Hi Daniel, thanks for the questions. An entitlement key is a license, those terms get a bit mixed. Simply put, with the exception of Connect, all HiveManagers online or on premises need entitlement keys to manage devices. The entitlement keys will be for a certain number of devices, but not tied to any device MAC or serial number in particular. You can enter multiple keys in to a HiveManager, so if you add a device later on you can keep your current key and add a new one to cover the new device. If a device goes bad and you have to replace it, your existing key will still cover the new device because your total number of devices has not changed.
I unfortunately can't speak to the Dell SKU's but I'm sure their support would be happy to help. I can tell you Aerohive officers entitlement keys in 1, 3, or 5 year increments for online HiveManagers, and once those keys expire you would need to renew, which would be a new payment. For on premises HiveManagers you still need entitlement keys, but these are one time purchases and they do not expire in 1, 3, 5, or any amount of years. The only time you would need to pay for a key with an on premises HiveManager is the first time you purchase one.
So to answer your core question, if you purchase 15 devices, you need to sign up for a HiveManager instance (free), purchase an entitlement key for 15 devices and enter that in to the HiveManager, and then onboard your devices using their serial numbers.
I mentioned Connect earlier, Connect is a limited platform of HiveManager (formerly NG), that is free to use (no entitlement keys needed to manage devices) but it does not offer a lot of the more advanced enterprise network level features that Select (the full version of HiveManager) does offer. If you're interested in Connect, this guide will walk you through how to set up a Connect HiveManager instance- https://thehivecommunity.aerohive.com/s/article/Registering-for-HiveManager-Connect
Last thing to mention as this sometimes trips people up as well, support and entitlement keys for devices are technically separate purchases, but can come as one if that's the way you want to purchase it. When I say support I mean the ability to call or open a case with Aerohive Technical Support if you have any questions or issues.
If you have a key and you'd like to know if it includes support as well as the ability to manage devices, you can send that to me and I'll let you know, my email is communityhelp@aerohive.com. Or if you can send me a sales order, I can confirm what support level you've purchased and how many devices you're licensed for.
Hope that helps!
