C H A P T E R 5 Obtaining And Installing Licenses; Licensing Model - Cisco DS-C9216I-K9 Configuration Manual

Licensing Model

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Licensing Model

The licensing model defined for the Cisco MDS product line has two options:
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Table 5-1
Cisco MDS 9000 Fabric Manager Switch Configuration Guide
5-2
Licensed application—A software feature that requires a license in order to be used.
License enforcement—Mechanism to prevent features being used without first obtaining a license.
Node-locked license—A license that can only be used on a particular switch using the switch's
unique host ID.
Host ID—A host ID is a unique chassis serial number that is specific to each Cisco MDS switch.
Proof of purchase—Also known as the Claim Certificate. A document entitling it's rightful owner
to use licensed feature(s) of the Cisco MDS 9000 Family of Multilayer Directors and Fabric
Switches on one MDS switch as described in that document.
Product Authorization Key (PAK)—Using the PAK, you can obtain a license key from one of the
sites listed in the proof of purchase document. After registering at the specified website, you will
receive your license key file and installation instructions via e-mail.
License key file—A switch-specific unique file that specifies the licensed features. Each file
contains digital signatures to prevent tampering and modification. License keys are required to use
a licensed feature. License keys are enforced within a specified time span.
Counted licenses—Counted licenses refer to the number of licenses issued for a single feature (for
example, FCIP). You can increase counted licenses (incremental licenses) should a need arise in the
future.
Incremental licenses—Incremental refers to adding other licensed features not in the initial license
file. License keys are incremental--if you purchase some features now and others later, the license
file and the software detect the sum of all features for the specified switch.
Evaluation license—An evaluation license is a temporary license. Evaluation licenses are time
bound (valid for a specified number of days) and are not tied to a host ID (switch serial number).
Permanent license—A license that is not time bound (does not have an expiry date) is called a
permanent license.
Grace period—The amount of time an application can continue functioning without a license. The
grace period is set to 120 days from the first occurrence of using any licensed feature without a
license. The grace period starts with the first checkout and will be counted only for the days when
that feature is used. If you do not use this feature, the grace period stops incrementing.
Support—If you purchased Cisco support through a Cisco reseller, contact the reseller directly. If
you purchased support directly from Cisco, contact Cisco Technical Support at this URL:
Feature-based licensing—Features that are applicable to the entire switch. The cost varies based on
a per-switch usage. lists the feature-based license packages.
Module-based licensing—Features that require additional hardware modules. The cost varies based
on a per-module usage. Some examples are the IPS module using the FCIP feature or a Fibre
Channel switching module using the FICON feature.
lists the licenses and their features.
Chapter 5 Obtaining and Installing Licenses
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