the Grid Control (and Database Control) web-based user interface. Any extra Database features have to be licensed whether used through EM or sql scripts or from some other management tool (application).
Part of your concern should be relatively easy to answer:
As there are no Packs for SE, there should not be any "extra" manageability features that we need to worry about purchasing further licenses for, right? This idea may seem easy enough and it is perhaps backed up by the sentence that The management packs can be purchased only with Enterprise Edition (from the Database Licensing Information document, Options and Packs).
Per my own understanding, certain Database features are, licensing-wise, available in Packs. From the Database 10g Licensing Information doc, we have: Oracle Change Management Pack, Oracle Configuration Management Pack, Oracle Diagnostic Pack, Oracle Tuning Pack (requires the Diagnostic Pack). The last two packs are of certain interest here, and includes features such as AWR, ADDM, history and advisor data dictionary views, performance reports (sql scripts), SQL advisors, SQL Tuning Sets, and so on the long list goes.
The Licensing doc says "In order to use the features listed above, you must purchase licenses for the <NN> Pack. The <NN> Pack functionality can be accessed by Enterprise Manager links as well as through the database server command-line APIs. The use of either interface requires a <NN> Pack license.". The <NN> part is my edit.
So, in which way you use it does not matter. The database features need to be licensed for the database (not EM).
So, the use of EM depends on the use of other packs' functionality (in Database, Application Server, etc.). The Grid Control product, however, is described as a key feature of SE1, SE as well as EE (i.e. all editions except XE) on the Product Editions & Features page (look under Manageability).
So, from that link, to me it is quite obvious that Grid Control is "free" with the database and that it can be used to monitor/manage SE database instances - but you need to be careful about the use of underlying functionality or features. (still, you can only purchase the packs for EE?)
Basically it all boils down to: If you want something perfectly clear, understandable, and possible to comply to; You have to have an agreement with Oracle about these matters. Such an agreement (or contract) should be made with somebody from Oracle that is authorized to make such agreements - while staying within the OLSA limits.
* These are all my personal views on the matter. You can not and should not use anything written here as a basis for your license purchases or any use of Oracle products. *
Sorry if I'm just adding to the confusion, but hopefully it is a start... ;-)
Message was edited by:
orafad