Scale and Save with RAD Server

Posted by Sarina D on Friday, 16 June 2017 in Blogs

We have received many questions from customers lately related to RAD Server licensing options and pricing. RAD Server provides many benefits. Developers can rapidly build and deploy services based applications, and achieve significant cost savings. Best of all, unlike other options, RAD Server fees do not increase as you scale usage.

Features, such as multi-tenancy support, added in 10.2 further help customers realize dramatic savings.

If you are a Delphi or C++ developer, RAD Server is your most efficient back-end option and ideally suited for ISVs and OEMs building re-deployable solutions.

We put together some illustrations to highlight deployment options. These will help you decide when to purchase a single server (aka “single site”) vs a multi-server (aka “multi-site”) license. These should also help clarify some misconceptions about RAD Server that we have come across, especially around the concept of a “site.”

Scenario 1 a): An ISV building solutions for multiple companies, looking to leverage the built-in multi-tenancy support in RAD Server.

ISVs building solutions for multiple companies only require a single RAD Server license (aka "single site") when using a single internal RAD Server database. This means they'd only have a single deployment of RAD Server. In this case, an ISV could use the built-in multi-tenancy support to spin up separate tenants, one for each company, while only having a single RAD Server deployment (with a single RAD Server internal database).

License needed: Single Server

Scenario 1 b): An ISV building solutions for multiple companies requiring separate RAD Server deployments

ISVs building solutions for multiple companies with separate RAD Server deployments (separate internal RAD Server databases) require multiple single server (aka "single site") licenses or a multi-server (aka "multi-site") license. This ISV is not leveraging the built-in multi-tenancy support in RAD Server.

License needed: Several Single Servers or one Multi-Server

Scenario 2 a): A single company building a RAD Server solution for their multiple offices in different locations

A single company with multiple offices and different locations can use a single RAD Server license (aka "single site") to build a RAD Server solution if they only want to do a single RAD Server deployment. They could set up a single tenant and handle permissions at the user and group level using the built-in support for that. Alternatively, they could set up multiple tenants (i.e. one for each location). In either case, there would only be a single deployment of RAD Server with a single RAD Server internal database.

License needed: Single Server

Scenario 2 b): A single company building a RAD Server solution for their multiple offices in different locations

A single company with multiple offices and different locations can opt for multiple single server (aka "single site") licenses or one multi-server (aka "multi-site") license if they want to do separate RAD Server deployments, i.e. one for each office location. This would be a good solution for a company that requires separate RAD Server deployments (with a separate RAD Server internal database for each deployment), beyond what multi-tenancy can offer.

License needed: Multiple Single Server Licenses or a Multi-Server License

Scenario 3: A single company with one office location

A single company with one office location looking to build and deploy a RAD Server solution. This could be a startup or a large company looking to leverage RAD Server’s solution for managing their employee records and customer data, for example.

License needed: Single Server

Additional RAD Server Benefits

The bottom line is that for most scenarios you can start with a Single Server License and as you add users and tenants, the cost stays the same!

We also provide several added features for free!

BeaconFence: Track user movement both indoors and outdoors, and respond to proximity events when users enter or exit custom beacon zones or approach designated beacon points. Our patent pending BeaconFence is included with RAD Server (Tools > GetIt Package Manager > Internet of Things). You can use the Woll2Woll mobile map editor for even more BeaconFence deployment options.

Internet of Things Support: IoT Edgeware extends the functionality of REST Endpoint Publishing and provides an enterprise access point between remote gadgets and devices. IoT Edgeware allows you to locally store, filter, and compute vast amounts of IoT data collected at the edge while ensuring only critical data is synced with the central repository. Developers have access to over 50 pre-built components for many popular devices and configure even more.

Customizable RAD Server EMS Management Console: Customize the UI of the RAD Server Analytics Web Portal to match your corporate branding. Source code for the HTML/CSS/JS assets are provided for Portal UI customization.

Screenshot shows custom logo and CSS

Additional Resources

RAD Server Getting Started Help: This document provides a good overview on RAD Server, how it compares to DataSnap and links to getting started resources.
Sample Projects: We are actively working on industry templates for RAD Server to help you get started faster with building your RAD Server solution. Check the GetIt Package Manager often for these helpful resources as more will be added over time.
Case Study: Foresiight explains how they took a large, existing Delphi client-server application and extended it to the cloud, the web, and now into mobile using RAD Server.