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ChAPTeR 1 Windows Server 2008 R2 Deployment Secrets
Purchasing Multiple Activation Keys
A Multiple Activation Key (MAK) is a special key issued by Microsoft that allows you
to perform a specic number of activations. For example, you might purchase a MAK
from Microsoft that allows you to perform 50 activations. You can use this key to acti-
vate 50 different computers, but you will not be able to use this key to activate a 51
st
computer. For example, you build a new server, install Windows Server 2008 R2 on it,
and activate it using a MAK. The MAK allows you 25 activations, and you’ve already
used 24, so the number of activations against the MAK comes to 25. Two days later,
that same server mysteriously falls off the roof of your building and lands six oors
below in a dumpster. Even if you replaced the server with identical hardware and gave
it the same name, you would still need to obtain a new key, because once an activa-
tion is consumed, you can’t reclaim it.
You can perform activation with a MAK using two different methods. The method
you choose depends on whether the servers that you want to activate are connected
to the Internet or on an isolated network.
MAK Independent Activation:3 MAK independent activation works the same
way as activating with a retail key. The server either connects through the
Internet to Microsoft’s servers, or you perform activation over the phone.
MAK Proxy Activation:3 MAK proxy activation allows you to collect activations
from multiple computers, performing them all at once. For example, you might
have a number of servers and clients on an isolated network but not enough
to meet the threshold for using KMS. You could use MAK proxy activation to
activate all these computers at once rather than activating them individually.
MAK proxy activation requires that you use the Volume Activation Management
Tool (VAMT).
Using the Volume Activation Management Tool
You use the Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) to centralize activation
requests from multiple servers and then allow them to be collectively sent to Micro-
soft. When the VAMT communicates with Microsoft, it collects activation conrma-
tion identiers, which can then be distributed back to servers seeking to activate.
An advantage of using the VAMT is that it stores these conrmation identiers in a
database. This allows clients to reactivate in the event that you need to rebuild them
without consuming additional MAK activations.
You cannot
recover a MAK
once that
activation has
been consumed.
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