Tracking and Managing Licenses

Licensing is typically one of the management areas that administrators would like to opt out of managing. It is often perceived as a tedious and time-consuming task. Windows Server 2003 provides two tools designed to help minimize the burdens of license tracking and management: the Licensing applet in the Control Panel and the Licensing snap-in located in the Start, Programs, Administrative Tools menu.

The Licensing applet in the Control Panel manages Microsoft BackOffice products on the local system. As one might expect, an administrator can add, remove, or change licensing options. However, the administrator can also configure the interval for licensing information to be replicated to the site license server.

The Licensing snap-in in the Administrative Tools menu is the site license server managing licensing for the enterprise. In addition to adding, deleting, or changing licensing, many useful tasks can be accomplished with licensing using this tool, including

• Managing licensing for other servers in the environment

• Reviewing licensing usage

• Managing licensing replication throughout the network