The problem: a dongle tied to one computer
Many engineering and production programs rely on a USB license key (the well-known HASP “dongle”). It works fine while it is plugged into the right computer. The trouble starts when the program has to run somewhere else: on a server in the rack, a laptop in the field or a workstation on the other side of the plant.
The usual workaround is to carry the dongle around, with the risk of losing it, or to buy more dongles just to work around a logistics problem.
What changes when USB goes over the network
With the dongle shared over the network, it stays in a safe place and is used wherever it is needed:
- The dongle stays on one computer, protected, and no longer travels around the plant.
- Servers and machines without an accessible port use the device over the network.
- Readers, scales, label printers and serial adapters can be shared too.
- Compatible dongles can serve more than one computer in Multi mode (one at a time, the others connected and waiting) or in Simultaneous use, if the program allows it, always following the licensing rules of the software that uses them.
How Axzon solves it
AxUSBshare, developed by Axzon, has two parts: the Server, installed on the computer where the USB device is plugged in, and the Client, installed where it will be used. To the application, the device looks as if it were connected to its own machine. It works on Windows and Linux, runs as a service and is managed through a web page. Only the Server needs a license; the Client is free.
Try AxUSBshare for 30 days with one of your devices, or talk to our team to check whether it fits your case.