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Pricing for Power Virtual Servers

Pricing for Power Virtual Servers

Power Virtual Servers is offered in select regions with scale-out logical partitions (LPAR). The IBM Power Systems that can host Power Virtual Servers have the following theoretical maximums:

All prices mentioned on this page are illustrative and do not represent the actual amounts used for billing. To calculate the exact pricing, use the IBM cost estimator.

Power Systems Processors Memory
E980 (9080-M9S) 143 up to 15,307 GB [1]
S922 (9009-22A) [2] 15 up to 942 GB
S1022 (9105-22A) [3][4] 33 up to 1984 GB

It's important to note that a system's theoretical maximum depends on the data center. Also, the Power Virtual Server development team enforces the current available resources within each data center. With these processing maximums, the Power Virtual Server can meet any business workload requirement.

In the Cloud catalog for Power Virtual Servers, the estimated price might be different than the actual price when you purchase the Power Virtual Server or instances based on the discounts and promotion codes.

Monthly usage

Power Virtual Server instances are charged at a monthly rate that is prorated per hour. If you add resources to an LPAR during the middle of the month, the monthly bill for the LPAR reflects the resource change and the LPAR price that is prorated per hour.

In the following monthly usage example, the customer purchases a Power Virtual Server instance that has one core with 8 GB of memory, a 150 GB disk, and is running AIX 7200-03-02, at a base price of $250.57 per month ($0.343 per hour). As the month progresses, the customer adds more memory. The new price for the LPAR is $339.45 per month ($0.465 per hour). The monthly bill is prorated by the hour for the resources deployed.

All prices mentioned on this page are illustrative and do not represent the actual amounts used for billing. To calculate the exact pricing, use the IBM cost estimator.

Table 2. Monthly LPAR charges
Hours elapsed in a month Amount charged LPAR description
300 hours (300 hours x $0.343)/month = $103 1 core, 8 GB memory, 150 GB disk, AIX
430 hours (430 hours x $0.465)/month = $200 1 core, 16 GB memory, 150 GB disk, AIX
730 hours (Monthly Total) $103 + $200 = $303 (Monthly Total) 1 core, 16 GB memory, 150 GB disk, AIX

In this example, the LPAR resources are increased (after reaching 300 hours in the month) from 8 GB to 16 GB of memory. The price of the LPAR is prorated by the hour for the final monthly price of $303.

For detailed usage and billing information, you can refer to the part number in your invoice. The part numbers in the invoice represent the charge unit. Refer to the following table to view the part numbers and its corresponding description.

Table 3. Part numbers
Part number Description
SOS_VIRTUAL_PROCESSOR_CORE_HOURS Scale out shared uncapped processor per core-hour
SOD_VIRTUAL_PROCESSOR_CORE_HOURS Scale out dedicated processor per core-hour
MS_GIGABYTE_HOURS Memory standard gigabyte-hour
MHU_GIGABYTE_HOURS High use RAM (>64 Gb per core) gigabyte-hour
TIER_ONE_STORAGE_GIGABYTE_HOURS Tier-1 storage gigabyte-hour
TIER_THREE_STORAGE_GIGABYTE_HOURS Tier-3 storage gigabyte-hour
TIER_ZERO_STORAGE_GIGABYTE_HOURS Tier-0 storage gigabyte-hour
FIXED_5K_OPS_GIGABYTE_HOURS Fixed IOPS storage gigabyte-hour
AIX_SMALL_APPLICATION_INSTANCE_HOURS AIX scale out license per core-hour
AIX_MEDIUM_APPLICATION_INSTANCE_HOURS AIX enterprise license per core-hour
IBMI_OS_PTEN_APPLICATION_INSTANCE_HOURS IBM i OS P10 license per core-hour
IBMI_OS_PTHIRTY_APPLICATION_INSTANCE_HOURS IBM i OS P30 license per core-hour
IBMI_LPP_PTEN_APPLICATION_INSTANCE_HOURS IBM i LPP P10 license per core-hour
IBMI_LPP_PTHIRTY_APPLICATION_INSTANCE_HOURS IBM i LPP P30 license per core-hour
SOC_VIRTUAL_PROCESSOR_CORE_HOURS Scale out shared capped processor per core-hour
IBMIHA_PTEN_APPLICATION_INSTANCES PowerHA for IBM i P10 license per core-hour
IBMIHA_PTHIRTY_APPLICATION_INSTANCES PowerHA for IBM i P30 license per core-hour
IBMICOS_APPLICATION_INSTANCES IBM Cloud Storage Solutions for IBM i license per core-hour
IBMIRDS_APPLICATION_INSTANCES IBM Rational Development Studio for IBM i license per users-hour
BHHANA_APPLICATION_INSTANCE_HOURS Balanced for Online analytical processing (OLAP) HANA application instance hour
COREHANA_APPLICATION_INSTANCE_HOURS Core HANA application instance hour
MEMHANA_APPLICATION_INSTANCE_HOURS Memory HANA application instance hour
UMHHANA_APPLICATION_INSTANCE_HOURS Ultra Memory HANA for Online analytical processing (OLAP) application instance hour
IBMIOS_PTEN_MOL_APPLICATION_INSTANCE_HOURS Movable IBM i P10 license per core-hour
IBMIOS_PTHIRTY_MOL_APPLICATION_INSTANCE_HOURS Movable IBM i P30 license per core-hour
IBMILPP_PTEN_MOL_APPLICATION_INSTANCE_HOURS Movable IBM i LPP P10 license per core-hour
IBMILPP_PTHIRTY_MOL_APPLICATION_INSTANCE_HOURS Movable IBM i LPP P30 license per core-hour
ESS_VIRTUAL_PROCESSOR_CORE_HOURS E980 shared uncapped processor per core-hour
ECC_VIRTUAL_PROCESSOR_CORE_HOURS E980 shared capped processor per core-hour
EDD_VIRTUAL_PROCESSOR_CORE_HOURS E980 dedicated virtual processor per core-hour
IBM_I_OS_PTEN_SRVC_EXT_PER_PROC_CORE_HR IBM i OS P10 service extension per core-hour
IBM_I_SERVICE_EXTENSION_PER_CORE_HOUR IBM i OS P30 service extension per core-hour
S922_DEDICATED_SERVER_HOURS Dedicated host for S922 host per server-hour
S1022_DEDICATED_SERVER_HOURS Dedicated host for S1022 host per server-hour
REDHAT_GP_ON_SCALE_OUT_APP_INSTANCE_HOURS Redhat GP Scale Out License/Core Hour
REDHAT_GP_SCALE_UP_LICENSE_CORE_HOURS Redhat GP Scale Up License/Core Hour
REDHAT_SAP_SCALE_OUT_LICENSE_PER_CORE_HOUR Redhat SAP Scale Out License/Core Hour
REDHAT_SAP_SCALE_UP_LICENSE_PER_CORE_HOUR Redhat SAP Scale Up License/Core Hour
SUSE_OS_GP_TIER_ONE_INSTANCE_HOURS SUSE GP Tier1 Instance Hours
SUSE_OS_GP_TIER_THREE_INSTANCE_HOURS SUSE GP Tier3 Instance Hours
SUSE_OS_GP_TIER_TWO_INSTANCE_HOURS SUSE GP Tier2 Instance Hours
SUSE_OS_SAP_TIER_ONE_INSTANCE_HOURS SUSE SAP Tier1 Instance Hours
SUSE_OS_SAP_TIER_THREE_INSTANCE_HOURS SUSE SAP Tier3 Instance Hours
SUSE_OS_SAP_TIER_TWO_INSTANCE_HOURS SUSE SAP Tier2 Instance Hours

Base instances

The base instance billing depends on your virtual instance options when you create a Power Virtual Server. The machine type, number of cores, and amount of memory all affect the base instance billing. When you create your virtual server instance, the associated monthly rate is displayed. For more information, see Creating a Power Virtual Server.

The pricing for memory is calculated based on a ratio of 64 GB per core. For example, if you use more than 16 GB for 0.25 cores, you must pay a premium high-use RAM price for the excess memory. However, if you use up to 128 GB for 2 cores, you do not have to pay any premium memory price.

Operating systems

The Power Virtual Server pricing for AIX and IBM i includes license and IBM software maintenance.

Power Virtual Server provides AIX and IBM i stock images. The operating system version levels of the stock images are subject to change.

You can also bring your own custom image to use on a Power Virtual Server instance, but you must still purchase an operating system license for virtual server resources. If you bring your own custom image, you are charged for the image size and the storage tier that you use for the image. After you deploy a stock image (and only after deployment), you are charged for the space the image is stored in. The storage unit price (per GB) for the stored boot images is same as the selected storage tier (Tier 0 or Tier 3) where your boot disks are deployed. To identify the estimated storage rates, use the Cost Estimator tool. To reduce costs you can capture the virtual machine and delete when it is not needed. The pricing for AIX and IBM i operating system license is not determined by whether you use a custom image or a stock image. To learn more, go to Deploying a custom image within a Power Virtual Server.

The Power Virtual Server also provides Linux® stock images. You may select a Linux stock image provided by IBM or bring your own Red Hat Linux Enterprise (RHEL) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) image OVA format. For a Linux subscription, you may opt to use a full Linux® subscription for Power Virtual Server or obtain the subscription for the Linux operating system directly from the vendor. For more information about how to create an OVA format Linux image, see deploying a Linux virtual machine.

Processor types

You are charged different rates depending on the processor type you choose for your virtual machine (VM). Dedicated processors are priced the highest as they provide the best overall performance. Shared capped processors cost slightly more than shared uncapped processors because of their flexibility in addressing licensing restrictions. The processors are all charged on an hourly prorated basis according to the machine type, processor type, and the number of cores used in a month.

Each processor has a different hourly rate depending on its type (Dedicated vs Uncapped shared). Processors also have a different hourly rate depending on the system that they are on (Dedicated S922 vs Dedicated E980). For information on different processor type functions, see What's the difference between capped and uncapped shared processor performance?How do they compare to dedicated processor performance?.

All prices mentioned on this page are illustrative and do not represent the actual amounts used for billing. To calculate the exact pricing, use the IBM cost estimator.

The following tables shows the base price and how different processor types affect the cost per system:

Table 4. S922 processor type pricing
Number of cores (S922) Hourly rate (Processor type) Monthly cost (730 hours)
1 $0.51 (dedicated) $368.91
1 $0.13 (uncapped shared) $92.33
1 $0.19 (capped shared) $138.38
Table 5. E980 processor type pricing
Number of cores (E980) Hourly rate (Processor type) Monthly cost (730 hours)
1 $1.77 (dedicated) $1291.28
1 $0.44 (uncapped shared) $322.84
1 $0.66 (capped shared) $484.26
Table 6. S1022 processor type pricing
Number of cores (S1022) Hourly rate (Processor type) Monthly cost (730 hours)
1 $0.58 (dedicated) $424.25
1 $0.15 (uncapped shared) $106.06
1 $0.22 (capped shared) $159.14

Pricing for dedicated hosts

Dedicated hosts are priced based upon the host type – either an IBM Power S922 or IBM Power S1022. Each server type is metered by the hour and the price includes the entire capacity of the host.

Consider the following points for dedicated host pricing:

  • You are not charged separately for shared processor pools you deploy to the dedicated host.
  • Software charges for the supported operating systems are metered and charged by the core.

To learn more about the dedicated host, see: dedicated host.

Storage types

The Power Virtual Server charges based on three different storage types:

  • Data volumes: These are the simplest form of volume that you create. You are billed based on the current volume size at the metering time. The following table shows an example of how you are billed based on your volume creation:

    Table 7. Calculation of data volume
    Volume size you create You are billed
    10 GB 10 GB
    10+5 GB 15 GB
  • Image backing volumes:These volumes are part of a boot image in your cloud-instance boot image catalog. You are billed based on the total volume size(s) contained in the image.

    When the image has a single backing volume, you are billed based on the GB size of the single volume. When the image has multiple backing volumes, you are billed based on tallying up the size(s) of all the image backing volumes. The following table shows an example of how you are billed based on your boot volume:

    Table 8. Calculation of image backing volume
    Image volume size Single or multiple backing You are billed
    20 GB Single backing volume 20 GB
    volume 1 (20 GB), volume 2 (10 GB) Multiple backing volume 30 GB
  • Deployed VM volumes: These volumes are created when you deploy a VM with an image. The deployed VMs will get a copy of all the volumes in the image. Any additional data volumes attached to the deployed VM are already accounted for under Data Volumes. The following table shows an example of how you are billed based on the VMs that you deploy:

    Table 9. Calculation of deployed VMs volume
    Image backing volume You are billed
    20 GB 20 GB
    20 GB + 30 GB 50 GB

Use case of account billable storage

The following table shows the use case on how you are billed based on the storage that you use (assuming tier 1):

Table 10. Account billable for storage use case
Name Size State/Description
data-volume-1 20 GB Available
data-volume-2 25 GB In-use (attached to vm-1)
data-volume-3 100 GB In-use (attached to vm-1)
data-volume-4 30 GB Available
data-volume-5 60 GB In-use (attached to vm-2)
Table 11. Account billable for storage use case
Name Size State/Description
AIX-71-01 30 GB 1 backing volume
IBMi-74-001 100 GB + 30 GB 2 backing volumes
SLES-15-1 40 GB 1 backing volume
Table 12. Account billable for storage use case
Name Size State/Description
vm-1 deployed AIX-71 30 GB Volume of AIX-71 +
data-volume-2 +
data-volume-3
(volumes created from copying
the deployed AIX-71 image,
Data volumes are already accounted.)
vm-2 deployed IBMi-74-001 130 GB Volume of IBMi-74-001 +
data-volume-5
(volumes created from copying
the deployed IBMi-74-001 image,
Data volumes are already accounted.)

Total billable storage = 595 GB

  • Data volumes: 235 GB
  • Image volumes: 200 GB
  • Deployed VMs: 160 GB

Pricing for VPN connection

When you use a VPN connection, you are billed monthly.

IBM charges with the base price hourly per connection. The base price varies per geography. So if you use one vpn connection that is active for a month, the monthly bill would be $base price X 24 hours X 30 days.

Pricing for Power Edge Router

There are no additional charges for PER, however, you are charged based on the number of Transit Gateway connections and routing options.

The following table shows the charges based on the routing option that you select:

Table 13. TGW charges based on routing
Routing type Charges
Local routing data transfer No charges
Global routing data transfer $0.011 GB

The following table shows the charges based on the number of connections including Direct Link, VPC, Classic that you can create:

Table 14. TGW charges based on number of connections
Number of connections Charges
1 - 4 No charges
5 - 20 $9.405
21 - 50 $7.315
51+ $4.7025

The Transit Gateway charges indicated in the tables above are subjected to change. To calculate your pricing, use the IBM cost estimator in the IBM Cloud console.

End of billing

The monthly billing cycle ends when you delete the LPAR. If you scale your infrastructure up and down in response to workload requirements, your billing follows the timing of the LPAR provision change. If you stop the LPAR, the billing process is not stopped. You must delete the LPAR to stop the billing cycle.

You are still charged if the VM is in a suspended state. When your VM is inactive, you can use Dynamic Logical Partitioning (DLPAR) to resize it to a minimal state. You can drastically decrease the price per hour by reducing the VM's core count and memory.


  1. In DAL12, DAL13, OSA21, SAO01, TOK04, WDC04, and WDC06 data centers, the E980 systems allow up to 23,070 GB of memory. ↩︎

  2. If the machine type is S922 and operating system is IBM i, IBM i supports maximum of 4 cores per VM. ↩︎

  3. Power System S1022 is available only in DAL10, MAD02, MAD04, and WDC07. ↩︎

  4. If the machine type is S1022 and operating system is IBM i, IBM i supports maximum of 4 cores per VM. ↩︎