Starting in v 5.0 of RLM, Reprise Software added the
capability for RLM to disable node-locked licenses when
running on virtual machines. Why? Well, the answer is
pretty simple. Our customers asked for it.
As
Virtual Machine (VM) software became more prevalent,
software vendors came to realize that by using VMs to replicate
whole operating environments on a single host, users could
also replicate the licensing system used to limit the number
of licenses that could run on that host. Since licenses are
usually tied to a host-specific elements like the Ethernet
hardware address, this meant that users could also gain
access to extra application licenses - in most cases
exceeding the scope of their license terms.
By
being able to disable licenses on VMs, vendors can gain more
control over how their software is used and priced. Now
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 extra for licenses that can span
larger geographies.
As
with most features in RLM, software vendors can turn this
feature off, choosing not
to limit licenses on VMs by overriding RLM's
default behavior.
