S 2.468 Licensing software in terminal server environments
Initiation responsibility: IT Security Officer, Head of IT
Implementation responsibility: Administrator
If applications hitherto used in a client/server-based network infrastructure are to be provided centrally on a terminal server, agreements relevant from a licensing law point of view must be reviewed prior to the migration. For example, protection mechanisms against erroneous licensing of the software may possibly be ineffective, since these may use the number of installations as a basis for counting the number of users.
However, the application usually only needs to be installed once on a terminal server. Depending on the available resources of the application server, the application may then be executed simultaneously by any number of persons. The protection of a so-called hardware dongle may possibly also be undermined this way.
The illegal use of non-licensed software may be prosecuted under civil and possibly also criminal law. Therefore, the use of the programs provided on the terminal server should be regulated in accordance with the purchased licenses and logged appropriately.
Some terminal server systems such as Microsoft Windows Server 2003 allow control of the concurrently logged in users by means of licensing servers. Moreover, notwithstanding this, a number of registered terminal devices may be monitored for licensing rights, amongst other things.
Installing and activating a licensing server for the use of the terminal server service is even obligatory for this software solution. A terminal server in Microsoft Windows 2003 will fail after 120 days without any connection to a licensing server and will prevent all users from logging in. Thus, the proper functionality of a licensing server is essentially important for the availability of the terminal server.
Therefore, the licensing server should be checked regularly for proper functionality and replacing this server in the event of a failure should be planned and prepared. In large-scale installations, the terminal server must be designed redundantly as a precaution.
Review questions:
- Is the use of the provided applications on the terminal server regulated in accordance with the purchased licenses and logged appropriately?