Client Access License Tracking Mechanism for Multi-Server Environments
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Solution Overview
Problem
In large enterprises with dynamic environments, tracking license usage across multiple users and devices is challenging due to frequent changes such as device reconfiguration and user transfers, making it difficult to manage licenses effectively.
Innovation Solution
A client access tracking mechanism that generates two tables - one with a licensable entity designator and last logged off time, and another with a current session designator - which can be aggregated by a server to determine sessions across multiple servers, allowing for the tracking of both short and long sessions, and enabling the saving and resuming of analysis from the last log file entry.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual tracking methods are used in dynamic enterprise environments, then implementation simplicity is maintained, but license usage tracking accuracy deteriorates due to frequent device reconfiguration and user transfers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces intermediary components including a database that stores license usage data, a license usage determination module that processes log file entries, and a report generation module that consolidates information. These intermediaries automatically track license usage across device reconfigurations and user transfers, maintaining tracking accuracy while managing system complexity through structured data management.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual tracking mechanisms with automated computer-based systems that parse log file entries, determine license usage through algorithmic processing, and generate reports automatically. This substitution of mechanical/manual processes with automated computational methods enables accurate tracking in dynamic environments without proportionally increasing operational complexity.
2Measurement precision
If comprehensive license tracking is implemented across multiple servers, then license management accuracy improves, but data collection and processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal license usage determination module that can process log file entries from multiple different servers and license types through a single standardized interface. This multi-functional approach consolidates data collection across diverse systems, improving license management accuracy while reducing the complexity that would arise from implementing separate tracking mechanisms for each server.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the license tracking system into modular components: individual server log file analysis modules, a central license usage determination module, and a report generation module. Each segment handles specific tasks independently, allowing the system to scale across multiple servers while maintaining manageable complexity through clear separation of concerns and standardized data exchange formats.
3Measurement precision
If continuous monitoring of license usage is performed, then real-time accuracy is improved, but computational resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic analysis of log file entries rather than continuous real-time monitoring. The system periodically processes accumulated log data to determine license usage, which maintains sufficient tracking accuracy while significantly reducing computational resource consumption compared to continuous monitoring. Reports are generated at scheduled intervals based on this periodic analysis.
Data Source
AI summary
A client tracking mechanism has a log file analysis routine that may generate two tables, one having a licensable entity designator and last logged off time, and the other having a current session designator. The first table may be aggregated by a server that may collect data from multiple client tracking mechanisms to determine a licensable entity's sessions across multiple servers. The client tracking mechanism may save and resume analysis from the last analyzed log file entry, and may be able to track sessions that are both shorter and longer than the time between each analysis. In many embodiments, a licensable entity may be a user or a device, when a license arrangement is configured in a per-user or per-device basis.