S E C U R I T Y
Licensing and Protecting Industrial Edge Devices
Does the advent of Software as a Service ( SaaS ) mean the end of software licensing as we know it ? Not all solutions are suitable for SaaS , which has only served to make containerization in edge computing even more complex .
What is Edge Computing ? The era of data being processed and software run exclusively on local hardware is over . The rise of SaaS has changed how companies work . Predictive maintenance and CRM systems that used to be hosted on local servers are now typically kept in the cloud and accessed by users over the Internet .
Cloud landscapes do not come without their own challenges , starting with questions of bandwidth or availability and going to issues of latency or data security . The exponential growth of IoT devices has exacerbated the data deluge , which means that a balance needs to be found between cloud and on-premise solutions . This is where edge computing comes in .
Edge computing happens at the threshold between both worlds . Instead of the cloud , applications run on the end users ’ devices , and only a minimal amount of data is sent to the cloud . By keeping a part of data processing on the ground , edge computing reduces latency and allows data to be processed virtually in real time . Sensitive data or algorithms can also stay on the user ’ s hopefully secure premises , which improves data security and helps with data protection regulations .
In essence , edge computing is the software provisioning option that enables companies to benefit from the advantages of the cloud without accepting all of its drawbacks .
Challenges for software licensing For software developers , keeping control over how their products are distributed is paramount , because illicit use can threaten entire business models . Technical evolution and the constant and growing threat of software piracy means that software publishers need to adjust how they protect and license their software all the time .
The same is true in edge computing . The term does not really say anything about which hardware or system architecture is being used , even if the systems in question run in a set of containers in the large majority of cases . So-called Containerization has made it much easier to keep tabs on the applications running in the containers .
But there are challenges : Edge computing is used in a diverse range of contexts . Not all of the systems in question can be kept online at all times . There needs to be a way to make sure that they can run without jeopardizing the license terms even if the system is disconnected from the Internet .
Product managers , software architects , and developers for all types of applications running on edge devices need to get together and consider how they can protect their intellectual property and their license terms in actual practice .
Edge Device
There is another option : Separate protection and licensing . An application could be protected in the IP Protection mode of AxProtector from
Protected
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Application
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License Server
License Check
Access to the Secure Key
CodeMeter Protection Suite . For the actual license checks , some tolerance can be added in the application , that is the application can be allowed to run for a while even if the right license cannot be found . Naturally , these deci-
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