Companies like Oracle and Microsoft typically charge software licensing fees on enterprise server software per processor. With multicore processors, this standard no longer applies – leaving customers feeling like they are paying more in licensing fees for generally the same performance.
Corporate IT is still, to this day, confused about the pricing modelbecause, after attempts made by Oracle and Microsoft, nothing has really stuck. Standards certainly need to be developed for multicore as well as virtualization. Best case scenario would be to charge a single licensing fee for multicore servers.
My advice – before purchasing new enterprise server software, think about what applications really require a multicore processor. According to PC World, these are applications used in high-performance computing, financial services, or the oil and gas discovery industry – a.k.a “heat seeker” applications.