Licensing Model
NCache licensing model is subscription-based and requires the user(s) to pay an annual fee for a specific period. The users can purchase subscriptions for a time of 1 year (up to 5 years max). The user can activate their license once they buy a subscription.
They must renew the subscription at the end of the subscription period. Otherwise, NCache will stop all the running caches after a grace period post-expiry.
When this happens, you have to reactivate your NCache License through the Register NCache command line tool.
NCache Enterprise provides licensing based on two factors:
- RAM
- Logical Cores
NCache offers various plans based on the amount of RAM and logical cores you have. For license calculation, please refer to the Alachisoft pricing page or contact Alachisoft Sales.
NCache offers two types of licensing models:
Client-Server Licensing
For such a licensing model, licenses are based on several vCPUs or the number of cores for legacy customers. RAM is not a factor here. Additionally, you will have to purchase both the server and client licenses. The number of licenses are calculated based on 4 vCPUs or cores per license, with a minimum of 2 licenses per machine. This is true for both, NCache server and client machines. Every four additional vCPUs or cores requires one additional license.
For example, if you have eight vCPUs or a core on the client or server machine, you will need a minimum of 2 licenses. You will require another license as soon as you add four more vCPUs or cores, making your total number of vCPUs or cores to twelve.
You can use such licensing in the following two different kinds of environments:
Where NCache is Installed on the Client's Machines
In this scenario, you'll have to purchase a client-server license key. Using this key, you will activate both servers and clients individually.
Where NCache is Not Installed on the Client Machines
In this scenario, you'll have to purchase a client-server (Containerized) license key. Using this key, you'll only have to activate cache servers and specify the number of client licenses at the activation time.
For cases when the users scale down the application tier, they’ll stop a few instances of containers or cloud virtual machines. And when they scale back up, the new instances run on new hardware. Therefore, in this licensing model, cache servers issue licenses to clients when they connect to cache servers.
Server-Only Licensing
In this type of licensing model, the number of licenses required is based on the number of logical cores and RAM of the server. You can connect unlimited clients to a licensed server. However, the server needs to be activated with the license key based on the plan the user has purchased.
See Also
Evaluation Period Management
License Management
Network Installation with PowerShell
