KeyServer manages access to software much like a library. As an application is launched, it sends a request for its key to the KeyServer. If a license is available, a key is checked out. If all keys are in use, KeyServer will place the user on a waiting list and then send a notification when a key becomes available.
KeyServer keeps date- and time-stamped log files, which contain entries for all program launches and quits. Several standard reports are built in, including a summary report, a usage histogram, and an activity digest. Any database or spreadsheet program can generate custom reports, or external report modules can be added to KeyServer by programming to an external interface specification.
KeyServer has recently undergone extensive performance-tuning on all operating systems. Test results on all platforms have demonstrated that KeyServer handles network-based transactions at speeds that easily exceed the most demanding requirements to support global software management on tens-of- thousands of computers. Roughly speaking, KeyServer handles at least 630 "license requests" per second on Mac OS X Server or NetWare 5, and about 260 requests per second on Windows NT 4. No other software license management system can consistently and reliably sustain this level of performance.