Stratusphere™ UX Licensing FAQs

Summary

Stratusphere UX v6.1 introduced a new License model that provides an opportunity to better support user concurrency. Specifically, Stratusphere UX license keys can now be generated to support the following two license types:

• Named User: Named User licenses require that one license be reserved per specific user in your environment. Because the license is assigned to the user, the license allows the user to login to multiple sessions across multiple devices at the same time.
• Concurrent User: Concurrent licenses are managed as a group and any user in that group can access them. The Stratusphere Hub is constantly receiving and cataloging information from your environment that is transmitted by the Collector ID Keys. Stratusphere is designed to be monitoring your environment at all times. Licensing is enforced based on the number of simultaneous licenses in use during periodic user counts. When a CID Key reports a new user at log on, a license is consumed. When a CID Key recognizes a user has logged off or terminated all sessions, the license is freed up.

Named User licensing is the model chosen by most customers that have a standard work schedule, as opposed to organizations with periodic or shift-workers. Concurrent licensing is generally used in environments where there are a greater number of users, but not all users require workspace access at the same time. For example, concurrent licensing is generally financially advantageous for call center, healthcare, education, and manufacturing environments.

Frequently Asked Questions

The following list of frequently asked questions can help partners and customers understand the licensing model changes so that they can find the best fit.

1. What versions of Stratusphere UX include this new license option?
2. Versions 6.1.0 and higher include the Licensing Service.
2. What advantages does the new license model offer administrators?
3. With active license management through the License Service, administrators can better align their Stratusphere UX licensing to mirror platform concurrent licensing. Further, Stratusphere UX license reporting provides administrators with the ability to gain visibility into machine and user counts by the hour.
3. Do I need to provide additional infrastructure or resources to support this licensing type?
4. No. The License Service is included as part of the Stratusphere Hub appliance.
4. Can both license types be used in an environment?
5. No. You cannot mix Named User and Concurrent User licenses in the same environment. To support this method, a customer would have to set up two Stratusphere UX Hub appliances; one for each license type.
5. Does this affect the trial period of Stratusphere UX?
6. No. Stratusphere Evaluation licenses remain unchanged. After a trial period ends, either Named User or Concurrent User licenses must be purchased from a salesperson.
6. How do I receive and activate a license under the new process?
7. Applying a license key is outlined in the Stratusphere Installation and Configuration Guide. While there is a new license type, the process is the same as it was previously.
7. What happens if my license group is too small or I run over my allotment due to increased user demand?
8. Regardless of license counts, Stratusphere UX will continue to capture workspace metrics from all users and machines. When license violations occur, however, the Stratusphere UX interface will provide feedback and staged alerting about the consumption overage.
8. Is there a way to avoid the license alert violation and required acknowledgment?
9. No. However, licensing alerting escalates in stages and violation alert triggering requires that overages exceed threshold values on a rolling basis. If your license counts routinely trigger these thresholds it is suggested that you increase license counts to avoid future alerting.
9. When is a license freed up if I have a Concurrent User license?
10. Stratusphere UX counts concurrent licenses every hour. If a particular user name is not reporting during that hour, then no license is being used. If the total count of unique user names is below the licensed amount, then licenses are still available.
10. Under the Stratusphere UX Concurrent User license, can one user be logged into multiple windows sessions?
11. Yes. Only unique users are counted. Multiple sessions for the same user use only one license.
11. I host my Stratusphere Appliances in the cloud. Will this affect me?
12. Licensing options are the same on-prem and in the cloud.
12. Do my consoles or desktops validate licensing offsite?
13. No. All license authentication stays within your environment, on-prem or cloud. Laptops are allowed to go offline up to 90 days before a temporary pop-up message is displayed. After the laptop syncs to the licensing server on the network, the pop-up message no longer appears.
13. Do I have to update the Hub Appliance and the CID Key software at the same time?
14. It is recommended that you update both because using older CID Key versions with new appliances might not be supported.
14. If I just update the Hub Appliance and I don’t update the CID Key software, will the new licensing go into effect? (i.e. Will this break the end point?)
15. No. Older CID Key software will still report data to the Hub Appliance. However, the License models might not work as expected.
15. Is there a deadline that I must update my existing software to version 6.1.0 or higher with the new License Service?
16. There are no specific deadlines. Liquidware encourages updating to the latest software to take advantage of new features and bug fixes. However, you can continue to use older versions as long as Liquidware continues to support them. Refer to our Support Policy for further information.