Faster Access and Consistent Flexibility – CodeMeter Cloud Regions

Since 2020, we have been offering the option to store licenses not only in CmDongles and CmActLicenses but also device-independent in the cloud. CmCloudContainers are bound to a user rather than a device and can therefore be accessed globally on the go.

During license operations of your software, communication – both locally and in the cloud – occurs with the corresponding CmContainer, which has been designed to be massively scalable, fully redundant, and highly secure. Up until now, CmCloud has only been operated in a data center in Frankfurt, Germany. This can lead to increased latency for international customers due to the distance, which may negatively impact the user experience. For example, the latency between Tokyo, Japan and Frankfurt can exceed 235 ms, and with repeated operations this value can mount up. Optimizing the server locations could help improve performance and increase customer satisfaction.

To provide your customers with a better user experience while maintaining the flexibility of CmCloudContainers, we have been offering the option to choose the location of the CmCloudContainers themselves since April 2024. This allows the CmCloudContainers for European customers to remain in Frankfurt, while Asian customers can access their CmCloudContainers in Tokyo. You don‘t need to make any changes to your software, and access times will automatically decrease.

Currently, we offer EU – Frankfurt and Asia – Tokyo regions. Other regions can follow in short order based on demand. For example, two new instances could be created in North America, if needed, and it would even be possible to provide a dedicated instance for a specific company in a requested geographic region. A UFC, Universal Firm Code (>6,000,000) is required for the use of CmCloudContainers.

Excited and want to try out the new CmCloud regions or CmCloud in general? Contact our sales team at sales(at)wibu.com to get a customized solution tailored to your needs.

With CodeMeter License Central, you have the freedom to define the type of CmContainer in which the license can be activated for each Product Item. Each CmCloud region represents its own CmContainer type. The CmActID for CmCloudContainers is a 4-character code that begins with a 3. Here is an overview of the current regions and their corresponding CmActIDs:

• EU – Frankfurt: 3000
• Asia – Tokyo: 3100

Let’s look at an example:

You want to distribute a basic license, such as for the SampleNotePad program. In this case, it doesn’t matter to you where the program is activated. You create the Product Item in CodeMeter License Central and add the following entries as CmContainer types: CmActLicense SmartBind, CmDongle, CmCloud EU (CmActID 3000), and CmCloud Asia (CmAct-ID 3100).

When a customer receives a CmCloudContainer, you should ensure that it has been created in the customer’s region. This guarantees that your customers experience the lowest possible latency when using the licenses. You can create the CmCloudContainer in the CmCloud dashboard, using the CmCloud REST API, or easily through CodeMeter License Portal, which is constantly being enhanced and updated to make things even easier for you and your customers.

In future versions of our CodeMeter License Portal, end users will be able to create CmCloudContainers themselves. The appropriate region will be automatically selected based on their geographical location. This will reduce administrative effort on your part and ensure that the licensing of your software remains user-friendly and the protection measures do not negatively impact the user experience. Of course, you will always have complete control over this process.

After creating a license for the SampleNotePad program, it can be activated in all available CmCloud regions (along with CmActLicenses and CmDongles in this particular example, of course). Your customers activate the license in their CmCloudContainer, which is located in CmCloud in their region. The license operations in your software are thus as performant as possible, ensuring a satisfactory user experience for your customers.

As you can see, with the new optimized CmCloud regions, we offer you and your customers the freedom to easily enhance your software’s performance without the need to ship hardware or compromise the security of your software.

KEYnote 48 - Edition Fall/Winter 2024