Client Server Licensing Model Explanation

Background

The database based X2Net products use a client/server architecture, using a customized version of the Nexus database system.

The application that you see (i.e. the Smart Address interface, or the SmartBoard interface) is the client part, and interacts with the users. But the client part does not directly access the data itself, when it needs data it asks the server component ("the database engine") to fetch the data for it.

In a single user non-networked environment using the standalone database (File/Database/Use Standalone Database) the client and the server are both inside one program, so to all intents and purposes it appears that the client is actually accessing the data directly. It isn't really, it is still asking the server, it's just that the server is embedded in with the client.

In a networked multi-user environment (File/Database/Use Remote Database) the database engine is a separate program, and is run on a central PC that all the clients can talk to. In this way the data can be shared among users. (Just for information, communication is via the TCP/IP protocol).

Licensing

When you purchase a license for say X2Net Smart Address you are actually licensing the server to support that application, not the client. It is the server that holds the license. Part of the license information that you enter contains the number of clients permitted to access the server. A client is defined as a specific single PC (so 4 users on a single PC would only require one license), except in the case of a terminal server environment when it is defined as a specific single user.

When accessing the standalone database

This rarely causes problems or confusion. As the database server is embedded with the client no other client can access it. A one user license is all that is ever needed. Whilst you could enter license information for multi-user use it would be pretty pointless as no other client could access the server, but it wouldn't cause any difficulties, you would just have more licenses than you could ever use in that scenario.

When accessing the remote database

In this scenario when you enter the license name and code into the client, it is passed across to the server. Only one client needs to enter the license information. even though you may have purchased say a 5 user license. (The rest of this discussion assumes a 5 user license). Once one client has passed that information across to the server that's it. The server then knows it is allowed to let 5 different clients connect.

As different clients connect they are tracked by the server. You can see from File/Database/Database Properties/License Manager Tab which clients have connected to that database. Once 5 different clients have connected then a new sixth client will be refused. To allow the new sixth client to connect one of the existing entries in that list can be deleted. However if that then tries to reconnect the same scenario will occur, so if six are really needed rather than one being retired and replaced the solution is to upgrade to a six user license.

Activation

Like a lot of companies we employ a system called "Product Activation". This is very similar to the activation system used by Microsoft for their Windows XP and Office XP (and later) products. We do this to protect from fraud, from license codes being posted on the Internet, and from the installation of a single license on multiple machines.

After a short delay period (a couple of days) and before the expiration of the activation limit (usually 14 days) the product must be activated (note - this is the server activated although a client co-operates in  the process).

When the server informs a client that it needs activating and the user agrees a connection is established with our licensing server on the Internet. The license code originally entered and a fingerprint identifying the hardware is passed back from the server via the client to our licensing server (that is all that is passed back, nothing else). Our licensing server checks that the code has not been used repeatedly in a short period of time on different hardware and if not then a new permanent license tied to the hardware is passed back to the database server via the client and the activation process is complete.

Activation will only be re-requested if significant changes are made to the hardware on which the license is installed (i.e. the server machine, be that the same as the client machine or a separate central machine depending on the usage scenario) which are significant enough make it look like a completely different PC, or of the server is moved to a new PC and the license re-entered.

In determining whether to allow activation more than once basically there is a 90 day sliding window, and two activations are permitted in that period before our licensing server objects. If more than two activations are needed in a 90 day window we can be contacted with details and can reset the count manually.