Bentley uses the word "Suite" to describe the components comprising Ram Structural Systems, but rather than a single "suite license" a specific licensing right is defined separately for each of the bundled modules. Policy management in your Sassafras Server must be configured accordingly.
Caution: tracking of the various modules from Ram Structural Systems depends on using KeyAccess and KeyServer components – version 7.3.0.5 (or better).
The main Ram Structural Systems modules are:
In addition there are several utilities, but unlike the main modules, a utility does not consume an entitlement when used.
Bentley often refers to RSS as a "suite", but unlike common suite products (e.g., Microsoft Office) which have a single license that entitles all of its member applications, the various modules of RAM Structural Systems (RSS) are licensed separately – it would perhaps be more clear to refer to RSS as a "product bundle".
Example: a given site might purchase 2 licenses of RAM Steel and 4 of RAM Concrete, while another site might purchase 4 license for RAM Frame Analysis, 2 license for RAM Frame Steel Design, and 1 license for RAM Foundation. A separate Policy must be defined to enforce each of these limits, following the guidelines in TN 7773 and summarized below:
*although Frame Analysis and Frame Steel Design are licensed separately by Bentley, they are both run as sub-modules from the same .dll file (RAMFrameAnalysis.dll). Unfortunately, KeyAccess can track the dll but not its sub-modules – so as of version 7.3.0.5, KeyAccess cannot distinguish the consumption of a RAM Frame Analysis license from consumption of a RAM Frame Steel Design license! This is not a problem unless your site has purchased (and needs to manage) licenses for both of these sub-modules. In this case, you may be able to use some other Sassafras Server features to prevent overage charges - contact Sassafras Software Support to discuss available options.
** as of September 2015, Bentley's latest CONNECT edition product releases include a new licensetool.exe component that changes the padding on license return times from 10 minutes to 1 minute. If you are managing one of these new product versions you can use a Policy "renewal period" of 62 minutes instead of the 71 minutes recommended above (for the older versions). Prior to September, a few Bentley products had already adopted this new metric so in such cases, the shorter lease time setting can be used to limit usage more efficiently while still preventing overages.
Bentley includes RSS along with several other products as part of their Structural Enterprise offering. The license metric is described as follows:
"Structural Enterprise eliminates designers’ concerns about product-by-product license availability. Each Structural Enterprise user can employ all applications within the software package, including multiple instances of applications. There are no extra fees or licenses required for sharing data between Bentley structural products."
So instead of configuring distinct license limits as described above for each member of an RSS bundle, Structural Enterprise should be managed as a suite. Sassafras KeyServer can be configured to provide reporting on usage and installation, but depending on the details of your purchase, Policy management using the lease metric may or may not be appropriate – contact Sassafras Software Support to discuss other options.