Measuring Client Access Licenses

• US 20080189400A1
• Filed: 02/01/2007
• Published: 08/07/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Sterin, Mark, Norrie, Ross A.
• Application Number:
  US11/670,314
• Publication Number:
  US 20080189400A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/14 Network analysis or design
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

Embodiments of measuring client access license (CAL) techniques are presented herein. In an implementation, a management service provides functionality to collect and centrally store configuration data from a plurality of clients in a network and topology data describing the arrangement of applications and servers in the network. Then, the collected configuration data and topology data may be combined to measure client access license (CAL) usage corresponding to licensed resources which are provided via the network.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

collecting configuration data describing connections of a plurality of clients in an network to one or more applications through which the plurality of clients access licensed resources from one or more resource servers;

collecting topology data describing relationships between the one or more applications and the licensed resources from the one or more resource servers; and

based upon the collected configuration data and topology data, measuring client access license usage corresponding to the licensed resources.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the network is an enterprise network.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein:

the one or more applications are provided by one or more applications servers; and

the topology data is to correlate the one or more application servers to corresponding licensed resources from the one or more resource servers.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the measuring client access license usage further comprises for each of the plurality of clients:

based upon the configuration data, determining which applications and application servers are accessed by the respective client during a tracking period; and

based upon the topology data, determining which licensed resources are accessible via each of the applications and application servers which are accessed by the respective client, such that the configuration data and topology data when combined indicates which of the licensed resources are accessed by each of the clients during the tracking period.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the client access license usage measures the number of unique clients which access the licensed resources during a tracking period.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the client access license usage measures the number of unique users of the clients which access the licensed resources during a tracking period.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the configuration data includes authentication data corresponding to users of the plurality of clients to determine the number of unique users of the clients which access the licensed resources during a tracking period.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein

the one or more applications are provided by one or more application servers;

and

the configuration data is to determine for each of the clients which of the one or more application servers the respective client interacts with to obtain the licensed resources.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the topology data is to determine for each of the one or more applications which of the one or more resource servers the respective application interacts with to provide corresponding licensed resources.

10. One or more computer readable media comprising computer executable instructions which, when executed, direct a management service to:

collect configuration data from a plurality of clients in an enterprise network providing licensed resources to the clients;

collect topology data describing the arrangement of the enterprise network; and

combine the collected configuration data and topology data to measure the number of unique clients accessing the licensed resources during a tracking period.

11. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 10, wherein the enterprise network includes:

one or more resources servers to provide the licensed resources; and

one or more application servers configured to provide one or more front-end applications to access the licensed resources from the one or more resource servers,

wherein the plurality of clients are connectable to the one or more application servers to obtain access the licensed resources via the one or more front end applications.

12. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 10 further comprising instructions to measure the number of unique users accessing the licensed resources during the tracking period.

13. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 10, wherein the management service interacts with a configuration agent deployed to one or more of the plurality of clients to collect the configuration data.

14. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 10, wherein

the enterprise network includes a plurality of servers to provide the licensed resources to the plurality of clients;

and

the management service interacts with a topology agent deployed to one or more of the plurality of servers to collect the topology data which describes the arrangement of the servers.

15. A system comprising:

one or more resources servers to provide licensed resources in an enterprise network;

one or more application servers configured to provide one or more front-end applications to access the licensed resources;

a plurality of clients connectable to the one or more application servers to obtain access the licensed resources via the one or more front-end applications; and

a management service to;

collect configuration data from the plurality of clients;

collect topology data describing the arrangement of the enterprise network; and

based on the configuration data combined with the topology data, measure usage of the licensed resources by the plurality of clients.

16. A system as recited in claim 15, wherein the management service is provided via a server which is:

communicatively coupled to the enterprise network; and

separate from the one or more resource servers and the one or more application servers.

17. A system as recited in claim 15, wherein one said resource server is configured to execute one or more modules to provide the management service.

18. A system as recited in claim 15, wherein the management service interacts with a topology agent deployed on one or more of the resources servers to collect the topology data.

19. A system as recited in claim 15, wherein the management service interacts with a configuration agent deployed to one or more of the clients to collect the configuration data.

20. A system as recited in claim 15, wherein:

the configuration data is to determine for each of the clients which of the one or more application servers the respective client interacts with to obtain the license resources; and

the topology data is to determine for each front-end application which of the one or more resource servers the respective application interacts with to provide corresponding licensed resources.