URL-Based Credential Licensing for Cloud Environments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for licensing software in cloud-hosted and virtual machine environments fail to effectively control software deployment and usage due to the unavailability of machine unique identifiers, necessitating a method that does not rely on specific machine attributes.
Innovation Solution
A licensing system that utilizes a URL stored on a service and an application on a mobile device to validate the URL for reaching the service, ensuring that the URL in the license matches the URL of the service, allowing for secure and flexible deployment topology management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If machine unique identifiers (file system volume identifiers, motherboard serial numbers, IP addresses) are used for licensing, then software deployment control is achieved, but the method fails in cloud-hosted and virtual machine environments where these identifiers can be copied or duplicated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the licensing parameter from machine-specific identifiers to URL-based identification. Instead of relying on fixed hardware or network identifiers that can be duplicated in cloud environments, the system uses the URL of the service as the licensing key. This parameter change enables the licensing mechanism to function reliably in cloud-hosted and virtual machine environments where traditional identifiers are unreliable.
2Reliability
If traditional machine locking methods are used, then software can be controlled to run on specific machines, but the system loses flexibility for cloud deployment topologies including load balancing, scaling, and redundancy
Solution Approach 1:
The URL-based licensing system provides universal applicability across different deployment topologies. The same URL-based mechanism works whether the service is deployed on a single server, distributed across multiple servers for load balancing, scaled horizontally for higher capacity, or configured with redundancy. This eliminates the need for different licensing approaches for different deployment scenarios.
Solution Approach 2:
The system allows dynamic reconfiguration of service URLs without affecting the licensing validity. Since the license is tied to the URL rather than fixed hardware identifiers, the service can be migrated, replicated, or reconfigured in cloud environments while maintaining the same licensing framework, enabling flexible adaptation to changing deployment requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A system includes a credential service operable to store a URL for reaching the credential service and a mobile library on a mobile device operable to communicate with the credential service, the mobile library operable to receive the URL for subsequent transactions with the credential service.