How Central User Licenses Work

User licenses do not have to be applied to individual VPN appliances. The pooled licensing model allows central user licenses to be shared among the managed appliances. Central user licensing makes use of a distributed data store to keep track of license usage. The distributed data store has storage nodes on multiple appliances so that central user licensing is resilient to the failure of (or communication loss with) the CMS or any one appliance.

Managed appliances must be able to communicate with each other via their external interface IP addresses or internet-routable IP addresses in order for them to be able to share information in the distributed data store.

The following drawing illustrates centrally managed licenses for globally located VPN appliances.

Beginning with the SMA 12.1 release, CMS uses a distributed data store to track user license consumption for each appliance and to regulate the total number of pooled user licenses being used.

In the event of a CMS failure (or loss of communication):

• Managed appliances will continue to access the distributed data store and share central user licenses.

In the event an appliance is orphaned (unable to communicate with the CMS or other appliances):

• An orphaned appliance will have access to the all the central user licenses (and spike licenses) for 7 days or until communications are re-established.

In the event of a communication loss between the CMS and MySonicWall:

• The central user licenses continue to be valid for 30 days.

 

• Central Spike User Licenses
• Central Email Licenses
• Perpetual Pooled Licenses