Understanding palo alto license - VM count and vCPU

[N-Open]

Dear Team,

Our old employee has left the company and we have recieved below configuration from palo alto based on the requirements, Below is the spec.

Install 6 VM NGFWs with 8 vCPUs, Each virtual firewall will have
the following licenses: Advanced Threat Prevention, Advanced
URL Filtering ,Advanced Wildfire, DNS Security, Global
Protect,Data Loss Protection (DLP), with Premium Support,

it says 6 VMs with 8 vCPU. 

Is it 8 vCPU for each VM?

Can we have 12 VMs with 4 vCPU each? Please advice.

[aleksandar.astardzhiev]

Hi @N-Open ,

I am guessing you have purchased Software NGFW Credits, which is the current licensing model for virtual PAN firewalls.

Those are great, because they gives you the flexability to modify your virtual firewall any time.

In nutshell you by credits, then you create deployment profiles which define how you spend these credits, including how many vCPUs and firewalls and what subscription licenses you want to apply on those firewalls. At any point you can modify the deployment profile and redeploy your firewalls increasing or decreasing the number of vCPUs or just adding or removing  subscription licenses.

Software NGFW Credits Estimator - Palo Alto Networks is great tool that allows you to calculate how many credits you need for specific deployment.

Q: It says 6 VMs with 8 vCPU. Is it 8 vCPU for each VM?

A: We can only guess, but I understand it the same way. Probably the easiest way to confirm is to play with the Estimator tool and compare how many credits have you received and how many the estimator tells you will need for 6 FW with 8vCPUs.

Q: Can we have 12 VMs with 4 vCPU each? Please advice.

A: That is what is great about Software NGFW credits is that you can choose what ever you want combination, as long as you have enoguh credits.