Confused about your BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) options? Here is a quick & handy BES 101.
BES license components
Your BES server will contain three separate 'keys' at point of installation:
- SRP
- SRP Authentication Key
- CAL (Client Access License)
These will always remain unchanged, although you may add additional CAL's as you require additional users on the BES server.
BES Versions
There are three versions of BES offered:
BlackBerry Enterprise Server v4.1
The Enterprise Edition of BES ships with a 20 user CAL and has no legal license limit. You will find there are guidelines as to the best practices on having high levels of users and of course you will be limited by the hardware specifications of your BES server computer.
BlackBerry Enterprise Server v5.0
The Enterprise Edition of BES ships with a 20 user CAL and has no legal license limit. You will find there are guidelines as to the best practices on having high levels of users and of course you will be limited by the hardware specifications of your BES server computer.
BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express
The BESX version can be expanded up to a maximum of 75 users if you are putting the software on your Exchange or Windows Small Business Server.
BES Trade Up Key
BES Trade Up Keys were designed for companies who purchased SBE or Professional Edition BlackBerry servers. One of the problems with BlackBerry adoption is that some companies believe they will only have a small device fleet (usually high level management) and it's not until after implementation that they realize they need to expand beyond the user base they predicted during their planning.
Originally to overcome the 15 user hurdle companies would have to re-invest in the solution from scratch, casting aside any additional CAL's and purchasing a new Enterprise Edition BES which of course proved costly.
With this in mind RIM introduced the BES Trade Up Key. This is effectively just a 5 user CAL, but when entered in to your BES License Manager it alters your BES version from SBE or Professional to Enterprise. Therefore, if you have a 15 or 30 user BES which is at its license threshold and you add a BES Trade Up Key, you will now have a fully functioning latest edition Enterprise BES with no restrictions.
The update key is not a cheap option and will cost significantly more than a standard 5 user CAL, but it is still a cheaper option than discarding any SBE Edition BES you may already have in place and purchasing a new Enterprise Edition.
Purchasing CAL's
Purchasing the right type of CAL's can be confusing as they are not all the same and come in a variety of denominations. CAL's can be purchased in the following numbers, but availability depends on your supplier:
- 1 user
- 5 user
- 10 user
- 50 user
- 100 user
- 1000 user
Remember, if you had an SBE BES and have installed a Trade Up Key you will now need to purchase Enterprise Edition CAL's.
Managing CAL's
If you have multiple BES servers in place and want to move licenses around for any reason this is possible. How you remove a license depends on your BES server version number, but in versions 4.0 and above you can simply right-click the license in the License Manager and 'remove' or 'clear'. You can then add that license to another BES server. The key message to take from this is that a CAL, once entered, is not tied to your SRP in any way and can be moved in the future if required.
Tutorial courtesy of www.blackberryforums.com
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