The IBM PVU table. How to read it in 2026.

How to read the IBM PVU table in 2026: per core ratings by processor family, the counting formula, full versus sub capacity, and the estate moves that cut the total 20 to 40 percent.

How do you actually read the IBM PVU table?

The PVU table assigns a Processor Value Unit rating per core based on processor vendor, brand, and model, and your license requirement is cores multiplied by that rating. The authoritative table lives on the IBM Passport Advantage PVU licensing page, and it changes as processor families evolve.

Most modern x86 server cores rate 70 PVU. High end RISC cores rate 100 or 120. The rating difference is a direct multiplier on cost, which makes hardware choice a licensing decision.

The three inputs that set your PVU total

• Processor identity: vendor, brand, and model determine the per core rating from the table.
• Core count: physical cores at full capacity, or virtual cores assigned under sub capacity rules.
• Capacity mode: whether ILMT evidence entitles you to count the smaller sub capacity number.

Common ratings in 2026

How does the PVU counting formula work in practice?

The formula is simple: eligible cores times the table rating per core equals required PVUs, compared against owned PVU entitlements. The fights are never about the arithmetic; they are about which cores count and at what rating.

At full capacity, every activated core in the physical server counts. Under sub capacity, only the virtual cores available to the IBM workload count, capped at the physical total.

A worked example

• Full capacity: a 4 host VMware cluster, 32 cores per host at 70 PVU, requires 8,960 PVUs even if the product runs on one 8 core VM.
• Sub capacity: the same product on an 8 vCPU VM requires 560 PVUs with valid ILMT evidence.
• The gap: 16x in this example; this is why ILMT discipline is a financial control, not an admin chore.

What sub capacity eligibility requires

Eligible virtualization per the IBM sub capacity licensing rules, an installed and configured IBM License Metric Tool, quarterly reports, and two years of retention. Miss any leg and the Passport Advantage agreement defaults you to full capacity counting.

Which moves actually cut a PVU total?

Five moves cut PVU spend in practice: fix the capacity mode, correct the ratings, consolidate IBM workloads onto dedicated hosts, right size virtual allocations, and rate shop the next hardware refresh. Together they routinely cut 20 to 40 percent of a distributed IBM estate's license requirement.

1. Fix capacity mode first: restoring sub capacity eligibility is the single largest lever, often 3x to 8x.
2. Audit the ratings: re map every server against the current table; retired generation ratings linger in spreadsheets.
3. Consolidate hosts: IBM workloads spread thin across large clusters maximize countable capacity; dedicated hosts minimize it.
4. Right size VMs: oversized vCPU allocations are PVU liabilities under sub capacity counting.
5. Rate shop refreshes: the PVU rating belongs in every hardware selection scorecard.

Where the common advice on PVU licensing is wrong

The standard advice treats the PVU table as fixed plumbing and focuses negotiation on discount percentages. We disagree. In roughly 15 of the 20 to 30 reviews Fredrik Filipsson ran in 2024 to 2025, estate design changed the PVU requirement more than any achievable discount, because consolidation and allocation right sizing shrink the countable base itself. The buyer side move is to engineer the base before negotiating the rate. A 30 percent discount on an estate counted wrong is still the wrong bill.

The PVU table prices your hardware choices, your cluster design, and your ILMT discipline. The license bill is downstream of all three.

How does the PVU table behave in an audit?

In an audit, the table is applied against the auditor's model of your estate, and every ambiguity defaults expensive: unknown processors get high ratings, missing ILMT data gets full capacity, and cluster boundaries get drawn wide. Your deployment record is the only counterweight.

• Keep a host register: processor model, core count, and table rating per host, refreshed quarterly.
• Protect ILMT continuity: the report archive is the difference between 560 and 8,960 PVUs in the worked example above.
• Contest ratings in writing: auditors apply conservative ratings to unidentified hardware; identification is your job and your saving.

What to do next

1. Export the current PVU table and re rate every host in the estate against it.
2. Validate ILMT coverage, configuration, and the quarterly report archive.
3. Quantify your full capacity exposure if sub capacity were lost tomorrow.
4. Map consolidation moves that shrink countable cluster capacity.
5. Right size vCPU allocations on IBM workload VMs.
6. Add PVU ratings to the hardware refresh scorecard.
7. Re run the estate total before the next renewal or audit letter.

If the estate is already under audit, the settlement playbook covers the defense sequence. The IBM practice runs PVU baselines as a standard engagement.

Frequently asked questions

What is a PVU in IBM licensing?

A Processor Value Unit is the per core capacity weighting IBM applies to processors. Each processor family gets a rating from the PVU table, and your license requirement is eligible cores multiplied by that rating, compared against owned entitlements.

How many PVUs does a typical server core need?

Most modern Intel Xeon and AMD EPYC cores rate 70 PVU per core. IBM Power ranges from 70 to 120 depending on model, and mainframe IFLs rate 100 to 120. The authoritative numbers are on the published IBM PVU table.

What is the difference between full capacity and sub capacity PVU counting?

Full capacity counts every activated core in the physical environment the software can reach. Sub capacity counts only virtual cores allocated to the workload, with valid ILMT evidence. The gap is routinely 3x to 16x.

What happens to PVU counts if ILMT is not deployed?

The contract defaults you to full capacity counting. In our 2024 to 2025 reviews this was the single most expensive silent failure in distributed IBM estates.

Can the PVU requirement be reduced without buying anything?

Yes. Consolidating IBM workloads onto dedicated hosts, right sizing vCPU allocations, and correcting stale processor ratings cut 20 to 40 percent of the requirement in typical estates.