Cloud Licensing Overview
Cloud licensing enables end users to access local software with a license hosted in the cloud.
Cloud licensing uses identity-based access to give you granular control over who can access a network seat from an SL license. Cloud licensing can be implemented at either of two levels:
>A software vendor can set up a license server machine and grant access to cloud licenses over the Internet for their customers.
>A customer who has purchased an SL license can set up a license server machine and grant access to cloud licenses for authorized end user within their organization. Access can be granted either over the Internet or over the company network (or both).
The benefits provided for each level are described below.
>Vendor-hosted implementation: Cloud licensing provides an alternative model for distributing licenses for protected applications to customers. Rather than providing SL protection keys to the customer, you host the SL licenses on your own license server and provides client identities for each end user. Each client identity is represented by a unique identity string that the end user installs on their machine.
The client identity entitles the user to execute an instance of the protected application, detach a network seat that can be used offline, or both. The user can install the identity string on multiple machines (if permitted by the vendor), but can only execute a single instance or detach a single network seat at any point in time.
Among the benefits of using client identities are the following:
•Software can easily be used on different machines using a single identity.
• Client identities are not affected by operating system upgrades or hardware upgrades.
•You can easily disable a client identity if necessary.
Client identities can be assigned an expiration date. This provides the following additional benefits:
•You can easily manage trial by providing users with expiring identities that consume the same license. This eliminates the need to generate a new key and a new license for each trial.
•You can easily provide customers with an emergency cloud license in case they face issues with their local HL or SL key.
•The IT administrator can manage which users can access a concurrency license and for how long.
Client identities are managed using Sentinel Admin Control Center. You use the Client Identities tab of the Configuration page to create and manage client identities. For more information, see the Admin Control Center help system.
For more information on the benefits of cloud licensing, see Understanding Cloud Licensing.
>Customer-hosted implementation: You can enable your customers to implement cloud licensing at their site to control access to network seats from SL licenses on their license server machine. This provides a simplified method of controlling which end users are able to consume network seats from a license.
NOTE For either level of implementation, cloud licensing is only available if you have the Cloud Licensing module in your Sentinel LDK Master license at the time that you generate the SL licenses.
Client identities are managed using Sentinel Admin Control Center. Your customer uses the Client Identities tab of the Configuration page to create and manage client identities. For more information, see the Admin Control Center help system.
Many of the benefits of working with client identities described above for the vendor-hosted implementation are also applicable for the customer-hosted implementation.
For both vendor-hosted and customer-hosted implementations: You also have the option of allowing customers to set up a second level of license servers to provide greater control over the distribution of network seats within an organization and to minimize the overhead of license administration. For more information, see Overview for Multi-Level License Servers.