Volume Licensing

Volume Licensing offers customized programs tailored to the size and purchasing preference of the organization. These programs provide simple, flexible, and affordable solutions that enable organizations to manage their licenses. To become a Volume Licensing customer, an organization needs to set up a Volume License agreement with Microsoft.

There are only two legal ways to acquire a full Windows desktop license for a new computer system. The first and most economical way is preinstalled through the computer hardware manufacturer. The other option is with a full, packaged retail product. Volume Licensing programs such as Open License, Select License, and Enterprise agreements cover Windows upgrades only and do not provide a full Windows desktop license. After the computers have a full Windows desktop license, a Windows Volume Licensing agreement can be acquired and used to provide version upgrade rights. For more information on Volume Licensing, go to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=73076.

Volume Activation is designed to allow Volume License customers to automate the activation process in a way that is transparent to users. Volume Activation applies to computers that are covered under a Volume Licensing program. It is used strictly as a tool for activation and is in no way tied to license invoicing or billing. Volume Activation provides two different models for completing volume activations: Key Management Service (KMS) and Multiple Activation Key (MAK). KMS allows organizations to activate systems within their own network, whereas MAK activates systems on a one-time basis using Microsoft's hosted activation services.

Customers can use either or both key types to activate systems in their environment. The model chosen depends on the size, network infrastructure, connectivity, and security requirements of the organization. IT professionals can choose to use just one or a combination of these activation models. For more information about choosing an activation model, see the section titled "Volume Activation Scenarios," later in this tutorial.

Which method to use? That is one of the most common questions that we hear from our customers about Volume Activation. It is a decision that you need to make before any systems are deployed. When we were designing Volume Activation, it was clear that there were a wide variety of customer deployment models and use cases that needed to be considered. For example, a well-connected, global corporate intranet would have very different requirements from a disconnected development and test lab. Accordingly, two methods were developed to give the level of flexibility that our customers needed: KMS and MAK. Customers can use one or both methods, depending on how they deploy and use their machines.

KMS is the recommended solution for most customer use cases, for a variety of reasons. First, it is automated and simple for the administrator to configure. The KMS clients detect and use the service for activation on their own, without any configuration changes to the image or end-user involvement. Second, activation happens within the customer environment. After the service is activated, all communication stays inside the organization. None of the KMS clients will ever connect to Microsoft to activate.

MAK is best suited to a smaller set of systems, individual stand-alone machines, or those that are disconnected from the corporate network. It is very similar to retail activation and can be configured as part of system provisioning, making it transparent to the end user as well.