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Different Software License models in Cloud Computing

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On-demand, pay-as-per-use, and short-range licensing models are termed as cloud computing licensing models. It is suggested that clients should not agree long term agreements or contracts with respect to volumes and time period. There are various licensing models which are described below with the issues occurs in respective licensing models.

  1. Enterprise wide Model –
    In this model, an independent software vendor (ISV) licenses software to a complete enterprise. This category of license involves installation and utilization of software by personnel of the enterprise. Enterprises licenses are not proposed to be consumed by service providers for reselling the software to the client. Many providers have comprehended this requirement and have delivered licenses especially for service providers.

  2. Concurrent Users Model –
    In this model, the client purchases a pool of licenses. Licenses can be checkout concurrently which is depend on category of software involved. Check-in and Check-out of license is instinctive, bound to a web session or the working of an application. Generally, it is applied via application hooks which summons a license manager service.

    This kind of licensing works same in cloud like it works in private network, on condition that the license terms allows. In multi-client cloud service, it can be expected to sub-categorized the license pool to impose a allocations to the clients which may not be reinforced by license manager software.

  3. Ownership – Copyright Holder Model –
    In this model, top Cloud service vendors usually prefer a combination of free or open-source software and software from domestic development projects. Corporates that owns the copyrights either over construction or purchase can use the software for any purpose they want.

  4. Named User Model –
    In this model, a license is bounded to a particular client. That client is licensed to deploy the software on any kind of device and on number of devices simultaneously. Generally, licenses are knotted to the internal service directory of the organization, but cloud-based services use internet identity vendors. Named user licenses are traded to an organization as a pool many times which can then allocated and migrated as per need.

  5. Site-Wide Model –
    In this model, Site licenses are exchanged rely on the general size of the site of the client. The premise is that the site is responsive to a local area network (LAN) or network within organization and the software can be installed from an open source and can be used on this network. Cloud computing openly abstracts physical site and network restrictions make this kind of license a inconvenient fit for cloud computing.

  6. Token Based Model –
    In this model, a physical license key, like only readable drive or dongle, must be connected to the host executing the software. It is beneficial for the clients as the key can migrate from one machine to another easily. As clouds and most virtualized infrastructure do not permits access to servers to the clients So, this type of service is not very convenient.

  7. Host ID-Based Model –
    In this model, more than one server hardware components are queried which generates a unique host ID. Client gets a license key from the provider that is knotted to the host ID. It doesn’t function well in cloud-based systems due to various reasons. Mostly in cloud, hardware is abstracted from the clients. Even if a host ID can be created for the physical device, the virtual server may be transferred to another hardware as a function to manage the cloud. Clouds have schema to compatible with automated provisioning and flexible scaling, which cannot be achieve if the software provider is contacted every time a host is transferred or supplied.

  8. Free Open Source Model –
    In this model, Corporates can get the software from open-source project sites rather than from a paid commercial provider. This kind of licensing is good for cloud service vendors as well as consumers. There is no manipulation of the customers as it open-source, any client or consumer can use it as well as no boundaries of number of users, location or size of the hardware.

    Leading internet service providers have comprised open source software both as client and the provider. In order to prosper, commercial independent software vendor must deliver unique attributes and quality to worth their cost, while also approving licensing models that scale up and down for utilization in the cloud.

Source –
BOOKS – Cloud computing Bible & Mastering Cloud computing


Last Updated : 30 Sep, 2022
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