Partitioned servers are commonly found in the corporate IT environment today due to cost savings and simplified management of running multiple operating systems — such as UNIX or Windows NT — on the same server. Partitioned servers also improve the work load balancing and distribution.
In the case of partitioning servers, Oracle licensing recognizes hardware partitioning for licensing purposes. Meaning ….Oracle customers can license “only those processors that have been purchased from the hardware vendors.” As more processor rights are bought, additional Oracle licenses must be purchased.
Note: Oracle Database Standard Edition can only be licensed under server with four sockets. Customers cannot partition a larger server into four sockets and then license the database Standard Edition for that partition.