Does the Guardium v10 License Reside on the Central Manager?

Answer

In version 10 of IBM Security Guardium managed environments, the Central Manager (CM) holds tables and report definitions which are used by the whole environment. Some of these definitions control what is visible in the UI. If the CM is down, any managed units will act like a new install with no license installed even though the license has been successfully loaded on the managed unit. For instance, the GUI portal will only show the 'Welcome' and 'Setup' views. However, Guardium collectors will continue logging data even though no reports can be run.

This is a change from version 9 in which managed units could display a complete GUI without access to the CM, although many features in the GUI would not work without access to the CM.

IBM recommends deploying a backup CM with a proper disaster recovery plan, especially in large environments. If the primary CM goes down, the backup can take over and avoid serious interruption of Guardium reporting.