This strategy is not new. It was key in out competing Novell NetWare which used to have the lion's share of the PC server market back in the early 90s.
NetWare had a strong anti-piracy (DRM) system. It required a license key that specified how many total connections the server would accept. After it reached that threshold, it would refuse new connections.
You could not start the server without the license key, and if you duplicated the key on another server in the same network, both servers would stop working and create constant error messages on the console and beep like 'heck'.
Microsoft Windows NT on the other hand, only required you to enter how many connections you promised you had purchased. I never heard of anyone getting busted for entering more connections than they owned. Then MS created NetWare Services for Windows, which emulated NetWare connections, also without any key required.
So, as PC hardware became more powerful, you could easily consolidate multiple expensive NetWare licensed servers into a single Windows NT server.
As the record shows, NetWare did not survive. I think this strategy had a lot to do with that.
It's also interesting from the point of view that the system with strong DRM was beat out by a more easy going licensing system. Maybe a lesson for other digital media.
Slashdot Mirror
http://technicalmusings.blogspot.com/2011/04/ios-consolidateddb-workaround-for.html
This strategy is not new. It was key in out competing Novell NetWare which used to have the lion's share of the PC server market back in the early 90s. NetWare had a strong anti-piracy (DRM) system. It required a license key that specified how many total connections the server would accept. After it reached that threshold, it would refuse new connections. You could not start the server without the license key, and if you duplicated the key on another server in the same network, both servers would stop working and create constant error messages on the console and beep like 'heck'. Microsoft Windows NT on the other hand, only required you to enter how many connections you promised you had purchased. I never heard of anyone getting busted for entering more connections than they owned. Then MS created NetWare Services for Windows, which emulated NetWare connections, also without any key required. So, as PC hardware became more powerful, you could easily consolidate multiple expensive NetWare licensed servers into a single Windows NT server. As the record shows, NetWare did not survive. I think this strategy had a lot to do with that. It's also interesting from the point of view that the system with strong DRM was beat out by a more easy going licensing system. Maybe a lesson for other digital media.