Unlock Agilent VEE

With little fanfare, Agilent Technologies released the latest version of Agilent VEE. Agilent describes version 6.1 as mostly a bug-fix upgrade, but with that release, the company also changed its licensing policy. The new policy created quite a stir among VEE users.

VEE 6.1 requires that a computer have a network interface card (NIC) installed prior to the software upgrade. According to Agilent's Web site, each copy of VEE 6.1 is "node locked," meaning it won't run on computers that lack a NIC. You need not connect your NIC to a network, though; you just need a NIC installed in your computer to run Agilent VEE 6.1. With a node-locked Agilent VEE, the company is trying to cut down on duplicate installations of a VEE copy. I agree that if you need to install a copy of VEE on a second computer, you should buy another copy or get a site license.

Many computers already have LAN connections through a NIC. Those computers will have no trouble running VEE 6.1. For other systems, users simply can buy and install a NIC. These cards often cost under $20, and installing one is usually easy, so what's the problem?

In many companies, engineers may not install cards into company computers. Only information technology (IT) people have authority to do that. Even if your IT department will let you install a NIC, you must power down the computer to install the card. Many computers used for production tests must run 24 hours a day. So installing VEE 6.1 may cost your company too much in lost test time to make the software upgrade worthwhile.

In some test stands, installing a NIC just isn't possible. One user I spoke to claimed that his computers must never connect to a network for security reasons, and his company won't allow NICs—even unconnected ones—in computers used for production tests.

Another issue with NICs concerns system resources. Some test-system computers already use every expansion slot for I/O cards, leaving no slots for a NIC. Agilent VEE users also told me that they've built systems that failed when they installed a NIC. Sometimes, the I/O cards use all the system interrupts, leaving none for a NIC, even if the computer has an available expansion slot. Several test-system builders told me of conflict problems between NICs and I/O cards, too.

Agilent should offer an alternative to requiring a NIC for installation of VEE 6.1. Perhaps the software could lock itself to a hard disk ID or motherboard ID. That would prevent multiple installations without alienating some VEE users.