SS4 - stopping support question

My understanding is that Bentley are stopping support for MicroStation SS4 at the end of the year. Is that still correct?

Also I have seen somewhere that if we use CE and SS4 at the same time (after support fro SS$ has stopped) this will count as two licence usages. Again, is this correct?

  • Both correct.

    What kind of support you would need? Do not expect much support for SS10 either for example newer RealDWG library.

  • Well, after the Select Server has come offline at the end of the year, any SS4 licenses that you have will need to be switched over to node-locked (or however they are going to do it) At that point, the license isn't part of your "pool" any more. It's tied to one computer, and so can only be used by that computer, and can't ever potentially overlap with the CONNECT licenses. Your license pool is where you will be vulnerable to overages; not on any single-use licenses.

    What's going on with SS4 and CONNECT using licenses with the possibility of "blind" overages is that SS4 runs from one license management pool, and CONNECT runs from another. The two license pools don't talk to each other, so by using SS4 and CONNECT at the same time would be two licenses, but each license management report would only show one usage.

    If I have my SS4 basket of rocks, and I have my CONNECT basket of rocks, I can take one rock from each basket. Each basket only has one rock missing, but I have two rocks in my hand.

    Migrating SS4 to SS10 will alleviate this problem because SS10 runs on the same license server as CONNECT, so you would have only one pool of licenses. You would also have software that you can use after the Select Server licensing goes offline.

    MaryB

    Power GeoPak 08.11.09.918
    Power InRoads 08.11.09.918
    OpenRoads Designer 2021 R2

        

  • It doesn't make sense. Node-locked is node-locked it shouldn't cause any overusage. I do not get why couldn't connection client just manage the XM licensing in future as the SS gateway did previously.

  • As others have said, starting January 1 any SS4 (and earlier) license will have to be node-locked. 

    From what I have been told at your next Bentley contract renewal after January 1, you will be charged extra for any node-locked licenses you are still using.

    Rod Wing
    Senior Systems Analyst

  • I guess I'm talking about right now, in the interim, when people can run both the Select Server and the Enterprise licensing. That would create two license pools that could each be drawn from, with no way for them to communicate about overages. With both license systems active, I could open SS4, and I could open CONNECT at the same time on my computer. That would use two licenses - one Select and one CONNECT, but each license pool would only "know" that I was using ONE license.

    Node-locked licenses will not cause overages. They can't. A node-locked license isn't accounted for in any license pool, and it's pretty impossible to run it more than once at a time. 

    Once the SELECT Server is taken down and all SS4 licenses are converted to Node locked, they will not be able to cause any overages.

    I believe that CONNECT licensing cannot be used for SS4 products because everythign for CONNECT is written to be 64-bit. CONNECT could "talk" to the 32-bit SS4, but 32-bit SS4 wouldn't be able to recognize 64-bit CONNECT.

    MaryB

    Power GeoPak 08.11.09.918
    Power InRoads 08.11.09.918
    OpenRoads Designer 2021 R2