Simplified Cloud Licensing

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With release of 5.5 R2, we are going to drop the Cloud License from our price list. The change will make our licensing more simple and affordable for those who want to use Windows Azure or other cloud platforms.
You may ask why we introduced the license in the past and now we are dropping it. The reason why we introduced the cloud license last year was that there were several new cloud platforms, but none of them actually published details on how they scale out and what happens if you need to get more computing power for your website. It was not clear how many physical servers they actually use to run the site.

Now, one year later, as the cloud platforms start to mature and provide more technical details, we figured out that with the major cloud platforms (Windows Azure and Amazon EC2), we can actually identify the number of servers or "cloud instances" the website is using and we can use our standard web farm licensing model.

So what are your options if you want to use the cloud now?
  • If you have a common website, you can run the site on a single cloud instance with 1 Website Base or Ultimate License. There's no extra fee for using the cloud.
  • If you need a higher performance, you can just add another cloud instance and obtain an additional 1 Website Base License. It's the same process as if you used a web farm.
  • If you need unlimited instances in the cloud, you can contact us for a custom quote.
  • If you use the Small Business License, you can use it in the cloud, but you cannot use more than one instance (it doesn't support web farms).
I believe this will make our licensing more simple, consistent and also affordable.

If you already own a cloud license, you can keep using it for unlimited cloud instances. If it doesn't work for you, please contact your Account Manager in Kentico or write to sales@kentico.com.

As always, please feel free to post your comments below.
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Petr Palas

I'm the founder and CEO of Kentico. I write about Kentico, WCM, CXM, digital marketing and related technologies.

Comments

Petr Palas commented on

Hi Carl,

we have prepared a sample Azure package for those who want to try Kentico in Windows Azure - you can find it here: http://devnet.kentico.com/Blogs/Michal-Neuwirth/December-2010/Kentico-CMS-5-5-R2-has-been-released.aspx

There are some known limits that are described here: http://devnet.kentico.com/Blogs/Michal-Neuwirth/December-2010/Kentico-CMS-5-5-R2-Got-Windows-Azure-support.aspx

We are now working on a general how-to guide for deploying your applications into the cloud. It will be available in early January.

I think a single Web Role instance and single SQL Azure database is all you need to get started. Please note that Microsoft provides a free account for MSDN subscribers - see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/ee461076.aspx.

Anyway, please feel free to send your questions on Azure deployment to our support and our team will guide you.

Happy Christmas in U.K.!

Petr

Carl commented on

Oh and one last question...

I'm guessing that to support a cloud based Kentico we need (at least) one web role AND presumably a SQL Azure database instance?

Carl

Carl commented on

Hi Peter,

That's fine. If we run SB license on the cloud then it's really no different from how we would run it now (i.e. on one server). With Azure support we do now have an (easy) option for customers wanting scalability, reliability and failover redundancy - we just need multiple single site licenses.

I'd quite like to try Kentico in the cloud - what are my options for giving it a go?

Carl

Petr Palas commented on

Hi Carl,

the Small Business License doesn't support web farms, so you can use it on a single instance only. If you need higher availability or performance, you need to use the Base License. Please note, however, that Kentico CMS 5.5 R2 doesn't currently support more than one Azure instance - it will be supported in version 6.0.

PetrP

Carl commented on

Hi Petr,

To comply with Azure SLA requirements we need to run at least two instances (I think!). How can this work with the small business license?

Have a great Christmas.

Carl

hi1ton commented on

looking forward to using the cloud now for my kentico development too