How To Buy Solidworks For Personal Use

Unsure of which SOLIDWORKS license fits your needs? If yous're having problem understanding the different licensing methods of SOLIDWORKS, that'south okay! Nosotros will review both of the major licensing options to aid determine which is right for you:

Standalone licenses (tied to a particular computer)
Network licenses (float between many users and computers on a given network)

Standalone Licensing

Standalone, or machine licensing, is the default choice for many customers. With this licensing model, the SOLIDWORKS license is activated and tied to a particular workstation.

With standalone licenses, it is possible to install SOLIDWORKS on more than than one PC with a single license, just SOLIDWORKS can only exist activated on a single motorcar per license. This means if you are planning to utilize SOLIDWORKS on two dissimilar computers (such as a work and abode PC), you lot will need to become through the license transfer procedure each time y'all desire to switch between them.

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This involves accessing the Help Menu and choosing to Deactivate Licenses on the PC currently hosting the license, so Activating on the new PC. There is no limit to the number of times a license can be transferred, but if you are planning on switching computers oft, you may want to consider network licensing.

Network Licensing

Network licensing is typically the best selection for medium to large organizations. It allows establishing a license server which hosts the SOLIDWORKS licenses. Any customer PC that can ping the network license server volition so be able to admission a license of SOLIDWORKS, or associated products.

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Initial setup is simple – if you lot already accept an existing server PC running Windows, installing the SolidNetWork License Managing director or "SNL" or brusque is a straightforward process. Information technology's a very low overhead tool, so you don't need a powerful server to run it. After the SNL is installed it needs to exist activated, which pulls in the appropriate licenses.

As users load up SOLIDWORKS products, the appropriate licenses are checked out from the license pool. When a user closes SOLIDWORKS or unloads an add-in such as SOLIDWORKS Simulation, the license is automatically returned to the pool. This makes for very efficient utilization of SOLIDWORKS licenses as you only need as many licenses every bit yous accept concurrent users.

This efficiency does come up at a price: there is an initial setup fee for the conversion to network licensing, and the per-license costs are slightly higher when compared to standalone licenses.

Network licensing requires that the client PCs can ping the machine with SolidNetWork License server. Typically this means they need to be on the aforementioned LAN, and firewall settings may need to be adjusted to open up specific ports. If licenses are going to be used outside of the company's LAN, it may exist necessary to establish a VPN connection, or another way for the remote computers to connect to the server.

If a user knows they need to go off-network, they can "borrow" or temporarily bank check out a license from the license server.

Borrowing a license checks out the license for the assigned flow of time (upward to thirty days), removing it from the available license puddle.

Annotation: SOLIDWORKS Network licensing is non available for term (3 month or 12 calendar month) licenses. Term licenses must use standalone licensing.

Activation and Internet Access Requirements

For standalone licenses and the network license server, but the initial activation typically requires internet access.

If it'southward intended to keep the machine yous are installing the software on isolated from the internet completely or "air-gapped" there is a multi-pace process that can exist followed. The license request can be generated from the offline PC and transferred via USB bulldoze to another PC with internet admission to email the license request. Once the response file is returned, it tin be transferred back to the offline PC via USB drive to complete the activation process.

In either case, once the activation is complete, internet access won't be needed again unless the license needs to exist transferred or re-activated.

Summary

If you don't feel like either of these solutions solve your needs, you can also consider mixing and matching license types. For example, you may have the bulk of SOLIDWORKS licenses on a network server at a chief office location, with additional standalone licenses for dedicated off-site users.

This overview of SOLIDWORKS licensing options is intended to help understand the different choices available. For the most electric current and in-depth guides on setup and assistants of these licensing methods, check out our support knowledge base or contact the states at Hawk Ridge Systems today. Thanks for reading!