Metric
The metric describes the licensing conditions and is the unit of measure for applications and licenses.
The metric for the application, or the default metric, is identified by the Software Recognition Service (SRS). However, the default metric can be changed in Snow License Manager. The default metric is set per application, meaning that an application can have only one default metric.
Available metrics for the license depend on the metric of the application. While there can only be one metric per application, it is possible to register license purchases with different metrics. In Snow License Manager, metric is set and any additional information related to the license can be entered when a license purchase is registered.
Snow License Manager supports the metrics described in the following table. For information on how to configure metering periods, see License settings tab.
| Default metric | Description | Available metrics for the license |
|---|---|---|
| No license required | This metric is used for applications that do not require a license. | - |
| Installations | The number of licenses is compared to the number of installations of the application. | Installations Number of processor cores Number of processors CAL (Client Access License) |
| Custom compare values | This special metric allows definition of custom values to be used as basis for compliance calculations. The number of licenses is compared to the quantities of the custom compare value defined for the application. | The defined custom compare values types |
| Number of processors | The number of licenses is compared to the number of processors on a computer. | Installations Number of processor cores Number of processors CAL (Client Access License) |
| Number of processor cores | The number of licenses is compared to the number of processor cores on a computer. | Installations Number of processor cores Number of processors CAL (Client Access License) |
| Users | The number of licenses is compared to the total number of inventoried users utilizing the application, regardless of number of installations. The total user metric setting will determine the number of users that require a license. | Users |
| Devices | The number of licenses is compared to the total number of inventoried devices utilizing the application, regardless of number of installations. The default metering period is set to current month but can be changed to a rolling period of days by editing the application in Snow License Manager. This metric is often used for Terminal server or Citrix environments | Devices |
| Concurrent users | The number of licenses is compared to the highest total number of users utilizing the application simultaneously in the one hour period with the most usage. The default metering period is set to current month but can be changed to a rolling period of days by editing the application in Snow License Manager. This metric is often used for Terminal server or Citrix environments. | Concurrent users |
| Concurrent devices | The number of licenses is compared to the highest total number of devices utilizing the application simultaneously in the one hour period with the most usage. The default metering period is set to current month but can be changed to a rolling period of days by editing the application in Snow License Manager. This metric is often used for Terminal server or Citrix environments. | Concurrent devices |
| PVU | Based on the IBM PVU (Processor Value Unit) values of the computers. | PVU |
| CAL (Client Access License) | Permits a client (computer, device, or user) to connect to server software. The CAL metric is only a registration of number of licenses. No compliance is calculated based on this metric. | Installations Number of processor cores Number of processors CAL (Client Access License) |
Assignment types
The license is assigned to a specified organization, site, computer/datacenter or user. The available assignment types of a license depend on the metric and is described in the following table.
| Metric for the license | Available assignment types |
|---|---|
| Installations | Organization Site Computer/datacenter User |
| Custom compare values | Organization |
| Number of processor cores | Computer/datacenter |
| Number of processors | Computer/datacenter |
| Users | Organization Users |
| Devices | Organization |
| Concurrent users | Organization Users |
| Concurrent devices | Organization |
| PVU | Organization |
| CAL (Client Access License) | Organization |
The assignment types are described in the following table.
| Assignment type | Description |
|---|---|
| Organization | The license is assigned to organization nodes. |
| Computer/datacenter | The license is assigned to specified computers/datacenters. |
| User | The license is assigned to specified users. |
| Site | The license is assigned to a specified organization node. |