Precision Licensing: Calculating VVF and VCF Cores in the Broadcom Era

When Broadcom pivoted VMware to a per-core subscription model, they didn’t just change the SKU—they changed the fundamental math of the data center. As someone who has managed migrations through the ESX 3.5 days up to the present, I can tell you that “guestimating” your core count is a dangerous game.

The complexity multiplies when you factor in the vSAN TiB (Tebibyte) add-on. Under the new rules, VVF and VCF come with a specific vSAN entitlement, but exceeding that capacity triggers additional licensing costs that can spiral if you aren’t monitoring your storage-to-core ratio.

The Architect’s Decision Framework: Measuring for Renewal

Before you run the script, you must decide which lens you are looking through. Are you optimizing for a standard virtualization stack (VVF) or a full SDDC automation suite (VCF)?

Decision Rule: Run the script twice. Once for VVF and once for VCF. If your vSAN usage is massive, you may find that the VCF “Core + 2TiB” entitlement actually makes VCF cheaper than paying for VVF plus a mountain of TiB add-on licenses.

Estimate Your Renewal Before you pull the PowerCLI data, use our internal estimator to model your hardware density. Access the VMware VVF & VCF Calculator.

Step-by-Step: Programmatic Core Calculation

When you are designing for Day 2 operations, you need repeatable processes. Here is how to prep your environment for a precise core and storage audit.

1. Establish the PowerShell 7 Environment

Windows Server 2022 and W11 still ship with PowerShell 5.1 by default. Broadcom’s toolset demands PowerShell 7.

• Download the Win64.exe from the PowerShell GitHub Assets.
• Verify your installation with $PSVersionTable. If the PSVersion doesn’t start with 7, the Import-Module command will likely throw legacy errors.

2. Install the PowerCLI Framework

You need the VMware-specific modules to interface with your vCenter API. Open your PowerShell 7 terminal (often the “Black” icon rather than the “Blue” one) and run:

PowerShell

Install-Module VMware.PowerCLI -Scope CurrentUser
# Set execution policy to allow the Broadcom script to run
Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted
# Bypass SSL warnings for internal vCenter certificates
Set-PowerCLIConfiguration -InvalidCertificateAction Ignore -Confirm:$false

3. Executing the Broadcom Audit Script

Download the FoundationCoreAndTiBUsage.psm1 module. This script is the “truth” for Broadcom renewals. Navigate to your download directory and import it:

PowerShell

Import-Module .\FoundationCoreAndTiBUsage.psm1
Connect-VIServer -Server <Your_vCenter_FQDN>

4. Running the Comparisons

This is where the “war stories” come in. I’ve seen architects run a general report and panic at the number. The trick is to isolate your clusters. If you are only renewing a specific production block, don’t let your dev/test lab skew your vSAN TiB requirements.

For a VVF Calculation: Get-FoundationCoreAndTiBUsage -DeploymentType VVF Watch the “vSAN License TiB” column closely. This assumes 100GiB per core.

For a VCF Calculation: Get-FoundationCoreAndTiBUsage -DeploymentType VCF Notice the TiB count drop? That’s the 2TiB per core entitlement working in your favor.

Targeted Cluster Analysis (Recommended): Get-FoundationCoreAndTiBUsage -ClusterName "Production_Gold" –DeploymentType VCF

Mandatory Cost Analysis: The vSAN “Tax”

The most significant cost variable in 2025 is the Storage-to-Core ratio.

• The VVF Trap: If you have 32 cores in a host but 50TB of raw vSAN storage, VVF only covers 3.2TB. You will be billed for the remaining ~46TB as “Add-on TiB.” This can quickly exceed the cost of the core licenses themselves.
• The VCF Pivot: In high-density storage scenarios, VCF is almost always the more economical choice because the 2TiB-per-core entitlement usually covers the entire raw storage capacity without needing add-ons.
• Licensing Rounding: Remember, the script accounts for the 16-core per CPU minimum. Even if the script sees a 12-core chip, it will bill you for 16.

Additional Resources:

About The Architect

R.M.

Senior Solutions Architect with 25+ years of experience in HCI, cloud strategy, and data resilience. As the lead behind Rack2Cloud, I focus on lab-verified guidance for complex enterprise transitions. View Credentials →