Licensing Model
NCache licensing model is subscription-based and requires the user to pay an annual fee for a specific period. The subscription can be purchased by the user for a period of 1 year (up to 5 years max). The user can activate his license once the subscription is bought.
This subscription must be renewed at the end of the subscription period. Otherwise, all the running caches will be stopped after a 30-day grace period post expiry provided by NCache.
When this happens, you have to reactivate your NCache License through the Register-NCache PowerShell cmdlet for Windows and Linux.
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 this licensing model, the licenses are based on logical cores only, and RAM is not considered. In this type of licensing, the client licenses also need to be purchased. The licenses required by a client are determined by the number of logical cores that are present on the client's machine. A minimum of two licenses per client is required for a machine having up to 8 logical cores. For every extra four logical cores, one additional license is required.
For example, if you have eight logical cores present on the client machine, you'll make do with the minimum required two licenses. As soon as you add four more logical cores, and your total number of logical cores becomes twelve, you'll need another license.
This licensing can be used in the following two different kinds of environments:
Where NCache is Installed on Client Machines
In this scenario, NCache has been installed on your client machines and you'll have to purchase a client-server license key. Using this key, you will activate both servers and clients individually/physically.
Where NCache is NOT Installed on Client Machines
In this scenario, NCache is not installed on your client machines and you'll have to purchase a client-server (Containerized) license key. Using this key, you'll only have to activate cache servers and also specify the number of client licenses at the time of activation.
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 can be 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.
