Problem Statement:

How does a network license function within my organization?

Network License Server Infrastructure Overview:

Network license servers are often used to support AspenTech’s token commercial model which allows users to maximize their use of Aspen software across many users. This eliminates the need to buy licenses for every user (regardless of usage pattern) and allows easy trials of new products.
Customers must decide on the proper license server configuration for their enterprise. A single license server for a global company may be a possibility if the network performance, reliability, and accessibility is sufficient, but there may be valid reasons to deploy multiple network license servers. For example, some AspenTech software runs in the Process Control Network (PCN) and company policy may be to significantly restrict network traffic into or out of the PCN subnet. In this case a local network server that meets the network restrictions may be deployed to meet the local licensing needs. A second reason for multiple servers may be specific country firewalls or network latency for certain remote offices that makes sharing a global server difficult.
A balance must be struck between managing multiple servers and performance. AspenTech can assist customers in adjusting the topology of their license strategy by providing additional license files that distribute tokens as desired by the customer.
As the number of servers decreases and the number of users increases then the risk of large scale failure needs to be considered. Good virtual machine back up policies make up part of that strategy.
Additionally, the servers chosen should meet the hardware requirements to support the intended load in terms of both the number of users and the number of products used by individual users.

Architecture diagram and description

The diagrams below are a simplified architecture for two scenarios:

• Distributed Aspen SLM License Servers at a company with multiple sites
• Single SLM License Servers at a company with multiple sites

 
Users within the organization will have SLM Client Tools that are configured to connect to the license server.  When the user opens an Aspen application, the machine will connect to the license server and check out the necessary license keys for the application to run. The user’s machine will need to be able connect to the license server through the organization’s internal network.

NOTE: The user’s machine does not need access to the Internet to connect to the license server with the organization.

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