The Oracle Core Factor Guide
The Oracle core factor is a multiplier, published in the Oracle Processor Core Factor Table, that converts physical processor cores into the number of processor licences required. Multiply total cores by the factor for the chip, round up, and that is the licence count. Misreading the table, or licensing whole hosts when only part runs Oracle, is one of the most expensive and most avoidable errors in the database estate. This guide explains how the table works and how to count correctly.
Executive summary
The Oracle core factor sits at the heart of processor based licensing, and it is one of the few places in the Oracle model where a single number, applied correctly or incorrectly, swings the licence count and the cost by a large margin. The Oracle Processor Core Factor Table assigns a multiplier to each processor type. The licence calculation is simple in form: take the number of physical cores running Oracle software, multiply by the core factor for that chip, and round the result up to the next whole number. The difficulty is not the arithmetic. It is knowing which cores count, which factor applies, and where virtualization changes the answer.
The common errors all run in the customer's disfavour. Organisations apply the wrong factor for their chip, count cores that are not actually running Oracle, or, most expensively, license entire physical hosts or clusters when only a fraction of the capacity runs the software. Virtualization is where this goes furthest wrong: under Oracle's partitioning policy, soft partitioning is generally not recognised, so a small Oracle workload on a large virtual estate can be assessed against every core the workload could theoretically reach.
This white paper explains the core factor table, the counting rules, and the virtualization traps, and sets out a buyer side framework for counting processors correctly and structuring the estate so the count stays as low as the deployment honestly allows. Read it alongside our database licensing service and the Database licensing guide.
What is inside
- The Oracle Processor Core Factor Table and how to read it for your chip.
- The processor licence calculation: cores, factor, round up.
- Which cores count, and the trap of licensing whole hosts.
- Soft versus hard partitioning and how virtualization inflates the count.
- A buyer side framework for counting low and keeping it defensible.
About the practice
Oracle Software Licensing is an independent buyer side advisory practice with offices in New York, London, and Stockholm. Across more than 750 Oracle engagements the practice has delivered an average audit reduction of seventy percent and over $300M in client savings, drawing on 20+ years of combined licensing experience. We do not resell or implement Oracle software. We count processors, design partitioning, and defend audits on behalf of the buyer. Explore our audit defence guide or request a consultation.