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AltiGen Field Alert #221
Date:                   September 7, 2007
Subject:               AltiGen Software Assurance purchasing guidelines   
Distribution:        All Dealers
Doc Type:           Field Alert
Release:             5.1
Scope:                5.0A - 5.2
Application:        AltiWare
Hardware:           N/A
Keywords:           Software Assurance, SA, Purchasing, Guidelines, Registration, Register, FA221
Obsolete:            No

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A new AltiGen Software Assurance program began September 4, 2007. Dealers may purchase Software Assurance for 5.1 Update 1 systems. This field alert briefly describes the process of purchasing Software Assurance.

 

Note: Please refer to AltiGen Field Alert #210 for a description of the Software Assurance Program, itself.

 

The entryway to purchasing Software Assurance varies in the five scenarios outlined below. However, once you are on the AltiGen Dealer Web Site, the process is straightforward.

 

·         The server software must be AltiWare 5.1 Update 1 or later to qualify for the Software Assurance program. For a 5.1 upgrade system, the product registration and Software Assurance purchase can be performed before upgrading the server software to 5.1 Update1.

·         The server configuration must meet the following minimum requirements:

o        CPU speed 1.2GHz

o        DRAM 512MB

o        OS

§         Windows 2003 server

§         Windows 2000 server with SP4 or above

§         Windows 2000 Professional SP4 or above

§         Windows XP Professional SP1 or above

§         Windows XP Embedded (for MAX1000)

o        Available HD space 1GB

·         The server configuration is uploaded to the product registration database.

·         If Software Assurance is purchased by 12/31/2007, the qualifying hardware is offered a free hardware warranty with an expiration date 12/31/2008. The qualifying hardware includes in-warranty chassis, and in- or out-of-warranty Triton boards passing verification test.

·         Offline product registration requires an exported HTML file, which contains serial number information, from the AltiWare Administrator registration screen.

·         Product registration is performed as soon as the Software Assurance purchase is complete.

·         The license activation file attachment and Assurance & Warranty summary e-mails are sent to the purchaser, and an e-mail with Assurance & Warranty order billing details is sent to the credit card billing contact.

 

Dealer Administrator Set Up

The Dealer Administrator should set up the Manage User and Manage Credit Card areas of the AltiGen Dealer Web Site for the Dealer company (see figure below). The administrator should do the following:

 

·         Add credit card information for Assurance & Warranty purchases

·         Assign user privilege to make Assurance & Warranty purchases

·         Assign user privilege to view prices

·         Assign user privilege to view the Assurance & Warranty tab on the Dealer Web Site (for pending orders and purchases)

 

Pending orders are saved for up to 30 days. You may complete the purchase by invoking the pending order and proceeding to purchase.

 

Based on your current AltiWare version and installed licensing, one of the following is required:

 

1)      New 5.1 systems with new bundle license with prefix 9xA1

1.      The system should be imaged with 5.1 Update 1 or later release.

2.      After installing boards to the system, invoke online (click the Online Register button) or offline product registration (click the Save Register Form button to export a register.htm file, and then double-click this file to connect to the AltiGen offline registration web site) and enter the software licenses you are registering.

 

Note: Direct access to the offline registration web site via the URL is no longer supported.

 

 

 

If the system key has not been registered, you are redirected to the Assurance and Warranty web site to purchase Software Assurance.

3.      Log in to the Assurance & Warranty site.

4.      Confirm that the system key, serial numbers of the chassis and all the boards, and the software licenses are displayed. (See the following figure for an example.)

 

 

5.      Follow the directions onscreen to purchase Software Assurance.

6.      If you are not ready to purchase, your pending order can be saved for 30 days, reopened, and completed.

7.      Product registration is performed and an e-mail with license activation file attachment is sent to the purchaser.

 

2)      New 5.1 systems with old bundle license with prefix 9xA0

1.      5.1 Update 1 must be loaded to the system in order to purchase Software Assurance.

2.      Perform the existing 5.1 product registration. Make sure the old bundle license is added to the licenses you are registering.

3.      At the end of product registration, a Software Assurance purchase link is available. Click the link to go to the Assurance & Warranty web site. (Software Assurance purchase is optional.)

 

 

4.      Follow the directions onscreen to purchase Software Assurance.

5.      You may need to enter the serial number of the chassis associated with this system. A valid chassis serial number is required. If the Software Assurance is purchased prior to 12/31/2007 and the chassis is in warranty, the hardware warranty expiration date of this chassis is set to 12/31/2008.

6.      During first-time Software Assurance purchase, a one-time option to reduce license counts is offered:

 

 

·         All the license counts, except the base license, can be decreased.

·         New license keys will be generated for those reduced licenses.

·         No credit is remembered after the product registration is performed.

·         It is highly recommended that you receive a written confirmation from the customer before making this change.

 

7.      Product registration is performed and an e-mail with license activation file attachment is sent to the purchaser.

 

3)      Existing 5.1 systems which have not purchased Software Assurance

1.      Make sure the server software is loaded with 5.1 Update1 or above.

2.      You may need to enter the serial number of the chassis associated with this system. A valid chassis serial number is required. If the SA is purchased prior to 12/31/2007 and the chassis is in warranty, the hardware warranty expiration date of this chassis is set to 12/31/2008.

3.      During first-time Software Assurance purchase for an existing system, a one-time option to reduce license counts is offered:

·         All the license counts, except the base license, can be decreased.

·         New license keys will be generated for those reduced licenses.

·         No credit is remembered after the product registration is performed.

·         It is highly recommended that you receive a written confirmation from the customer before making this change.

·            Product registration is performed and an e-mail with license activation file attachment is sent to the purchaser.

 

4)      5.1 upgrade from 5.0A

1.      You must purchase Software Assurance prior to upgrading your server software to 5.1 Update1.

2.      If you have a new system loaded with 5.0A software, you must perform 5.0A product registration and make sure the 5.0A license activation exctl file is copied under \altiserv\db folder before continuing with the following steps.

3.      Download the registration tool, 50A_SA_Tool.exe from the AltiGen Dealer Web Site, and run this tool on the 5.0A AltiServ system to generate an HTML file, register.htm.

4.      Double-click this HTML file. You are redirected to the Assurance & Warranty web site.

5.      If ACC 5.1 is the intended target release, you are questioned to determine if this is appropriate (some ACC 5.0A features are not supported in ACC 5.1).

 

 

6.      If any unsupported features are used, the target release is set to ACM 5.1, and a special upgrade request needs to be submitted for approval (see scenario 5).

7.      If no special upgrade is needed, the process is the same as scenario 3, “Existing 5.1 systems”, except that a 5.1 upgrade license is generated automatically in the product registration file.

8.      Purchase a Media Kit to perform software upgrades.

9.      After purchasing Software Assurance and receiving the license activation file, you can upgrade the server software to 5.1 Update1 using the full installation package. Please note that no new license can be registered to the 5.0A license activation file after the Software Assurance purchase.

 

5)      5.0A ACC to 5.1 ACM special upgrade

1.      Follow scenario 4 through to step 5. If you select from any of the features that have been removed from 5.1 ACC on the product registration page, you are prompted by a special upgrade web page. (See the following figure.)

 

 

2.      Submit a special upgrade request form with credit card information.

3.      Upon approval from AltiGen Sales, the following is done:

·         $325 processing fee is charged to the credit card

·         The following licenses are generated and linked with the system key (cannot be registered with other system key):

·      5.0A ACM Upgrade License

·      Matching ACM Agent seat license

·         An e-mail with the newly generated licenses and software upgrade instructions are sent to the Dealer

4.      Purchase a Media Kit to perform software upgrades.

5.      Register the product:

a.      Register the product to migrate from 5.0A ACC to 5.0A ACM.

b.      Purchase Software Assurance and perform the product registration to upgrade from 5.0A ACM to 5.1 ACM.

6.      You may upgrade the system software to 5.1 at a later date. However, no new 5.0A license can be registered from this point on.

7.      Upgrade the software:

a.      Migrate the server software from 5.0A ACC to 5.0A ACM first.

b.      Upgrade the server software from 5.0A ACM to 5.1 ACM.

 

 

Note: If you have a version of AltiWare earlier than 5.0A, you must upgrade to 5.1 Update 1 before you can purchase Software Assurance. Please call AltiGen Sales.

 

 

Assurance & Warranty Renewal

A Software Assurance purchase renews automatically at the expiration date. 60 days before the expiration date, a reminder e-mail is sent to the Dealer with the then current price quoted.

 

If you do not want to renew the Software Assurance, you should notify AltiGen 30 days prior to the anniversary. If you have not notified AltiGen, the charge for the annual renewal of Software Assurance will be applied to the credit card you used for your last Software Assurance purchase.

 

 

Adding a License to a System Covered by Software Assurance

If you add a software license to a system that is covered by Software Assurance, perform online or offline product registration and add the new licenses you are registering. The process is the same as for purchasing Software Assurance for an existing system, except the option for decreasing the license counts is not offered.

·         The Software Assurance start date of this license is this product registration date.

·         The Software Assurance end date of this license is the same as the system key’s Software Assurance expiration date.

·         The price for this new license is pro-rated based on this start date and end date. If the new license is added between 9/4/2007 and 12/31/2007, the pro-rated price calculation uses 1/1/2008 as the start date.

·         Product registration is performed after Software Assurance purchase, and the license activation file is sent to the purchaser.

·         This license will be included in the next renewal.