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License optimization

Hi what's the best way to create licensing scenarios while having a license with two alternate licensing models (e.g. per VM or per HOST) so it can be further decided which is more optimal in our environment?

I've seen here, on the forums, some custom scripts and views but wondering if there's an easier, out of the box, solution.

(1) Solution

Hi,

The STD/DC thing has been communicated repeatedly. I guess FNMS would need changes in it's reconciliation engine to make this work ootb, so no easy change. To see the positive: Flexera offers plenty options to create workarounds/automation to solve this (not every tool has these).

Regarding the second part: In such a case (or if it's even more complex), I usually do offer two options. Either:

  1. Combine the requirements. Use a SQL script to check if the combination of requirements is met (or not) and then push the result in a suitable license. The license type may differ, usually a custom metric can be used. Additional reporting might help analyze the results. Or:

  2. Create independent licenses for the two factors. One could ague that you have a problem if either the number of users is exceeded or the number of installations is exceeded (or both). So why not track both independently?

    The most obvious downside is that you cannot easily link one PO to both licenses. There are obviously other things to look for as well.

In your specific case I tend to option 2.

Best regards,

Markward

View solution in original post

(6) Replies
mfranz
By Level 17 Champion
Level 17 Champion

Hi,

I see two general options:

  1. If the optimization approach is a simple prioritization, you could use the "license consumption order" to manage which licenses are consumed first. You could consider this "out of the box", but it is rather limited.

  2. If it is a bit more complex, you will likely have to use some scripting (SQL) / Business Import to allocate inventories/users to licenses. I did this repeatedly to make sure VMHosts (and the Windows Server VMs on them) are licensed via Datacenter licenses first.

I had customers complain why FNMS couldn't optimize ootb, repeatedly. But in Flexera's defense, most optimization problems are very specific to customer's environments. While general optimization ideas can be reused, specific end results are usually not easily transferable to other environments. Also please keep in mind that such customizations need monitoring and probably additional maintenance to adjust them to environmental changes.

Best regards,

Markward

Hi mfranz, thank you for your input. Actually the CIS example you shared is quite good one.

For the sake of this discussion, let's assume I do deploy only CIS STD in the environment and while having entitlements I'd like to prioritize CIS STD licenses for every host with total number of virtual OSEs LT 12 and to use DC for any host exceeding 12 VMs. You're saying that as long as it's virtually possible to be achieved all the magic has to be done outside of Flexera via custom scripting, huh?

I agree that most of those scenarios are very customer's specific but I imagined that for more ore less obvious case scenarios there'd be something to make use out of the box.

 

Can you advise on the best way to track license consumption if it's dependent on two factors at the same time (e.g. total number of users LT 100 and at the sime time total number of all the installations LT 200). Maximum number of installations per user won't do as in scenario I'm thinking about there's none.

Hi,

The STD/DC thing has been communicated repeatedly. I guess FNMS would need changes in it's reconciliation engine to make this work ootb, so no easy change. To see the positive: Flexera offers plenty options to create workarounds/automation to solve this (not every tool has these).

Regarding the second part: In such a case (or if it's even more complex), I usually do offer two options. Either:

  1. Combine the requirements. Use a SQL script to check if the combination of requirements is met (or not) and then push the result in a suitable license. The license type may differ, usually a custom metric can be used. Additional reporting might help analyze the results. Or:

  2. Create independent licenses for the two factors. One could ague that you have a problem if either the number of users is exceeded or the number of installations is exceeded (or both). So why not track both independently?

    The most obvious downside is that you cannot easily link one PO to both licenses. There are obviously other things to look for as well.

In your specific case I tend to option 2.

Best regards,

Markward

Thanks for both.

Under what key words one can search through the knowledge base / learning center to find information on creating those custom SQL queries?

Maybe I won't apply it to this case but I'd like to analyze options for other scenarios in the future.

I guess the Schema Reference may help you getting an understanding of the database structure and relations. If you are new to SQL skripting, external offers like Sololearn may help.

ChrisG
By Community Manager Community Manager
Community Manager

One approach to exploring different licensing options in the scenario you've described here would be along the following lines:

  1. Configure a license record with settings to count consumption per device (with no special virtualization rights). Then run a license reconcile, and take a record of consumption details.
  2. Delete the 1st license record (or change it in some way that it will not cover any installations - e.g. change its type to "node locked" without doing any allocations). Configure a 2nd license record to count consumption per host. Run another license reconcile, and take a record of consumption details.

Compare the results from the 2 trial runs, and use that to help guide decisions around license options.

Once you have made a decision, configure an appropriate license record with settings to reflect the actual entitlements you end up with.

(Did my reply solve the question? Click "ACCEPT AS SOLUTION" to help others find answers faster. Liked something? Click "KUDO". Anything expressed here is my own view and not necessarily that of my employer, Flexera.)