According the VMware site, "VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat requires an adequate number of vSphere Standard, Advanced, Enterprise or Enterprise Plus licenses and one instance of vCenter Server Standard." Additionally, the "U.S. Suggested List Price per Instance" is $9,995.
I'm considering using a single VCenter Server to manage servers within multiple data centers. I'd like to provide HA for the VCenter Server with failover capability to a second data center. How many "instance" licenses for Heartbeat would I need in order to failover VCenter Server to a remote data center?
(1) VCenter Server Standard plus (1) VCenter Server Heartbeat Instance
or
(1) VCenter Server Standard plus (2) VCenter Server Heartbeat Instance
or
(2) VCenter Server Standard plus (2) VCenter Server Heartbeat Instance
Common sense says one license of each would be needed, but I'm being told it's two. That is, one "instance license" for the primary VCenter Server and a second "instance license" for the failover. That's counter intuitive since I can't use the failover concurrently with the primary.
Can anyone clarify what "per instance" means in regards to licensing Heartbeat?
Thanks!