CF licensing model

[janets76048038]

I recently spoke to an agent from technical support about CF licensing and he said he will connect me to someone from sales team but I never got a call back so I will try to get an answer here.

I don’t know which edition of CF I need to buy, standard or enterprise. I was informed licenses are issued on a Core basis. So if I’m using 2 VMs with 4 cores each, which edition do I need? And how many licenses? Can you send me a full description on how the licensing works? I can’t seem to find anything that helps on the website.

[Vikram Kumar M]

Hi Janet,

We have received your query and our licensing team will reach out to you shortly. In case of any further queries, please contact us @ cf.install@adobe.com.

Thanks,

Vikram

[Carl Von Stetten]

The End User License Agreements (EULAs) spell out the licensing terms.  Here are the ColdFusion 2016 EULA and the ColdFusion 2011 EULA documents.

For CF11, each Standard license is limited to a single VM with a maximum of 2 cores (section 3.1.2.1.c) or maximum of 5GHz of processing power (3.1.2.2.b) - so you would need a total of four (4) Standard licenses per your specs (the combined processing power of your virtualized hardware might give you some leeway).  Enterprise licensing for CF11 can be calculated a variety of ways - by physical CPU of all host servers (it's unclear how many CPUs are covered by a single Enterprise license), by individual VM (each Enterprise license can cover a single VM with up to eight cores, so you would need two (2) Enterprise licenses in this scenario), or by processing power (up to 16GHz per VM).

For CF2016 simplified (but maybe not to your advantage) physical/virtual server licensing by making it strictly based on cores.  CF2016 Standard covers a single physical/virtual server with up to two cores - so again, based on your specs, you would need a total of four Standard licenses.  CF2016 Enterprise covers a single physical/virtual server with up to eight cores - so you would need two Enterprise licenses (one for each VM).

Keep in mind that Enterprise also allows you to install multiple instances of ColdFusion on the same server. If your requirements permit, you could deploy a single 8-core VM and run two or more instances of ColdFusion on it, with only a single Enterprise license.

[janets76048038]

Thank you for your helpful answer. I need further clarification on "installing multiple instances of coldFusion":

So if I'm running multiple ColdFusion websites hosted by IIS on one VM, is that the same as creating multiple instances of ColdFusion?

[Carl Von Stetten]

No, not the same thing.  This should help explain it: ColdFusion Help | Using Multiple Server Instances

[RYAN MCGARRY]

Hi,

When you said this:

"Standard licenses per your specs (the combined processing power of your virtualized hardware might give you some leeway)."

What does that mean?  Does lowering the limits of the virtual hardware decrease the number of licenses you need?

Thanks,

Ryan

[kkfin]

Hi,

Are the rules in Coldfusion 2016 AWS different. Check here: AWS Marketplace: Adobe Coldfusion 2016

m4.xlarge (2 cores) and c4.2xlarge (8 cores) has same price for software.

[Dave Watts]

When you use an AMI from Orbitera, they charge you monthly "rent" for ColdFusion and you don't have to worry about paying any additional for it. They, in turn, have some special license with Adobe and I don't really know the terms of that license. But if you install your own CF license, you're bound by the terms of the standard Adobe license.

Dave Watts, Fig Leaf Software

[kkfin]

Hi,

Dave and other, actually I was referring to different AMI (check link in my previous post). This AMI is sold by Data Resolution and runs ColdFusion 2016 Standard edition (Orbitera  AMI runs Enterprise 2016 edition) so the pricing is very interesting with 8 core or 16 core server. However because of EULA this just means that Data Resolution AMI pricing has very good value for customer.

Anyway EULA is very important and more important is how developers understand it. Because of this other thread What the heck is Adobe thinking? I have been 2 years period in impression that ColdFusion is totally wrong choice for business to business solution.

[Dave Watts]

I don't know anything about Data Resolution, but I'm guessing they have the same relationship with Adobe that Orbitera does. Anyway, by offering a third-party AMI, they're responsible for the licensing with Adobe, not you. They have their own EULA, and you must conform to that EULA, not the Adobe EULA.

https://d7umqicpi7263.cloudfront.net/eula/product/ffbd4a9d-0abc-4429-a0b7-3019f08d9398/176f1123-cc1e...

As for that other thread, that Adobe sales rep is wrong. If you're still dealing with him, I'd just ask for his manager, then that manager's manager, until you get to someone who's not wrong. Unless you're providing functionality for others to write code that runs on your server, you are not in any meaningful way a service bureau. I am not a lawyer, but the key phrase in that thread is not "service bureau arrangement" but "providing use of the Software". Building an application that is used by anyone, including other businesses, from your own infrastructure is not the same as "providing use of the Software". The rep's reading is simply not a sensible reading of the license. But anyway.

Dave Watts, Fig Leaf Software

[Carl Von Stetten]

Ryan,

I was referring to the (somewhat confusing) licensing based on CPU processing power (5GHz total for CF11 Standard).  Depending on what processors are in the virtual host, theoretically you could use a Standard licence on a Virtual Machine (VM) with more than two cores (if the product of cores * CPU speed < 5GHz).

That licensing scheme was unique to CF11.  With CF2016, it's based entirely on number of cores.