As with most software vendors, Novell's licensing structure is complex and very confusing. It's sometimes difficult to know what you need, what pricing structure you qualify for, and if you are even ordering the right item. Since the needs of every company are different, it's difficult to write a guide that covers all scenarios. LICENSING PROGRAMS Novell has 4 main programs for purchasing licenses. Each program is designed specifically for a particular business type or industry. Below is a brief description of these programs. Understanding the program you qualify for will help you determine your budgeting requirements. VLA - Most companies purchase VLA licenses. By default, you should assume this will be how you will buy licenses as well. Generally VLA licenses are sold to private companies in the Small to Medium Business (SMB) market. Full VLA Part Number List. MLA - The Master License Agreement (MLA) pricing model is generally for major corporations purchasing a tremendous amount of Novell licensing. Minimum purchase over a 2 year period is $500,000 in licenses or $100,000 in annual maintenance. Anyone in need of MLA licenses should contact us. SLA - The School Licensing Agreement (SLA) is for K-12 Educational facilities and offers deep discounts of licenses. Typically, schools receive a bundle of products for $2 per student per year. Please contact us for help renewing or renegotiating your SLA contract. ALA - The Academic License Agreement (ALA) is for higher education facilities such as colleges and universities. Typically, the ALA is purchased in a bundle of several products. Prices vary on bundles, and the minimum annual fee is $5,000. How Many Licenses Should You Purchase? One of the most misunderstood concepts related to licensing is knowing how many licenses need to be purchased. The formula is one of the simplest around. You purchase licenses based on either A) the total number of users that login to your Novell eDirectory tree, or B) the total number of devices on your network that login to your eDirectory tree. This applies to most products including ZENworks, NetWare, GroupWise, etc. Example #1: Your company has 1500 total users and 135 NetWare servers. You need to buy 1500 licenses. You don't have to purchase separate server licenses. Example #2: Your company is a Windows shop but runs GroupWise 7 on a Windows 2003 server. You have 600 users. You would need to buy 600 GroupWise licenses. Nothing else is required. Novell includes the necessary eDirectory licenses with your GroupWise purchase. Example #3: Your company does training and has a lab of 100 computers. Throughout the course of the year, you could have thousands of students coming through your doors. In this case, you could purchase based on the number of actual devices, so you would only need to buy 100 device licenses. QUIZ Your company uses Open Enterprise Server 2, GroupWise 7, and ZENworks 7. Your total user count is 750 users. You have 12 OES servers (NETWARE) doing file and print and 4 OES 2 servers (Linux) running a 4 node cluster with iFolder, DNS, DHCP, and GroupWise 7. ZENworks 10 (ZCM) runs from Windows servers. How many licenses of each product do you purchase? ANSWER Remember, the number of servers doesn't matter, nor does it matter where the services are running. 750 Open Enterprise Server 2 user licenses 750 GroupWise licenses 750 ZENworks 10 (ZCM) licenses 2 Cluster Node Licenses (The first two cluster servers are free) DOES THIS ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS? Does this brief tutorial answer your Novell licensing questions completely? If not, give us a call or drop us an email and we'd be glad to add to this guide or clarify as necessary. Our contact info is here.