ESU (Extended Security Updates license): What the different Core Types between virtual and physical cores? Which one should I choose?

Question

I have one Windows Server 2012 R2 standard vCPU 32 cores Virtual Machine locate at on-premise server and installed agent to connect with Azure Arc.

I need to update security patches on the server with Azure Arc ESU services, In the "Create an Extended Security Update license" page. What the different Core Types between virtual and physical cores? Which one should I choose? If our Windows Server 2012 R2 specs on above. Thank You.

Answer 1

If you only have the one VM, choose virtual cores. The core choice doesn't impact pricing. It's just to help track where you're applying a license. If you license a host with physical cores, you are entitled to also license some or all of the VMs on it with that same license. But if you just have a handful of VMs, it's almost always beneficial to use virtual cores because you can stop paying as soon as that single VM is decommissioned, upgraded, or migrated to Azure. With physical cores, you need to wait until the host and every VM on it no longer require ESUs before you can stop paying for it.