Compaq Visual Fortran
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As of version 6.5, Visual Fortran adds concurrent (network)
licensing as an optional license type. Concurrent licensing
makes a pool of licenses available to users on a local area
network. Only those users actually compiling consume licenses
- a few minutes after compilation is complete, the license
returns to the pool and is available for another user. This
can be a cost-effective way of making Visual Fortran available
to a large number of occasional users.
Usage patterns may vary, but we generally recommend one license for every four "seats". For example, if you have 40 users, a 10-concurrent-license package would be appropriate. If you were to purchase forty single-user licenses of Visual Fortran Standard Edition, the US suggested retail price would be $17,942, or $449 per seat. However, a 10 concurrent license kit is only $8995, or $225 per seat, a savings of 50%. Savings for larger user pools are even greater. Visual Fortran uses the widely-used FLEXlm license manager from Globetrotter Software for concurrent licensing. A small license server application, provided on the Visual Fortran product CD, is installed on a Windows system on the local network. Included in your Visual Fortran kit is an "authorization code", which you redeem for a license key at a Compaq web site, by fax or by telephone. The license key is a text file that is placed in the license server directory, then the license manager is started. Individual users install Visual Fortran as normal. The first time they use the compiler on a particular PC, a dialog box appears asking them to enter the node name of the license server. After the initial confirmation, use of the concurrent license is handled automatically. Invocation of the compiler causes a request to the license server for a license from the available pool. If a license is available, compilation proceeds as normal. If no licenses are available, the compiler waits in a queue for the next available license for up to five minutes (the wait time is user-adjustable.) If the wait time is exceeded, or if no licenses are available, an error message is displayed and compilation stops. After the compiler exits, the license is held for an additional five minutes. This permits multiple compilations to be done in series without worrying about losing a license in between compilations. (Each new compilation resets the wait time to five minutes.) Complete instructions on the use of concurrent licensing is included in the Visual Fortran Getting Started manual. |