How are licenses accessed and shared?

How licenses are accessed and shared depends on how many people are accessing those licensing, and how many independent networks those licenses will be installed on.  The following table classifies users into categories explained below based on how many people and independent networks are involved:

¹Including clusters, HPC systems, and external heterogeneous networks

Common User Types

Independent

The Independent user is a single user who uses one or more licensed products on a single local network.  The most common example of the Independent user is the single designer who runs jobs on one or more networked workstations.  The Independent user will have all their licensed products, including Standard licenses and Engine licenses, located on a single USB Network Key.

Independent+RCN

The Independent+RCN user is identical to the Independent user in all regards, except that in addition to having access to a local network, they also have access to a Remote Compute Network (RCN).  The Independent+RCN user typically installs Engine licenses on the RCN to increase the number of computers they have access to and in turn increase the number of jobs that can be processed at once.  RCN’s include clusters, HPC systems, or independent heterogeneous networks.  The Engine licenses located on the RCN are licensed from a second USB Network Key.  The most common example of the Independent+RCN user is the researcher runs jobs on their workstation and on an external cluster.

Traveler

The Traveler is single user who uses one or more licensed products on multiple networks, with only one network active at any one time.  The most common example of the Traveler is the designer who performs work through the day at the office, and by evening at home.  The portability of the Concurrent+ Licensing System allows the Traveler to easily unplug the USB Network Key and deactivate the first network and plug in the USB Network Key and activate the second network.

Colleagues

Colleagues are a team of users who share licenses of one or more licensed products across a single local network.  The most common example of Colleagues is the design team working on the same project.  Colleagues will have all their licensed products, including Standard licenses and Engine licenses, located on a single USB Network Key allowing any licensed product to be accessed from the local network.

Colleagues+RNC

Colleagues+RCN are identical to Colleagues in all regards, except that in addition to having access to a local network, they also have access to a Remote Compute Network (RCN).  Colleagues+RCN typically installs Engine licenses on the RCN to increase the number of computers they have access to and in turn increase the number of jobs that can be processed at once.  RCN’s include clusters, HPC systems, or independent heterogeneous networks.  The Engine licenses located on the RCN are licensed from a second USB Network Key.  The most common example of Colleagues+RCN is the research team that runs jobs on their local area network workstations and on an external cluster.

Collaborators

Collaborators are comprised of multiple groups of Colleagues who work together on common design or research tasks, but do not share the same computer network.  While each constituent Colleague group can easily share licenses within their respective local network, licensed products cannot be shared between those groups of Colleagues.

License Types

Lumerical offers two types of licensed products: Standard Licenses and Engine licenses.   Offering these two types of licenses allows user to cost-effectively take advantage of compute resources to process many jobs using Lumerical’s Engine license.