COMSOL Multiphysics licence types are the use-right templates that COMSOL AB sells for its simulation platform and add-on products. COMSOL’s installation guide lists four for COMSOL Multiphysics: the Named Single User License (NSL), the Locked Single User License (CPU), the Floating Network License (FNL) and the Class Kit License (CKL).[3] The SLA defines the commercial types in section 2(h), and states that a licensee “may license an NSL, a CPU, an FNL, or a CSL version of the Programs”.[1] The same agreement applies to every add-on product, so the licence type is chosen once per licence file, and add-ons follow the type of the base.[1]
Licence type, not product, decides how many people can use the software and from where. COMSOL also states that no licence type restricts use to one operating system and that every type allows multicore and multiprocessor computing.[3] The rest of this article describes each type in turn, followed by remote and cluster use, academic variants and the practical points that arise when a type is changed or moved.
Editions
Named Single User License (NSL)
An NSL ties the software to one person. Under the SLA the Programs “may be installed and operated on up to four (4) computers designated for sole use by the single licensed user designated by us as the Named User”, and the Named User may use only two of those computers at any given time.[1] The licensee may replace the Named User, temporarily or permanently, no more than twice a year, and only one user may be designated at once.[1] A further installation on another computer is conditioned on proof that the software was uninstalled elsewhere, and the Programs may not be moved to more than two computers in any year.[1] There is no limit on simultaneous sessions for the Named User on one computer.[3]
Remote use is narrow. An NSL may be accessed over a single encrypted connection providing secure remote access, such as a VPN or Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication and encryption, solely for the permitted use. It may not be accessed or used over a network or remotely by any other means, in client-server mode or for cluster or cloud computing.[1]
CPU-Locked License (CPU)
The CPU licence ties the software to one computer. The Programs “may be installed and operated on a single designated physical computer”, with one licensed user at a time who is physically located at the computer, so different people can take turns.[1] The licence may not be accessed over a network or remotely or used for cluster or cloud computing.[1] The designated computer can be replaced no more than twice a year, with proof of uninstallation from the previous machine and no more than two machines in any year.[1]
COMSOL binds the licence file to the computer by its hostid, which is the machine’s MAC address, so the software runs only on the matching machine.[4]
Floating Network License (FNL)
The FNL is a concurrent-user licence. COMSOL describes it as “licensed per concurrent user”, allowing installation on as many machines on the network as needed within the country or territory.[3] The SLA allows installation in a central location on a single dedicated network server, or on a third-party server providing secure remote computing capacity, and permits as many individuals to use the Programs at any time as the number of concurrent users purchased.[1] Individual installations on other computers are allowed if the licence manager on the network server controls them.[1]
The FNL also carries the broadest technical rights. If the Programs can run client and server on separate computers, the FNL gives the right to do so, and if they can run cluster computing, the FNL gives the right to cluster computing.[1] A COMSOL Multiphysics server is a single-user server that allows multiple sessions by the same user, and a Floating Network License is required to run the server and client on separate computers.[6] When running cluster sweeps a single model may be run on multiple compute nodes with no restriction on the number of compute nodes.[3] Use of the Model Manager web interface for the Model Manager server functionality is not deemed a concurrent use of the Programs if it stays within that feature.[1]
An FNL licence server is fixed by the licence file: COMSOL asks the customer which machine will host the licence manager and issues a file that only the designated server can run. Moving the server later needs a new file from COMSOL.[5]
Class Kit License (CKL)
The CKL is an academic-only type for teaching. It allows up to 30 teachers and students to run the software for classroom purposes over the school’s network, on campus or through a secure remote connection.[3] The Academic Addendum limits use to instruction in an ordinary course, homework and teacher preparation, and prohibits any academic research use, cluster computing and the Model Manager feature.[1] Outside the classroom each student or teacher may use one designated individually owned computer while the class is in session, and must remove the software when the class ends.[1] The Institution is responsible for ensuring that the total does not exceed 30 and assigns a central administrator to count and administer use.[1]
Metrics
Each type has its own unit. The Named User is a person, the designated computer is a machine, the FNL concurrent user is a simultaneous session count per licensed product, and the Class Kit user is a student or teacher up to a ceiling of 30. The catalog records the four SKUs as NSL, CPU, FNL and CKL. For the rules, see NSL covers up to four computers and two concurrent, CPU licence is bound to one physical computer and FNL allows as many users at once as purchased.
COMSOL’s own comparison puts the differences in a table with columns for multiple computers, multiple platforms, multiple users, client-server, cluster computing, network access and worldwide use.[2] The SLA wording, rather than the check marks, should be used for decisions.
Counting / floors
The agreement states no minimum quantity. An NSL or CPU licence is one licence per user or computer. For an FNL “your license rights are for the number of concurrent users set forth on our invoice or the purchase order we accept”.[1] Programs licensed under one licence type “may not be run in integrated use with Programs licensed under another license type”, so a modeller cannot combine an NSL base with an FNL module.[1]
An FNL is counted per product, not per person. Each COMSOL Desktop process checks out COMSOL, COMSOLUSER and COMSOLGUI features, and an add-on adds its own feature. Two users who both need the Structural Mechanics Module at the same time need two STRUCTURALMECHANICS keys, not one, because each key is checked out by one concurrent user.[11] See COMSOL licence manager and licence files for the feature model.
Virtualization & partitioning
There is no virtual-machine or partitioning metric in the licence types. What matters is whether remote or hosted use is allowed. The FNL is the only commercial type that may be installed on the server of a third-party source of secure remote computing, and COMSOL describes its remote computing support as including Windows Remote Desktop.[1][3] The NSL allows one encrypted remote connection but no cloud or cluster use, and the CPU licence prohibits remote use altogether.[1] For CPU and NSL on Linux COMSOL uses a local licence manager, and COMSOL’s knowledge base notes that launching several sessions at the same time can trigger a “Licensed number of users already reached” error unless they start from one terminal window.[8]
Cloud / BYOL
Cluster and cloud computing are supported on Windows and Linux for FNL licences.[3] The NSL and CPU licences exclude cluster and cloud computing.[1] For an FNL the SLA lets the licensee host the Programs and licence manager on a third-party server, but access outside the Territory is not allowed except for end users restricted to the Territory.[1]
Programs
- Named User and designated computer replacement. Two changes a year for each of the NSL and CPU types.[1]
- License borrowing. FNL licences can be borrowed for offline use, with a default maximum of one month. Borrowing is off by default for CKL.[7]
- Academic Prices. NSL, CPU and FNL can be bought at Academic Prices by degree-granting institutions, which limits use to on-campus teaching and research, with students allowed to use the licence off campus for a thesis or diploma.[1]
- Territory. The country of delivery or the region on the invoice. Using the FNL in another country needs COMSOL’s agreement.[1]
- Dongles. Depending on region and operating system, a licence type may require a hardware lock.[9]
Moving between types
COMSOL’s agreement has no downgrade or conversion clause. Maintenance and Support includes issuing replacement licence files to enable changes in use “to the extent permitted by the applicable license type”, and COMSOL may condition a new file for a machine, user or licence-type change on information it reasonably requests.[1] A customer that wants to convert should therefore request a quotation, not assume rights.
Out of scope
- COMSOL Server licences (CSL and ASL), covered in COMSOL Server, COMSOL Compiler and applications.
- Add-on module licence features, covered in COMSOL modules and add-on products.
- Prices. The COMSOL product and licence pages retrieved list none.[10]