Discount on unraid


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I have been trying out unraid and have been liking it so far.  Been a bunch of things I am trying to work through to get it to work right.  Plex issues.   some other things I am trying to tweak.  

 

I am needing to extend my trial license, or purchase the license.   Stuck between the 12 drive one and the unlimited drive one.  Are there any discounts on either of these plans?

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The last 'incentive' program was back when Version 6 first went into beta.  (Version 5 was basically a 32 bit NAS product.  Version 6 was 64 bit, with Docker and VM support built-in, a new interactive GUI setup, UPS support, built-in notifications and a whole host of other enhancements!)  It was recognized at that time that the development and debugging process was going to be a l-o-o-o-ong one.  (And it was!)  To encourage as many folks as possible to participate, a second license (as I recall) was offered at the substantial discount to the current license holders.  (Remember, they still had to provide their own hardware in many, many cases!)  I also seem to recall that the price of the license was increased across the board either with the introduction of ver 6.0 or shortly after.  But the fact that the price increase was coming was not a secret and many folks took advantage by upgrading in the period before it was finally formally announced.  

 

I really don't see that happening again in the near term.  At this point, there will be a steady stream of improvements and features added.  I think it will take a major change in hardware architecture to require a major rework of the unRAID OS such as we saw when the change from ver 5 to ver 6 occurred. 

 

If you are on the fence between the Plus and the Pro, go with the PRO would be my recommendation.  I don't think it takes a great crystal ball to realize the price will never lower and remember, it is a one time license fee and will be good for all future versions and releases of the product.  

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11 hours ago, Frank1940 said:

The last 'incentive' program was back when Version 6 first went into beta.  (Version 5 was basically a 32 bit NAS product.  Version 6 was 64 bit, with Docker and VM support built-in, a new interactive GUI setup, UPS support, built-in notifications and a whole host of other enhancements!)  It was recognized at that time that the development and debugging process was going to be a l-o-o-o-ong one.  (And it was!)  To encourage as many folks as possible to participate, a second license (as I recall) was offered at the substantial discount to the current license holders.  (Remember, they still had to provide their own hardware in many, many cases!)  I also seem to recall that the price of the license was increased across the board either with the introduction of ver 6.0 or shortly after.  But the fact that the price increase was coming was not a secret and many folks took advantage by upgrading in the period before it was finally formally announced.  

 

I really don't see that happening again in the near term.  At this point, there will be a steady stream of improvements and features added.  I think it will take a major change in hardware architecture to require a major rework of the unRAID OS such as we saw when the change from ver 5 to ver 6 occurred. 

 

If you are on the fence between the Plus and the Pro, go with the PRO would be my recommendation.  I don't think it takes a great crystal ball to realize the price will never lower and remember, it is a one time license fee and will be good for all future versions and releases of the product.  

 

...if the product/company never die... ?

Edited by Zonediver
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If you are on the fence, I agree to go with the pro license. It is exceedingly rare for a user to need fewer drives than planned. But upgrading from plus to pro is not a huge premium. Not a problem to go that route and upgrade when/if you need more drives.

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  • 3 months later...

I have an unRAID Pro licence for main system and happy enough with it..even though I only have 12 devices on it... ;-)

 

But now have two more small boxes to make into mini servers and expect they will have 6 or more likely 7 devices in. And then it got me thinking.. why don't @limetech offer any discounts to users on purchases of 2nd or subsequent licences... like a loyalty bonus? I am debating whether (as they are less important systems) to just build a Debian/SnapRaid/MergerFS box at zero OS cost or whether to buy extra UnRAID licences at $59/89 each. Not a tiny cost. If it was say $49, $69 it would probably be more pallatable when I have half my Pro licence currently wasted ?

 

I can't be the only person to wonder this? Sure, we pay for unRAID for the convenience & support etc but I'm not with unlimited funding!!!

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52 minutes ago, methanoid said:

I'm not with unlimited funding

How much have you spent on hardware? The software IS a tiny cost in comparison.

 

54 minutes ago, methanoid said:

just build a Debian/SnapRaid/MergerFS box at zero OS cost

Time to set up, configure and maintain any of those vs. unraid is not zero cost. Unraid makes it simple and easy. Your call.

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57 minutes ago, methanoid said:

build a Debian/SnapRaid/MergerFS box at zero OS cost or whether to buy extra UnRAID licences at $59/89 each.

 

But how much do you value the time it takes to get the box to regularly run SMART and mail out any problem notifications?

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Just now, jonathanm said:

How much have you spent on hardware? The software IS a tiny cost in comparison.

 

Time to set up, configure and maintain any of those vs. unraid is not zero cost. Unraid makes it simple and easy. Your call.

 

Yeah I KNEW someone would use that line.. and I am prepared...

 

The server cost me £19 (abour $25).. so do I think spending $59/89 on an unRAID licence is good value...  I quote you back "Your call!!"  ?

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1 minute ago, methanoid said:

 

Yeah I KNEW someone would use that line.. and I am prepared...

 

The server cost me £19 (abour $25).. so do I think spending $59/89 on an unRAID licence is good value...  I quote you back "Your call!!"  ?

So your time isn't worth anything? If so, I have some things I would like to you do for me, and I'll pay you your going rate. 0/hr.

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20 hours ago, bonienl said:

 

You are not paying me anything for all the development hours which I and Limetech put in unRAID. In that respective $59 is tiny.

 

Well I think I PAID for my current Pro licence but nobody seems to see that....

 

20 hours ago, 1812 said:

I own 4 licenses. Worth every penny spent.

 

Great, and I am also happy with my first licence. I am MERELY questioning whether discounts on subsequent licences might be an idea. I didnt expect the Spanish Inquisition (and loads of "I love unRAID and would gladly sell my firstborn child to buy another licence" type posts)

 

Good grief.. this is a good forum but heaven forbid you ask the unaskable questions ;-)

 

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56 minutes ago, methanoid said:

Good grief.. this is a good forum but heaven forbid you ask the unaskable questions

 

It's not that it's un-askable. It's that it has been covered, and simple search would reveal that.

 

57 minutes ago, methanoid said:

I didnt expect the Spanish Inquisition (and loads of "I love unRAID and would gladly sell my firstborn child to buy another licence" type posts)

 

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition.

 

 

If unraid cost the same as windows server, you and many others like you may have a point. But it's ridiculously cheap for what it does. You're essentially gong to McDonalds and asking why they don't just give you a 10% off coupon for no other reason than you want it and just because you bought a happy meal from them once before. Stop being cheap and recognize that you're already getting a great deal. 

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4 hours ago, methanoid said:

 

Well I think I PAID for my current Pro licence but nobody seems to see that....

 

 

Great, and I am also happy with my first licence. I am MERELY questioning whether discounts on subsequent licences might be an idea. I didnt expect the Spanish Inquisition (and loads of "I love unRAID and would gladly sell my firstborn child to buy another licence" type posts)

 

Good grief.. this is a good forum but heaven forbid you ask the unaskable questions ;-)

 

 

Looks like @bonienl is being paid for his services, which makes sense given that he developed and maintains the GUI (as far as I know). And your comment may be hitting him in the pocketbook!

 

Used to be that a license came with 2 keys. This was before the easy key replacement program, and Tom's intent of the second key was to be a backup (although there were no restrictions on using the second key for a second server). But there was a reworking of the licensing structure, and with the key replacement feature in place, the second key is no longer provided (I think the license cost went down - but not sure).

 

But generally you need one key per server. You pay the price (just as you would for Windows). It is a fair price IMO. Offering a second key at a discount might encourage more people to buy extra keys, which might actually work to LimeTech's advantage. But that's up to them.

 

I will say that LimeTech's does not consistently monitor the forum for these types of questions. So you'd not hear back from them unless you send an email. And discussions of the license fee and alternatives may fall on deaf ears, as there has been a lot of desire to debate over the years. At this point, I think I am correct in stating LimeTech is not entertaining other options.

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4 hours ago, methanoid said:

Well I think I PAID for my current Pro licence but nobody seems to see that....

 

I was talking about development AFTER you purchased a license. All updates and new functionality comes for free to existing users.

 

Of course you are free to ask the question, but the people on this forum are not the ones who can honor your request, they merely express their opinion.

You can always send an email to Limetech with your request and reasoning.

 

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