VCL software licensing
Hello, I wanted to know how are people dealing with software licensing for VCL? Does anyone have a document or information on how they are dealing with the different vendors when it comes to VCL. For example with Microsoft you are using 1 license for each virtual machine you spin up in a Windows environment. Do you have one per user base? Is this for concurrent users? Are you able to split up lab licensing for in house software to be used in the VCL? Do the companies know you are doing this? Does anyone have an agreement with any vendors that goes within the current VCL licensing that they are using? If someone has like an overview or general information on how you are licensing the VCL for educational use; that would be very helpful. We are starting to run into licensing walls and I would love some inside information from someone who has gone through this. -- Thanks, Alex Patterson User Support Services Operating System Analyst California State University, East Bay
RE: VCL software licensing
Alex In our case, we really haven't had to do anything special in regards to licensing. For Microsoft products, we have a campus license which allows us to install on any University-owned systems using the campus site key. For many applications we have network license servers, so the VCL images with that software point to the license servers to get licenses. For all other licenses we have, the license is for a specific number of seats, not specific computers, so we just set the maximum concurrent usage setting on the image to the number of licenses there are for the application. Mike Mike Waldron Systems Specialist ITS Research Computing University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill CB #3420, ITS Manning, Rm 2509 919-962-9778 From: Alexander Patterson [alexander.patter...@csueastbay.edu] Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 1:12 PM To: vcl-user@incubator.apache.org Subject: VCL software licensing Hello, I wanted to know how are people dealing with software licensing for VCL? Does anyone have a document or information on how they are dealing with the different vendors when it comes to VCL. For example with Microsoft you are using 1 license for each virtual machine you spin up in a Windows environment. Do you have one per user base? Is this for concurrent users? Are you able to split up lab licensing for in house software to be used in the VCL? Do the companies know you are doing this? Does anyone have an agreement with any vendors that goes within the current VCL licensing that they are using? If someone has like an overview or general information on how you are licensing the VCL for educational use; that would be very helpful. We are starting to run into licensing walls and I would love some inside information from someone who has gone through this. -- Thanks, Alex Patterson User Support Services Operating System Analyst California State University, East Bay
Re: VCL software licensing
Hello Michael, We have %100 of the same model that you are using, we are working on getting everything into complacency and we are running into big walls starting with Microsoft for copies of the OS that is running on the VCL. Have you talked with Microsoft and do they know you are using the VCL to install virtual instances of the Microsoft product into a Virtual machine environment? We are in talks with Microsoft and they want to charge us X more for doing this, it could lead to the end of our pilot. We have the same campus license that you have and just wanted more insight if anyone has worked closer to the vendors to work on a VCL licensing for software -Alex On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 10:55 AM, Waldron, Michael H mwald...@email.unc.eduwrote: Alex In our case, we really haven't had to do anything special in regards to licensing. For Microsoft products, we have a campus license which allows us to install on any University-owned systems using the campus site key. For many applications we have network license servers, so the VCL images with that software point to the license servers to get licenses. For all other licenses we have, the license is for a specific number of seats, not specific computers, so we just set the maximum concurrent usage setting on the image to the number of licenses there are for the application. Mike Mike Waldron Systems Specialist ITS Research Computing University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill CB #3420, ITS Manning, Rm 2509 919-962-9778 -- *From:* Alexander Patterson [alexander.patter...@csueastbay.edu] *Sent:* Wednesday, March 07, 2012 1:12 PM *To:* vcl-user@incubator.apache.org *Subject:* VCL software licensing Hello, I wanted to know how are people dealing with software licensing for VCL? Does anyone have a document or information on how they are dealing with the different vendors when it comes to VCL. For example with Microsoft you are using 1 license for each virtual machine you spin up in a Windows environment. Do you have one per user base? Is this for concurrent users? Are you able to split up lab licensing for in house software to be used in the VCL? Do the companies know you are doing this? Does anyone have an agreement with any vendors that goes within the current VCL licensing that they are using? If someone has like an overview or general information on how you are licensing the VCL for educational use; that would be very helpful. We are starting to run into licensing walls and I would love some inside information from someone who has gone through this. -- Thanks, Alex Patterson User Support Services Operating System Analyst California State University, East Bay -- Thanks, Alex Patterson User Support Services Operating System Analyst California State University, East Bay
RE: VCL software licensing
Alex Another group within the University handles software acquisitions and they are the ones that deal with Microsoft on such issues. We have the blessing of this group to use the software as we are on the VCL, so from my standpoint we are covered. Mike Mike Waldron Systems Specialist ITS Research Computing University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill CB #3420, ITS Manning, Rm 2509 919-962-9778 From: Alexander Patterson [alexander.patter...@csueastbay.edu] Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 2:01 PM To: vcl-user@incubator.apache.org Subject: Re: VCL software licensing Hello Michael, We have %100 of the same model that you are using, we are working on getting everything into complacency and we are running into big walls starting with Microsoft for copies of the OS that is running on the VCL. Have you talked with Microsoft and do they know you are using the VCL to install virtual instances of the Microsoft product into a Virtual machine environment? We are in talks with Microsoft and they want to charge us X more for doing this, it could lead to the end of our pilot. We have the same campus license that you have and just wanted more insight if anyone has worked closer to the vendors to work on a VCL licensing for software -Alex On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 10:55 AM, Waldron, Michael H mwald...@email.unc.edumailto:mwald...@email.unc.edu wrote: Alex In our case, we really haven't had to do anything special in regards to licensing. For Microsoft products, we have a campus license which allows us to install on any University-owned systems using the campus site key. For many applications we have network license servers, so the VCL images with that software point to the license servers to get licenses. For all other licenses we have, the license is for a specific number of seats, not specific computers, so we just set the maximum concurrent usage setting on the image to the number of licenses there are for the application. Mike Mike Waldron Systems Specialist ITS Research Computing University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill CB #3420, ITS Manning, Rm 2509 919-962-9778tel:919-962-9778 From: Alexander Patterson [alexander.patter...@csueastbay.edumailto:alexander.patter...@csueastbay.edu] Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 1:12 PM To: vcl-user@incubator.apache.orgmailto:vcl-user@incubator.apache.org Subject: VCL software licensing Hello, I wanted to know how are people dealing with software licensing for VCL? Does anyone have a document or information on how they are dealing with the different vendors when it comes to VCL. For example with Microsoft you are using 1 license for each virtual machine you spin up in a Windows environment. Do you have one per user base? Is this for concurrent users? Are you able to split up lab licensing for in house software to be used in the VCL? Do the companies know you are doing this? Does anyone have an agreement with any vendors that goes within the current VCL licensing that they are using? If someone has like an overview or general information on how you are licensing the VCL for educational use; that would be very helpful. We are starting to run into licensing walls and I would love some inside information from someone who has gone through this. -- Thanks, Alex Patterson User Support Services Operating System Analyst California State University, East Bay -- Thanks, Alex Patterson User Support Services Operating System Analyst California State University, East Bay
RE: VCL software licensing
I had done some research with Microsoft when we were first looking into starting our VCL. In order to access the virtual machines you have to have a VDA license (Virtual Desktop Access) as well as the Windows license. As you said, the Windows license is covered under the Campus License Agreement but the VDA license usually isn't. If you are using something other than Microsoft's VDI for virtualization you also need RDS CAL (Remote Desktop Services Client Access Licenses). The VDA licenses were about $13 per student and the RDS CAL were about $11 if purchased separately, or the RDS CAL could be added to a campus license agreement at about $5.00 per (our situation was that our Campus License Agreement covered all students for the whole Institute but we're only looking at having the VCL at a remote campus which is why I had looked at both options). The RDS CAL was also available as a perpetual license for about $19 (valid only for that version of server currently in use - new licenses would have to be purchased when back end servers were upgraded to a new OS version). For approximately 500 students I think the Microsoft Licensing would cost approximately $16K per year. This is a huge issue and it was even worse before 2010 July 1 when M$ switched to the VDA license. Things might have changed as virtualized environments have continued to become more prevalent. But I would certainly check with the Microsoft rep for sure. Adam Hechler Senior Analyst / PC Systems Administrator hec...@rpi.edumailto:hec...@rpi.edu (860) 548-2446 Rensselaer at Hartford From: Alexander Patterson [mailto:alexander.patter...@csueastbay.edu] Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 2:01 PM To: vcl-user@incubator.apache.org Subject: Re: VCL software licensing Hello Michael, We have %100 of the same model that you are using, we are working on getting everything into complacency and we are running into big walls starting with Microsoft for copies of the OS that is running on the VCL. Have you talked with Microsoft and do they know you are using the VCL to install virtual instances of the Microsoft product into a Virtual machine environment? We are in talks with Microsoft and they want to charge us X more for doing this, it could lead to the end of our pilot. We have the same campus license that you have and just wanted more insight if anyone has worked closer to the vendors to work on a VCL licensing for software -Alex On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 10:55 AM, Waldron, Michael H mwald...@email.unc.edumailto:mwald...@email.unc.edu wrote: Alex In our case, we really haven't had to do anything special in regards to licensing. For Microsoft products, we have a campus license which allows us to install on any University-owned systems using the campus site key. For many applications we have network license servers, so the VCL images with that software point to the license servers to get licenses. For all other licenses we have, the license is for a specific number of seats, not specific computers, so we just set the maximum concurrent usage setting on the image to the number of licenses there are for the application. Mike Mike Waldron Systems Specialist ITS Research Computing University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill CB #3420, ITS Manning, Rm 2509 919-962-9778tel:919-962-9778 From: Alexander Patterson [alexander.patter...@csueastbay.edumailto:alexander.patter...@csueastbay.edu] Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 1:12 PM To: vcl-user@incubator.apache.orgmailto:vcl-user@incubator.apache.org Subject: VCL software licensing Hello, I wanted to know how are people dealing with software licensing for VCL? Does anyone have a document or information on how they are dealing with the different vendors when it comes to VCL. For example with Microsoft you are using 1 license for each virtual machine you spin up in a Windows environment. Do you have one per user base? Is this for concurrent users? Are you able to split up lab licensing for in house software to be used in the VCL? Do the companies know you are doing this? Does anyone have an agreement with any vendors that goes within the current VCL licensing that they are using? If someone has like an overview or general information on how you are licensing the VCL for educational use; that would be very helpful. We are starting to run into licensing walls and I would love some inside information from someone who has gone through this. -- Thanks, Alex Patterson User Support Services Operating System Analyst California State University, East Bay -- Thanks, Alex Patterson User Support Services Operating System Analyst California State University, East Bay
Re: VCL software licensing
I'm forwarding this for Dr. Henry Schaffer - for some reason his emails were bouncing back. From Henry: A group of us did a presentation on licensing at Educause 2011. Here is the slide deck. http://www.ncsu.edu/it/open_source/cloud-license-educause2011.html We also have an Educause group on Software Licensing which has a mailing list and has a conference call every other week. I'm not sure how to join the group - but Sharon Pitt sp...@gmu.edu knows. Henry Also I agree with Adam, definitely need to work with your MS rep not only to understand but also to negotiate a suitable pricing model for the OS and VDA licensing. I think there are some options in regards to VDA such as software assurance for the campus users, etc, but again would need to talk with your rep. Aaron On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 2:18 PM, Hechler, Adam hec...@rpi.edu wrote: I had done some research with Microsoft when we were first looking into starting our VCL. In order to access the virtual machines you have to have a VDA license (Virtual Desktop Access) as well as the Windows license. As you said, the Windows license is covered under the Campus License Agreement but the VDA license usually isn’t. If you are using something other than Microsoft’s VDI for virtualization you also need RDS CAL (Remote Desktop Services Client Access Licenses). The VDA licenses were about $13 per student and the RDS CAL were about $11 if purchased separately, or the RDS CAL could be added to a campus license agreement at about $5.00 per (our situation was that our Campus License Agreement covered all students for the whole Institute but we’re only looking at having the VCL at a remote campus which is why I had looked at both options). The RDS CAL was also available as a perpetual license for about $19 (valid only for that version of server currently in use – new licenses would have to be purchased when back end servers were upgraded to a new OS version). For approximately 500 students I think the Microsoft Licensing would cost approximately $16K per year. This is a huge issue and it was even worse before 2010 July 1 when M$ switched to the VDA license. Things might have changed as virtualized environments have continued to become more prevalent. But I would certainly check with the Microsoft rep for sure. Adam Hechler Senior Analyst / PC Systems Administrator hec...@rpi.edu (860) 548-2446 Rensselaer at Hartford From: Alexander Patterson [mailto:alexander.patter...@csueastbay.edu] Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 2:01 PM To: vcl-user@incubator.apache.org Subject: Re: VCL software licensing Hello Michael, We have %100 of the same model that you are using, we are working on getting everything into complacency and we are running into big walls starting with Microsoft for copies of the OS that is running on the VCL. Have you talked with Microsoft and do they know you are using the VCL to install virtual instances of the Microsoft product into a Virtual machine environment? We are in talks with Microsoft and they want to charge us X more for doing this, it could lead to the end of our pilot. We have the same campus license that you have and just wanted more insight if anyone has worked closer to the vendors to work on a VCL licensing for software -Alex On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 10:55 AM, Waldron, Michael H mwald...@email.unc.edu wrote: Alex In our case, we really haven't had to do anything special in regards to licensing. For Microsoft products, we have a campus license which allows us to install on any University-owned systems using the campus site key. For many applications we have network license servers, so the VCL images with that software point to the license servers to get licenses. For all other licenses we have, the license is for a specific number of seats, not specific computers, so we just set the maximum concurrent usage setting on the image to the number of licenses there are for the application. Mike Mike Waldron Systems Specialist ITS Research Computing University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill CB #3420, ITS Manning, Rm 2509 919-962-9778 From: Alexander Patterson [alexander.patter...@csueastbay.edu] Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 1:12 PM To: vcl-user@incubator.apache.org Subject: VCL software licensing Hello, I wanted to know how are people dealing with software licensing for VCL? Does anyone have a document or information on how they are dealing with the different vendors when it comes to VCL. For example with Microsoft you are using 1 license for each virtual machine you spin up in a Windows environment. Do you have one per user base? Is this for concurrent users? Are you able to split up lab licensing for in house software to be used in the VCL? Do the companies know you are doing this? Does anyone have an agreement with any vendors that
Xcat image capture issues
Hello,
After working a while with VmWare images, we have started experimenting with
Xcat bare metal images. To accommodate the added level of complexity with Xcat,
I created a separate development environment with VCL and some dell 6100 high
density nodes. I have installed RHEL 6.1 with Xcat on all the nodes. Following
the instructions on the doc page, I installed partimage to the xcat
installation. I think its correct, except that these are not IBM blades, so I
am unsure how to build a stateless image on this hardware. Just attempting to
capture the image as-is failed, and the error messages are below. Is there
any more documentation on this process, and how to make Xcat work with VCL?
Being new to Xcat, I guess that I am missing some background material on what
is supposed to happen here. For example, the error log states that /opt/xcat
does not exist, but it does exist on the node I was attempting to capture.
Does Xcat need to be on the management node too ?
The information I am using is located at:
http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/xcat/index.php?title=Setting_Up_a_Linux_xCAT_Mgmt_Node
And
https://cwiki.apache.org/VCL/adding-support-for-partimage-and-partimage-ng-to-xcat-2x-unofficial.html
Any other information available ?
Thanks,
Al Quiros
Florida International University
**
Error message from my attempt at capturing the image below:
VCL::image object could not be created and initialized
time: 2012-03-07 14:49:31
caller: vcld:make_new_child(571)
( 0) vcld, make_new_child (line: 571)
(-1) vcld, main (line: 346)
management node: vcldev01.p.fiu.edu
reservation PID: 12372
parent vcld PID: 2044
request ID: 1
reservation ID: 1
request state/laststate: image/image
request start time: 2012-03-07 14:49:30
request end time: 2012-03-07 15:49:30
for imaging: no
log ID: none
computer: 6100a
computer id: 1
computer type: blade
computer eth0 MAC address: undefined
computer eth1 MAC address: undefined
computer private IP address: 10.0.0.25
computer public IP address: 10.106.128.14
computer in block allocation: no
provisioning module: VCL::Module::Provisioning::xCAT2
image: rh5image-rh6xcat5-v0
image display name: rh6xcat
image ID: 5
image revision ID: 5
image size: 1450 MB
use Sysprep: yes
root access: yes
image owner ID: 1
image owner affiliation: Local
image revision date created: 2012-03-07 14:49:29
image revision production: yes
OS module: VCL::Module::OS::Linux
user: admin
user name: vcl admin
user ID: 1
user affiliation: Local
RECENT LOG ENTRIES FOR THIS PROCESS:
2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'id' key for
VCL::image object from arguments
2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'PID' key for
VCL::image object from arguments
2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'DURATION' key for
VCL::image object from arguments
2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'PPID' key for
VCL::image object from arguments
2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'datemodified' key
for VCL::image object from arguments
2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'RESERVATIONCOUNT'
key for VCL::image object from arguments
2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'end' key for
VCL::image object from arguments
2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'stateid' key for
VCL::image object from arguments
2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'PARENTIMAGE' key
for VCL::image object from arguments
2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'checkuser' key for
VCL::image object from arguments
2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'preload' key for
VCL::image object from arguments
2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'NOTICEINTERVAL' key
for VCL::image object from arguments
2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'start' key for
VCL::image object from arguments
2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'logid' key for
VCL::image object from arguments
2012-03-07
14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:create_mn_os_object(361)|VCL::Module::OS::Linux::ManagementNode
module loaded
2012-03-07
14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(196)|VCL::Module::OS::Linux::ManagementNode
object created for image not set, address: 2417400
2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|DataStructure.pm:_automethod(834)|data
structure updated: $self-request_data-{reservation}{0}{computer}{hostname}
|12372|1:1|image| computer_hostname = vcldev01.p.fiu.edu
2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|DataStructure.pm:_automethod(834)|data
structure updated: $self-request_data-{reservation}{0}{computer}{NODENAME}
Re: Xcat image capture issues
xCAT should be installed on the management node. It doesn't need to be installed on other machines. There are a few different xCAT installation instruction pages on their site. You may want to start with this simpler one: http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/xcat/index.php?title=Basic_Install_DHCP -Andy On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 3:16 PM, Evelio Quiros evq...@fiu.edu wrote: Hello, After working a while with VmWare images, we have started experimenting with Xcat bare metal images. To accommodate the added level of complexity with Xcat, I created a separate development environment with VCL and some dell 6100 high density nodes. I have installed RHEL 6.1 with Xcat on all the nodes. Following the instructions on the doc page, I installed partimage to the xcat installation. I think its correct, except that these are not IBM blades, so I am unsure how to build a stateless image on this hardware. Just attempting to capture the image as-is failed, and the error messages are below. Is there any more documentation on this process, and how to make Xcat work with VCL? Being new to Xcat, I guess that I am missing some background material on what is supposed to happen here. For example, the error log states that /opt/xcat does not exist, but it does exist on the node I was attempting to capture. Does Xcat need to be on the management node too ? The information I am using is located at: http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/xcat/index.php?title=Setting_Up_a_Linux_xCAT_Mgmt_Node And https://cwiki.apache.org/VCL/adding-support-for-partimage-and-partimage-ng-to-xcat-2x-unofficial.html Any other information available ? Thanks, Al Quiros Florida International University ** Error message from my attempt at capturing the image below: VCL::image object could not be created and initialized time: 2012-03-07 14:49:31 caller: vcld:make_new_child(571) ( 0) vcld, make_new_child (line: 571) (-1) vcld, main (line: 346) management node: vcldev01.p.fiu.edu reservation PID: 12372 parent vcld PID: 2044 request ID: 1 reservation ID: 1 request state/laststate: image/image request start time: 2012-03-07 14:49:30 request end time: 2012-03-07 15:49:30 for imaging: no log ID: none computer: 6100a computer id: 1 computer type: blade computer eth0 MAC address: undefined computer eth1 MAC address: undefined computer private IP address: 10.0.0.25 computer public IP address: 10.106.128.14 computer in block allocation: no provisioning module: VCL::Module::Provisioning::xCAT2 image: rh5image-rh6xcat5-v0 image display name: rh6xcat image ID: 5 image revision ID: 5 image size: 1450 MB use Sysprep: yes root access: yes image owner ID: 1 image owner affiliation: Local image revision date created: 2012-03-07 14:49:29 image revision production: yes OS module: VCL::Module::OS::Linux user: admin user name: vcl admin user ID: 1 user affiliation: Local RECENT LOG ENTRIES FOR THIS PROCESS: 2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'id' key for VCL::image object from arguments 2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'PID' key for VCL::image object from arguments 2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'DURATION' key for VCL::image object from arguments 2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'PPID' key for VCL::image object from arguments 2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'datemodified' key for VCL::image object from arguments 2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'RESERVATIONCOUNT' key for VCL::image object from arguments 2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'end' key for VCL::image object from arguments 2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'stateid' key for VCL::image object from arguments 2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'PARENTIMAGE' key for VCL::image object from arguments 2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'checkuser' key for VCL::image object from arguments 2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'preload' key for VCL::image object from arguments 2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'NOTICEINTERVAL' key for VCL::image object from arguments 2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'start' key for VCL::image object from arguments 2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:new(172)|set 'logid' key for VCL::image object from arguments 2012-03-07 14:49:31|12372|1:1|image|Module.pm:create_mn_os_object(361)|VCL::Module::OS::Linux::ManagementNode module loaded 2012-03-07
Re: VCL software licensing
On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 3:18 PM, Andy Kurth andy_ku...@ncsu.edu wrote: Just FYI, the same issues apply to VMware View, Citrix XenDesktop, etc. -Andy ... Andy is right - I'm buying VDI software from VMware/Citrix/other vendor. Do I still need Windows VDA? Yes, you do. If you are accessing a Windows client operating system (OS) as your guest OS in the datacenter from a thin client, Windows VDA is the appropriate licensing vehicle. You need this regardless of the VDI software vendor you choose. The only scenario where you would not need Windows VDA is if you were using PCs covered under Software Assurance as the access devices, since virtual desktop access rights are included as a benefit of SA. (quoted from http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/0/5/5059CBF7-F736-4D1E-BF90-C28DADA181C5/Microsoft%20VDI%20and%20Windows%20VDA%20FAQ%20v2%200.pdf ) --henry
RE: VCL software licensing
Hi Alex VCL folks, I suspect that some folks may prefer to share detailed information off list due to concerns about publically documenting their compliance approach. We have been grappling with OS and application licenses with regard to our Remote Desktop Services (Terminal Services) pilot (we are not using Apache VCL in production). While there are some differences between RDS and VDI licensing, the challenges are similar. Our experience has been that software vendors fall into a few basic camps with regard to virtual licensing: · Those vendors who don’t have a virtual licensing mechanism and need to be educated about the use case in order to work out an agreement/understanding. · Those vendors who understand the virtual use case and may have documented licensing stipulations. · Those vendors who have robust licensing policies and mechanisms (network license managers, multiple license types, etc). On the Microsoft OS side, it took a sit down meeting with our MS Sales Engineer to understand their licensing schema for VDI and RDS. In a nutshell this is what we walked away with: * Staff or faculty member running a Windows OS on a University computer connecting to a VDI based Windows VM = Covered under campus agreement, no additional cost * Staff or faculty member running a NON-Windows OS (MacOSX, Linux, Thin OS) on a University computer connecting to a VDI based Windows VM = Covered under campus agreement, no additional cost * Student on a University computer (Windows, MacOSX, Linux, Thin OS) connecting to a VDI based Windows VM = Special agreement needed: roughly $5/student over FTE population or fenced population (as negotiated by campus and Microsoft). * Staff or faculty member on a University computer (Windows, MacOSX, Linux, Thin OS) connecting to a RDS session = Per User or Per Computer CAL required * Student on a University computer (Windows, MacOSX, Linux, Thin OS) connecting to a RDS session = External Connector License (per RDS server) * Student on a home computer (Windows, MacOSX, Linux, Thin OS) connecting to a RDS session = External Connector License (per RDS server) After looking at a number of License Management applications, we settled on Sassafras K2 (http://www.sassafras.com) based upon the cross platform capabilities (we envision it being used beyond our RDS offering) and resounding recommendations from a lengthy list of other universities. We are early in our implementation, but I can attest that it is a very capable and mature product. Best, alex Alex Keller Systems Administrator Academic Technology, San Francisco State University ☛Burk Hall 155 ☎ (415)338-6117 ✉alkel...@sfsu.edumailto:alkel...@sfsu.edu From: Alexander Patterson [mailto:alexander.patter...@csueastbay.edu] Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 10:13 AM To: vcl-user@incubator.apache.org Subject: VCL software licensing Hello, I wanted to know how are people dealing with software licensing for VCL? Does anyone have a document or information on how they are dealing with the different vendors when it comes to VCL. For example with Microsoft you are using 1 license for each virtual machine you spin up in a Windows environment. Do you have one per user base? Is this for concurrent users? Are you able to split up lab licensing for in house software to be used in the VCL? Do the companies know you are doing this? Does anyone have an agreement with any vendors that goes within the current VCL licensing that they are using? If someone has like an overview or general information on how you are licensing the VCL for educational use; that would be very helpful. We are starting to run into licensing walls and I would love some inside information from someone who has gone through this. -- Thanks, Alex Patterson User Support Services Operating System Analyst California State University, East Bay
