Software Licenses

There are multiple ways to use software on instances provided by 3DS OUTSCALE. You must first ensure that you are entitled to use the software program you need in a Cloud environment similar to the one provided by 3DS OUTSCALE.

If you have any doubt regarding this issue, contact your software vendor, as each one of them has its own set of rules.

Operating Systems

3DS OUTSCALE supports multiple operating systems, they only need to be compatible with x86 or x64 architectures. 3DS OUTSCALE does not support ARM architecture yet. If you are interested in this architecture type, contact our Sales department using the following address: sales@outscale.com.

The issue with operating systems is to get good performance with inputs and outputs (I/Os), including network and volumes I/Os. This is achieved under Linux and Windows using VirtIO drivers. If you want to install your own operating system, do not forget to use VirtIO drivers if available. Without them, the performance of your instance can be significantly lower. For more information about how to import your own environment, see Migrating a Linux Instance to the OUTSCALE Cloud.

Linux-based Operating Systems

3DS OUTSCALE provides several distributions of Linux. For more information about the list and the ID of available official OMIs in each OUTSCALE Regions, see Official OMIs Reference. For more information about available OUTSCALE Regions, see About Regions, Endpoints, and Availability Zones.

There is no additional fee to use provided Linux Ubuntu or CentOS OMIs. Additional fees are applied for the Oracle Linux and the Redhat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) OMIs that come with additional support. For more information about additional fees, see the official 3DS OUTSCALE website.

Microsoft Windows Operating Systems

3DS OUTSCALE is a registered Windows SPLA Service Provider, and provides an official Windows Server 2019 OMI, as well as a Windows 10 OMI.

For more information about billing for Windows Server, see the official 3DS OUTSCALE website. For more information about the list and the ID of available official OMIs in each OUTSCALE Regions, see Official OMIs Reference.

Middleware

Microsoft Middleware

Microsoft middleware programs on the following list are eligible for the SPLA program. 3DS OUTSCALE can provide the license, with a monthly fee, for each of these programs:

  • BizTalk Server*

  • Dynamics AX Server*

  • Dynamics 365*

  • Exchange Server*

  • Forefront Identity Manager*

  • Microsoft Office

  • Project Server*

  • Remote Desktop Services*

  • SharePoint Server*

  • Skype for Business Server*

  • SQL Server Standard Edition*

  • SQL Server Enterprise Edition*

  • SQL Server Business Intelligence Edition*

  • System Center Server*

  • Visio

  • Visual Studio Team Foundation Server*

The licensing depends on the type of software. It can be per user, per core, per physical processor or a combination of these elements. It may require you to subscribe to dedicated instances and not regular instances. Please contact our Sales department at sales@outscale.com if you have any question regarding the pricing or the conditions of use of those software programs.

Licenses marked with "*" are compatible with the Microsoft License Mobility program. If you already are a Microsoft customer and subscribe to the Software Assurance, you should consider using this option. The major difference is that in case of any issue on a license using the License Mobility option, you must contact Microsoft Support instead of the 3DS OUTSCALE Support to solve it.

Oracle Middleware

To use Oracle middleware on the OUTSCALE Cloud, you must contact Oracle and buy your license directly from them. 3DS OUTSCALE is not an authorized vendor for Oracle licenses. You must use dedicated instances to run Oracle and isolate them on a dedicated Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) to be compliant with the requirement of having all the cores of the virtualization farm dedicated to a customer licensed with Oracle licenses. For more information about dedicated instances, see About Instances.

It is also possible, mainly for ISV, to obtain the "SaaS exception" that allows you to use Oracle in BYOL mode in a Cloud environment. This is specifically for SaaS vendors that use Oracle as a backend and need Oracle specific authorization.

The OUTSCALE Cloud abides by Oracle rules for resources allocation.

Other ISV Middleware

Each ISV has its own licensing policy that can include the Cloud or not. You can also contact our Sales department at sales@outscale.com to get help. You can also directly contact the ISV, as they may already have a Cloud-compatible license available.

Open source software

Any open source software can be used in the Cloud in the respect of its license.

Be very careful with AGPL licenses that can put your own Intellectual Property at risk, as they are viral service based licenses. Lot of commercial open source licenses have both an AGPL licensing and a commercial non-viral licensing. Use the correct one to avoid any issues.