The End User License
Agreement (EULA) is more than just a nuisance that you must click
through to begin installing a new operating system, update, or
application. The EULA is a binding contract that gives you the legal
right to use a piece of software. In an enterprise environment, managing
software licenses is critically important. In this lesson, you will
learn to use the licensing tools provided by Windows Server 2003 to
register and monitor licenses and compliance.
Obtaining a Client Access License
The server license for
Windows Server 2003 enables you to install the operating system on a
computer, but you need a Client Access License (CAL) before a user or
device is legally authorized to connect to the server. CALs are obtained
in bundles, and are often but not always included in the purchase of
the operating system. Keep copies of the CAL certificates and your EULAs
on file, in the event that your organization is audited for licensing
compliance.
Tip
Remember
that when upgrading a server from Windows NT 4 or Windows 2000 to
Windows Server 2003, you must purchase CAL upgrades as well. |
You
must have a CAL for any connection to a Windows Server 2003 computer
that uses server components, which include file and print services or
authentication. Very few server applications run so independently that
the client/server connection does not require a CAL. The most
significant exception to the CAL requirement is unauthenticated access
conducted through the Internet. Where there is no exchange of
credentials during Internet access, such as users browsing your public
Web site, no CAL is required. CALs are therefore not required for
Windows Server 2003 Web Edition.
There are two types of
CALs: Windows Device CALs, which allow a device to connect to a server
regardless of the number of users who may use that device; and Windows
User CALs, which allow a user to connect to a server from a number of
devices. Windows Device CALs are advantageous for an organization with
multiple users per device, such as shift workers. Windows User CALs make
most sense for an organization with employees that access the network
from multiple or unknown devices.
Note
The
licensing tools and the user interface do not yet distinguish between
Windows User or Windows Device CALs. A device CAL is registered
indirectly, using license groups. |
The number of CALs you require, and how you track those licenses, depends on which client access licensing mode you pursue.
Per-Server Licensing
Per-server licensing
requires a User or Device CAL for each concurrent connection. If a
server is configured with 1,000 CALs, the 1,001st concurrent connection
is denied access. CALs are designated for use on a particular server, so
if the same 1,000 users require concurrent connections to a second
server, you must purchase another 1,000 CALs.
Per server
licensing is advantageous only in limited access scenarios, such as when
a subset of your user population accesses a server product on very few
servers. Per server licensing is less cost-effective in a situation
where multiple users access multiple resources on multiple servers. If
you are unsure which licensing mode is appropriate, select Per Server.
The license agreement allows a no-cost, one-time, one-way conversion
from Per Server to Per Device or Per User licensing when it becomes
appropriate to do so.
Per-Device or Per-User Licensing
The Per Device or Per
User licensing mode varies from the Per Seat scheme of previous versions
of Windows. In this new mode, each device or user that connects to a
server requires a CAL, but with that license the device or user can
connect to a number of servers in the enterprise. Per User or Per Device
mode is generally the mode of choice for distributed computing
environments in which multiple users access multiple servers.
For
example, a developer who uses a laptop and two desktops would require
only one Windows User CAL. A fleet of 10 Tablet PCs that are used by 30
shift workers would require only 10 Windows Device CALs.
The total number of
CALs equals the number of devices or users, or a mixture thereof, that
access servers. CALs can be reassigned under certain, understandable
conditions—for example a Windows User CAL can be reassigned from a
permanent employee to a temporary employee while the permanent employee
is on leave. A Windows Device CAL can be reassigned to a loaner device
while a device is being repaired.
Per Server and Per Device or Per User licensing modes are illustrated in Table 1.
Table 1. CAL Licensing Modes
| Per Server | Per User or Per Device |
|---|
|
|
Traditionally licensed in Per User or Per Device mode when there are many servers that require frequent and widespread access. Usually
more economical when the number of CALs needed is determined by the
number of users or devices, or both, that require access to the servers.
|
Tip
Windows
Server 2003 includes Terminal Services, also known as Remote Desktop.
Remote Desktop includes a two (concurrent) connection license for
administrators to connect to a remote server. For Terminal Services to
perform as an application server, allowing non-administrative users to
connect to hosted applications, you must acquire Terminal Services CALs,
which are included in Windows XP Professional. |
There are two utilities that will help you track and manage software licensing:
Licensing in Control Panel The Control Panel Choose Licensing Mode tool, as shown in Figure 1,
manages licensing requirements for a single computer running Windows
Server 2003. You can use Licensing to add or remove CALs for a server
running in per-server mode; to change the licensing mode from Per Server
to Per Device or Per User; or to configure licensing replication.
Licensing in Administrative Tools
The Licensing administrative tool, discussed in the next section,
allows you to manage licensing for an enterprise by centralizing the
control of licensing and license replication in a site-based model.
Administering Site Licensing
The License Logging
service, which runs on each Windows Server 2003 computer, assigns and
tracks licenses when server resources are accessed. To ensure
compliance, licensing information is replicated to a centralized
licensing database on a server in the site. This server is called the
site license server. A site administrator, or an administrator for the
site license server, can then use the Microsoft Licensing tool in
Administrative Tools program group to view and manage licensing for the
entire site. This new license tracking and management capability
incorporates licenses not just for file and print services, but for IIS,
for Terminal Services, and for BackOffice products such as Exchange or
SQL Server.
The Site License Server
The
site license server is typically the first domain controller created in
a site. To find out what server is the license server for a site, open
Active Directory Sites And Services, expand to select the Site node then
right-click Licensing Site Settings and choose Properties. The current
site license server is displayed, as shown in Figure 2.
To assign the site
license server role to another server or domain controller, click Change
and select the desired computer. To retain the licensing history for
your enterprise, you must immediately after transferring the role stop
the License Logging service on the new license server, then copy the
following files from the old to the new licensing server:
%Systemroot%\System32\Cpl.cfg contains the purchase history for your organization.
%Systemroot%\Lls\Llsuser.lls contains user information about the number of connections.
%Systemroot%\Lls\Llsmap.lls contains license group information.
After all files have been copied, restart the License Logging service.
Administering Site Licenses
Once
you have identified the site license server for a site, you can view
the licensing information on that server opening Licensing from the
Administrative Tools program group. The Server Browser tab in Licensing
(as shown in Figure 3) enables you to manage licensing for an entire site or enterprise.
The Server Browser
page of Licensing allows you to manage any server in any site or domain
for which you have administrative authority. You can locate a server
and, by right-clicking it and choosing Properties, manage that server’s
licenses. For each server product installed on that server, you can add
or remove per-server licenses. You can also, where appropriate, convert
the licensing mode. Remember that per server licensing mode issues a
license when a user connects to the server product. When a user
disconnects from the server product, the License Logging service makes
the license available to another user.
The server
properties also allow you to configure license replication, which can be
set on a server using its Licensing properties in Control Panel. By
default, license information is replicated from a server’s License
Logging Service to the site license server every 24 hours, and the
system automatically staggers replication to avoid burdening the site
licensing server. If you want to control replication schedules or
frequency, you must manually vary the Start At time and Start Every
frequency of each server replicating to a particular site license
server.
To manage Per Device or
Per User licensing, click Licensing from the Administrative Tools
program group, then choose the New License command from the License
menu. In the New Client Access License dialog box, select the server
product and the number of licenses purchased. Licenses are added to the
pool of licenses. As devices or users connect to the product anywhere in
the site, they are allocated licenses from the pool, with one license
for each device or user. After a pool of licenses is depleted, license
violations occur when additional devices or users access the product.
The Purchase History tab in Licensing (as shown in Figure 4)
provides a historical overview of licenses purchased for a site, as
well as the quantity, date, and administrator associated with the
addition or removal of licenses.
To view
cumulative information about licensing and compliance, click the
Products View tab. This tab shows how many licenses have been purchased
and allocated to users or devices (in Per Device or Per User mode) or
the number of licenses purchased for all servers in the site and the
peak connections reached to date (in Per Server mode). You can also
determine compliance using the licensing status symbols shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Licensing Status Symbols
| Symbol | Licensing Status |
|---|
|
| The
product is in compliance with legal licensing requirements. The number
of connections is less than the number of licenses purchased. |
|
| The
product is not in compliance with legal licensing requirements. The
number of connections exceeds the number of licenses purchased. |
|
| The
product has reached the legal limit. The number of connections equals
the number of licenses purchased. If additional devices or users will
connect to the server product, you must purchase and log new licenses. |
License Groups
Per
Device or Per User licensing requires one CAL for each device. However,
the License Logging service assigns and tracks licenses by user name.
When multiple users share one or more devices, you must create license
groups, or else licenses will be consumed too rapidly.
A license group is a
collection of users who collectively share one or more CALs. When a user
connects to the server product, the License Logging service tracks the
user by name, but assigns a CAL from the allocation assigned to the
license group. The concept is easiest to understand with examples:
10 users share a single handheld device for taking inventory.
A license group is created with the 10 users as members. The license
group is assigned one CAL, representing the single device they share.
100 students occasionally use a computer lab with 10 computers. A license group is created with the 100 students as members, and is allocated 10 CALs.
To
create a license group, click the Options menu and, from the Advanced
menu, choose New License Group. Enter the group name and allocate one
license for each client device used to access the server. The number of
licenses allocated to a group should correspond to the number of devices
used by members of the group.
