ArcGIS Server 10.4.1 installation and license issue

[RayWu]

I have a question regarding ArcGIS Server 10.4.1 download and license issue. We develop client application using ArcObjects .NET API. The application extracts data from ArcGIS server using ArcObjects API. Here are the DLLs we use: ESRI.ArcGIS.DataSourcesGDB ESRI.ArcGIS.Geodatabase ESRI.ArcGIS.Geometry ESRI.ArcGIS.System ESRI.ArcGIS.Version  Our application is deployed on client side which has ArcGIS for desktop license installed. But to test our application, we need to restore customer’s ArcGIS Server 10.4.1 (Oracle 12c) data on another machine and connect to it from our client ArcGIS desktop machine.  My question: do I need to additionally install ArcGIS server 10.4.1 and license it in order to restore its Oracle 12c data and connect to it from our licensed ArcGIS desktop machine?  I know in ESRI 10.0 and before. As EDN member, we can download/install ArcSDE and authorize it. But now there is no ArcSDE and it is called direct connect. Do we need install ArcGIS server on the machine or can we connect it just like Oracle database?  Thanks,

[RandallWilliams]

You don't need to install ArcGIS Server per-se, but if you're going to copy data from one enterprise GDB into another, you'll first need to have run the create enterprise GDB and Authorize enterprise GDB tools on your end. Meaning that while you don't need ArcGIS Server installed per-se, you do need to license the GDB.

I'd check with your Account Rep on this, but if you restore your customer's entire GDB on your side, the license should be stored in the repository tables. I'm unsure if there are any contract issues with this workflow.