Network floating licenses

With a network floating license, any number of people in your organization can share a copy of the ChemPlugin SDK. In this way, you can let the people within a single office, or your colleagues around the world run the ChemPlugin SDK software.

Installing a floating license? Please visit our step-by-step guide.

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Floating licenses

Floating software is licensed according to the desired number of concurrent users, or “seats”. Suppose a dozen people in your organization are interested in using the software from time to time, but you foresee only a couple of them using it at a specific moment.

In this case, instead of buying a dozen individual software copies, you could purchase two floating seats. The floating licenses are considerably less expensive than the individual licenses would be, so you provide your organization with appreciable cost savings.

As your organization's needs change, you can add seats to accommodate more concurrent users, or discontinue some if use declines.

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The license server

Sharing a ChemPlugin SDK floating license is straightforward. First, you install the ChemPlugin SDK server software on a central computer, which becomes the license server.

The license server keeps track of who is using the ChemPlugin SDK at any given moment, and how many copies are in use. The server might reside on a central computer in your organization's headquarters, or a desktop computer in your office.

Each user then installs a copy of the ChemPlugin SDK on his or her computer, or computers, as usual. Instead of activating the software with a code, however, he or she points it to the license server.

For details on setting up a license server, please visit our Floating license installation guide.

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How it works

When a user opens one or more ChemPlugin SDK applications, the software sends a request to the license server to check out a single seat. If no seats happen to be available at the moment, the user can wait until one opens up.

A user may not always be able to access the server: Perhaps he or she is leaving for the field or planning to work outside your organization's firewall. In this case, he or she can borrow a seat for a certain interval of time, making it available offline on his or her laptop for that period.

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LAN and WAN

There are in general two types of network floating licenses. A Local Area Network or “LAN” license serves users within a single building, or a cluster of adjacent buildings. Users from the local network are free to access the license occasionally from home, or while on travel. This type of license is perfect for individual workgroups, or organizations that undertake a specific task at a single location.

A Wide Area Network or “WAN” license, on the other hand, serves users at multiple locations, whether across the city or around the world. This type of license is favored by companies that need to coordinate work among far-flung users and in organizations with geographically distributed workloads.

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Subscription pricing

Annual subscriptions for floating licenses are priced as follows. Version upgrades and software maintenance are included in the annual fee.

You will be contacted annually as your subscription approaches its renewal date.