User:Mmblz/Sassafras Software

Sassafras Software is the author of K2 - KeyServer, an IT asset management software product used for hardware and software inventory, software asset management, and software metering. Sassafras Software is based in Hanover, New Hampshire. KeyServer was one of the earliest Software license servers, and was the first to simultaneously support both Mac and Windows applications, in version 4.0. The KeyServer trademark has since been genericized much like Xerox or Kleenex - and is now used to refer to various other Software license servers. KeyServer is used at thousands of Educational, Government, NGO and Corporate organizations worldwide such as the BBC.

Company history
Sassafras Software was started in 1989 by a math professor and a graduate student at Dartmouth College. They wanted students to have access to Mathematica, a powerful software program. However it was prohibitively expensive to purchase one copy of Mathematica to install on every lab computer. The first version of KeyServer was able to modify the executable so that it would only run after contacting the central KeyServer and getting permission to run. So no matter where Mathematica was installed, KeyServer could limit the number of copies running at any point in time - thereby enforcing a Concurrent Use License metric for the software. Other software, such as Computer-aided design software, was also put under KeyServer control. This was such a new concept that software publishers were not prepared to respond to it - in 1990, a Dartmouth publication notes that "Dartmouth College has obtained conditional approval from several major commercial publishers of Macintosh applications; they have agreed to allow Dartmouth to offer software controlled by the KeyServer on an experimental basis."

The KeyServer product was one of the very earliest license servers. Companies were at that point just starting to realize that buying multiple copies of the same software, and installing them on multiple computers, required a method to ensure legal compliance and avoid piracy. A MacWEEK article in 1991 about KeyServer and another product had to explain what the concept of a License Server even meant. "... Instead of trying to limit the copying of applications, you encourage the spread of programs that have been modified to work only with the license server."

Sassafras has been involved for many years in standards for Software Asset Management - first with the development of the License Services – API specification (LS-API) in the early 1990’s, along with Microsoft, Novell, and Apple. Later, Sassafras was involved with the ISO/IEC 19770 standards for software identification (19770-2) and software entitlements (19770-3).

Products
K2 - KeyAuditor & KeyServer is an award winning hardware and Software Asset Management (SAM) suite that integrates hardware & software audit inventories with purchase histories, usage tracking, and active software license management.

KeyServer was originally a Macintosh only product, but now supports Mac, Windows, and Linux. KeyServer also does Software metering, and allows an organization to be prepared for a Software licensing audit, since it can "determine the number of licenses needed for each application..." . During an audit, the organization has "a legal need to comply with the installed license agreements." KeyServer can also be used to understand computer usage, especially in computer labs.

In 1994, KeyServer 4.0 was released, which added support for Windows clients, making KeyServer the first multi-platform License Server.

In 1997, KeyServer 5.0 was released, which added the ability to prevent launches of unmodified application executables.

In 2003, KeyServer 6.0 was released, which added hardware and software audit functionality.

In 2011, KeyServer 7.0 was released, which included new purchase tracking functionality.

In 2013, KeyServer 7.1 was released, which included a new Product Recognition feature.

In 2014, KeyServer 7.2 was released, which included new functionality for creating live Computer Lab Availability Maps.

In 2015, KeyServer 7.3 was released, which included support for Federated Management and tracking of Java applications.

In 2016, KeyServer 7.4 was released, which included a new alert and journal system, and a Javascript API for extensibility.