LAN-only setup

Suppose that you have a corporate local area network with a number of PCs connected to it. What, in licensing terms, is the best way of installing a multi-user version of Cardbox?

Installing the Cardbox Server

So that databases can be shared between users, the Cardbox Server needs to be installed and running, on a computer that everyone can connect to. Often this will be the main file server, but it doesn't have to be.

If your main file server runs an operating system (such as Novell Netware) that the Cardbox Server can't run on, then you'll have to install the Cardbox Server somewhere else. It can be installed on any other computer on the network, or, like some of our customers, you may even buy a new computer just to run the Cardbox Server. You could set things up so that all the actual Cardbox databases still reside on the file server, so that you still get the benefit of backup, central administration, and so on.

Shared installation, shared licence folder

The simplest setup is to install both Cardbox and the multi-user Cardbox licence into a shared folder on the file server. To run Cardbox for the first time, a user can navigate to that folder and double-click on the Cardbox icon - Cardbox will then set up desktop and Start Menu shortcuts so that this doesn't have to be done again.

Separate installations, shared licence folder

In a heavily loaded network, software will often run faster if it's installed on each PC and not on the file server. You are not allowed to install the same licence in more than one place; but with Cardbox, you can install the software separately on each PC but install the licence just once, on the file server. Since the licence is accessed only when Cardbox is starting up, this doesn't make the system slower.

Using a licence server

So far we've been talking about installing the Cardbox licence in a shared folder on your file server, which is something you do when first setting up Cardbox. Alternatively, you can install your multi-user licence directly in the Cardbox Server and then configure the Cardbox Server to lend a licence to anyone who runs Cardbox.

If you do this:

Your PCs don't have to have any access to shared folders on the file server.
Your PCs do need to be able to connect to the Cardbox Server whenever they use Cardbox.

There is not much difference in complexity between installing licences in a shared folder and installing them in the Cardbox Server, and choosing between them is largely a matter of taste. But there is one case where the distinction is important: see Adding Laptop Users.