FIgURE 11-3 Branch office scenario in Visual C#.NET

Draw Data Matrix 2d barcode in Visual C#.NET FIgURE 11-3 Branch office scenario

Site B (Fewer than 25 clients)

Some users in an organization may be in remote locations or may travel to many locations . This scenario is common for roaming clients, such as the computers of salespeople or other users who are offsite but not at branch locations . This scenario can also apply to remote branch office locations that have no connection or an intermittent connection to the core network . Disconnected computers can use KMS or MAK, depending on how often the computers connect to the core network . Use KMS activation for computers that connect to the core network either directly or through a VPN at least once every 180 days and when the core network is using KMS activation . Use MAK Independent activation by telephone or the Internet for computers that rarely or never connect to the core network . Figure 11-4 shows disconnected clients using MAK Independent activation through the Internet and also through the telephone .

Lab environments usually have large numbers of VMs, and computers in labs are reconfigured frequently . First, determine whether the computers in test and development labs need activation . The initial 30-day grace period of a computer running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 can be reset three times without activating it . Therefore, if you are rebuilding lab computers within 120 days, these computers need not be activated . If lab computers do require activation, use KMS or MAK activation . Use KMS activation if the computers have connectivity to a core network that is using KMS . If the number of computers in the lab meets the KMS activation threshold, deploy a local KMS host . In labs that have a high turnover of computers as well as a small number of KMS clients, it is important to monitor the KMS activation count to maintain a sufficient number of cached CMIDs on the KMS host . A KMS host caches activation requests from computers for 30 days . (See the section titled Minimum Computer Requirements earlier in this chapter for more information about how CMIDs affect activations .) If the lab environment needs activation but does not qualify for KMS activation, use MAK activation . MAK clients are activated by telephone or over the Internet, whichever is available to the lab . MAK Proxy activation with VAMT can also be used in this scenario . Install VAMT in the isolated lab network and also in a network that has access to the Internet . In the isolated lab, VAMT performs discovery, obtains status, installs a MAK product key, and obtains the IID of each computer in the lab . This information can then be exported from VAMT, saved to removable media, and then the file can be imported to a computer running VAMT that has access to the Internet . VAMT sends the IIDs to Microsoft and obtains the corresponding CIDs needed to complete activation . After exporting this data to removable media, take it to the isolated lab to import the CIDs so that VAMT can complete the activations .

In High Security mode, VaMT removes all personally identifiable information (pII)

from the file that it exports. This file is a readable Extensible Markup Language (XML) file that can be reviewed in any XML or text editor.

Activation is designed to provide a transparent activation experience for users . If activation does not occur immediately after the operating system is installed, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 still provide the full functionality of the operating system for a limited amount of time (a grace period) . The length of the grace period is 30 days for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 . After the grace period expires, both operating systems remind the user through notifications to activate the computer .