Patent ID: 8850605

Claim:
A method for capacity licensing, the method comprising: Storing, in a memory of a license server, information regarding a license comprising a plurality of different license rights, wherein software governed by the license comprises a plurality of different features, each feature associated with a different license right; receiving a capability request from a client device, the capability request indicating a license, an identity of the client device, and capability information for the client device; executing instructions stored in the memory, wherein execution of instructions by a processor: selects a set of license rights for the client device from the plurality of license rights associated with the license, the selection of the set of license rights based on the identity of the client device and the capability information for the client device; verifies that the selected license rights are available under the license indicated by the capability request received from the client device, and sending a capability response to the client device, the capability response comprising the selected set of license rights only, wherein subsequent exercise of the license by the client device is governed by the selected set of license rights and features of the software associated with the selected set of license rights, and wherein the client broadcasts current license rights comprising the selected set of license rights to a list of servers, and wherein servers on the list provide failover support based on the broadcast current license rights; and storing a deduction record in memory, the deduction record reflecting that the selected set of license rights has been provided to the client device from a license pool, wherein an information response to an information request acknowledges the stored deduction record.