Understanding Basic Concepts
Similar to stand-alone licensing, licensed application can be licensed to run on multiple computers so that several computers can share it. In this case a computer network is required so that all computers that are authorized to run the software are connected. Sentinel RMS Development Kit calls this a network license.
A special Sentinel RMS Development Kit program, called the Sentinel RMS Development Kit license server, must be installed onto one or more computers in the network to coordinate the use of the application. The license server has access to the license codes. When the application starts, instead of communicating with RMS Development Kit that has been linked to the application, the application communicates instead with the license server.
The same procedure for software authorization takes place in both the stand-alone and networked case. The only important difference is whether the Sentinel RMS Development Kit license management software is part of the licensed application or provided as a separate program, the license server.
A network license adds many capabilities to license management. The following is a quick summary for the network administrator:
A network license server, by centralizing license use, allows you to keep track of how much an application is being used. (The license server usage log contains a record of each license transaction.)
You can restrict the subnet that a licensed application can use to talk to a license server if needed.
You can use RMS Development Kit utilities to display a summary of current and historical software use.
You may impose local restrictions on software use. For example, a certain number of licenses may be reserved for particular departments or work groups.
You may balance the load of license use on your network and provide license server backup by creating a redundant license server pool.
You can configure the license server to report certain conditions such as approaching license usage limits.