Reprise Software
www.reprisesoftware.com
info@reprisesoftware.com
781-837-0884 |
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Licensing on Virtual Machines
Finding Ways to Tame Virtual
Machines
Virtual Machines
present Licensing Challenges
Virtual Machine (VM)
software has been a major
factor in increasing
computer utilization and
efficiency. VM software
allows users to segment a
computer into multiple
"virtual" systems, each with
its own copy of an operating
system each acting fully
independently from the
others. For software
vendors, this "machine
replication" can be a
problem, one that can make
profits become "virtual"
too.
Attack of the Clones
As the use of Virtual
Machine (VM) software
becomes more widespread,
software vendors are
realizing that by using VMs
to replicate whole operating
environments on a single
host, users can also
replicate (clone) the
licensing system used to
limit the number of licenses
on that host. Since licenses
are usually tied or
"node-locked" to a host
using the Ethernet hardware
address, this means that
users can also gain access
to extra application
licenses - in most cases
exceeding the scope of their
license agreement.
RLM on Virtual Machines
Software licensing vendors
are beginning to help ISVs
address this issue. For
instance, starting in v5.0
of RLM, Reprise Software
added the capability to
disable node-locked licenses
or license servers when
running on virtual machines.
RLM detects VMs and disables
license servers and other
specially marked licenses.
Disabling licenses on
Virtual Machines is useful
for node-locked, uncounted
licenses in order to prevent
these licenses from being
used on multiple "cloned"
systems within virtual
machines.
By being able to disable
licenses on VMs, software
vendors can gain more
control over how their
software is used and priced.
Software vendors can charge
fair value for licenses that
can run in a VM, matching
the extra value and
flexibility obtained in
exchange for a potentially
higher price. At the same
time, some vendors might
consider lowering the cost
of licenses that are
disabled on VM. This
strategy is not unlike how
some vendors use
"time-zone-limited" licenses
to reduce the cost of their
basic license while charging
higher fees for licenses
that can span larger
geographies.
Have it Your Way
Not all software vendors
want to disable licenses
under a VM. So, as with most
RLM features, software
vendors can turn this
feature
off, choosing not to
limit licenses on VMs.
Importantly, since the
license itself contains the
parameter that controls
whether it will or will not
run under VM, vendors can
deliver both kinds of
licenses to their customers
- disabled and non-disabled
- allowing them to, for
example, issue short-term
VM-capable licenses for
testing and evaluation
purposes, but disabling
other licenses for long-term
production deployment.
Please
click here for more
information on what else is
in RLM v5.0.
Feel free to contact us via
info@reprisesoftware.com
should you wish to discuss
details of the use of RLM on
virtual machines.
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Joe Alter,
Inc. -
An RLM Customer Story
Providing powerful tools to create
realistic special effects
Joe Alter, Inc develops software for
creating photo realistic 3D hair for
Film, TV, and videogames. Our "Shave and
a Haircut" product has been used on
numerous feature films including "King
Kong", Harry Potter and the Order of
the Pheonix, Pirates of the Caribbean :
World's End, XMen-2, and more.
Our licensing requirements serve users
with hundreds of workstations and
rendernodes. We support multiple
versions of Linux, Windows and OSX.
Finding a satisfactory licensing system
for these requirements that is still
affordable was a real challenge.
We had previously used Aladdin's NETHasp
license manager with great reliability
and success however they didn't provide
an easy way to upgrade customers, manage
temp keys, or tie licenses to a MAC
address. With RLM we have been able to
untangle our order/upgrade process,
avoid last minute shipping costs and
provide our customers with a much more
flexible, high level of service.
RLM has had an immediate impact on
customer satisfaction, and has resulted
in increased sales.
The developer support at Reprise is top
notch, and the product works.
Please visit
http://www.joealter.com/ for more
information. .
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Wither the Dongle
Not for Everybody, but
Dongles Provide License
Portability
The overall reputation of
dongles "took it on the
chin" in past decades.
Dongles were perceived to be
inconvenient, clumsy,
unreliable and
expensive. Not so fast! The
dongle is seeing a rebirth.
Late model USB dongles are
both reliable and
inexpensive. Through it all,
dongles remain extremely
popular in some market
segments including
applications that are
deployed in laboratory,
testing, and remote "in the
field" locations.
Roles for Dongles
The obvious reason for using
dongles is improved
security. Dongles contain a
serial number that serves as
a secure hostid for software
licenses. But, the principal
reason for their longevity
is that serialized dongles
still provide a viable way
to securely move your
licensed software from one
machine to another. Think of
the case of a architect
using sophisticated and
expensive design software at
his office. If the software
was licensed with a dongle,
he could grab the dongle and
head home, install it on his
home computer and use the
same software there without
having to buy a second
expensive license or connect
to his office over the
network. As long as he has
the dongle, he can use his
software.
Fewer License
Regeneration Events for
Software Vendors
As the pace of technology
quickens, software vendors
are increasingly faced with
customers who are upgrading
their hardware. In many
cases (like when a new
network interface card is
used), new software licenses
may have to be generated
because the upgrade makes
the prior licenses
obsolete. Although this is
not a difficult operation,
it requires the attention of
your busy staff. If you use
dongles, then the upgrade
can go on without vendor
involvement because once the
dongle is moved to the new
machine, a simple software
reinstall is all that's
required.
Supporting dongles with
the Reprise License Manager
ISVs who want to support
dongles with RLM can do so
by upgrading to v5.0.
Reprise Software sells
dongles that are integrated
into RLM as an alternative
hostid. No extra software
or programming is needed to
support dongles with RLM. An
added benefit to this
approach is that a single
dongle can support multiple
RLM-based applications -
even if they are from
different vendors.
For more information on the
use of dongles with RLM,
please contact Reprise
Software.
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