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When you're buying Rhino 3D for a team rather than a single user, one of the most important decisions you'll make is whether to use node-locked (single-user) licences or floating licences managed through a LAN Zoo server. Get this right and you can significantly reduce your licence spend without limiting your team's access. Get it wrong and you'll either over-purchase licences you don't need or create bottlenecks that frustrate your users. This guide explains how floating licences work, when they make financial sense, and how to set up LAN Zoo.
What Is a Floating Licence?
A floating licence (also called a network licence) is not tied to a specific machine or user. Instead, a pool of licences is held on a central server, and individual users check out a licence when they launch Rhino. When they close Rhino, the licence is returned to the pool and becomes available for someone else.
The key implication: you don't need one licence per person. You need one licence per person using Rhino simultaneously. If your team of twelve designers doesn't all use Rhino at the same time, you may only need eight or nine floating licences to cover your actual peak concurrent usage.
What Is LAN Zoo?
LAN Zoo is McNeel's free licence server software for managing floating Rhino licences. It runs on a Windows machine (server or workstation) on your local network, and client machines connect to it to check out licences. Key facts:
- LAN Zoo is free — there is no additional cost for the server software itself
- It runs on Windows and requires a machine that is consistently available on the network
- Licences are checked out automatically when Rhino launches and returned when it closes
- The process is transparent to end users — they simply open Rhino as normal
- LAN Zoo provides basic usage reporting, showing which licences are in use and by whom
- It requires network connectivity — users must be on the same network (or connected via VPN) to check out a licence
LAN Zoo vs Cloud Zoo
McNeel also offers Cloud Zoo, which manages licences via McNeel's cloud infrastructure rather than a local server. The comparison:
- LAN Zoo: Local server, no internet required for licence checkout, IT-managed, better for controlled lab environments and secure networks
- Cloud Zoo: Cloud-based, requires internet and a McNeel account, better for remote workers and personal devices, no server infrastructure required
For studios and labs with a fixed office or campus network, LAN Zoo is typically the more practical choice. For distributed teams or organisations where users frequently work remotely, Cloud Zoo may be preferable — or a combination of both.
When Does a LAN Zoo Make Financial Sense?
The financial case for floating licences rests on one question: what is your peak concurrent usage as a proportion of your total team size?
Consider a studio with fifteen designers who all have Rhino in their job description. If you buy fifteen node-locked licences, you're paying for fifteen seats regardless of how many are actually in use at any given time. If your analysis shows that peak concurrent usage is typically ten or eleven (because some designers are in meetings, on site, or working on non-Rhino tasks), then ten floating licences would cover your actual needs — saving you the cost of four or five licences.
As a rough guide, floating licences tend to make financial sense when:
- You have five or more Rhino users
- Not all users need Rhino simultaneously (which is true of most design teams)
- You have a suitable machine to run LAN Zoo (a basic Windows PC or server is sufficient)
- Your users are primarily office-based or reliably connected to the network
For very small teams (two or three users), the administrative overhead of setting up LAN Zoo may not be worth the saving. Node-locked licences are simpler to manage at that scale.
How to Model Your Concurrent Usage
Before purchasing floating licences, it's worth estimating your actual peak concurrent usage. Approaches include:
- Survey your team: Ask how many hours per day they typically use Rhino, and when. If most designers use Rhino in the morning and switch to other tools in the afternoon, your peak window is narrower than you might assume.
- Review timetables (for academic deployments): Teaching timetables give a clear picture of when lab machines will be in use simultaneously.
- Start conservative: If you're unsure, start with a slightly lower number of floating licences than you think you need and monitor usage via LAN Zoo's reporting. Additional licences can be purchased if needed.
Setting Up LAN Zoo: What's Involved
Setting up LAN Zoo is straightforward for anyone with basic IT experience:
- Download and install LAN Zoo on a Windows machine that is consistently available on the network
- Add your floating licence keys to LAN Zoo via the Zoo Admin console
- Configure Rhino on each client machine to point to the LAN Zoo server (by hostname or IP address)
- Test that licences are being checked out and returned correctly
McNeel provides detailed documentation for LAN Zoo setup, and CADWAX can advise on configuration if needed.
Get Floating Licences from CADWAX
CADWAX supplies floating Rhino licences and can advise on the right number of seats for your team based on your usage profile. We can also help with LAN Zoo configuration queries and supply floating licences for compatible Rhino plug-ins.
Weighing up floating licences?
CADWAX supplies Rhino 3D concurrent user and single-user licences, so you can choose the option that suits your team.
Get in touch and we'll help you work out whether a LAN Zoo makes sense for your studio.
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