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NetBackup 7.5 Pricing and Licensing Guide version 20/Jun/2012 - VTL Changes

rleong
Level 3
Partner Accredited Certified

Hi all,

I downloaded the latest NetBackup 7.5 Pricing and Licensing Guide version 20/Jun/2012 from PartnerNet today.

Very quickly I realized that the Data Protection Optimization license now INCLUDES the Virtual Tape (VTL) feature.
However, in the 28/Feb/2012 version of the guide, this is not so.

If this is not a mistake, then it means that the Enterprise Disk license will have less and less reason to exist.
The Enterprise Disk license used to be the only license that gives you support for VTLs, but now the Data Protection Optimization covers that too, and with more of other features such as deduplication.

Can someone please confirm this change?

Thanks,

RLeon

 

P.S. Not sure if this is the place Marianne meant where I should post this, if it is not then I will move the post again.

6 REPLIES 6

Mark_Solutions
Level 6
Partner Accredited Certified

There used to be an actual VTL license which was based on Back End TB (the size of your VTL)

Anyone who had a VTL license got a real bonus when the licensing changed to being Enterprise Disk as it was a straight exchange but became Front End TB.

The Data Protection Optimization does seem to say that it gives you De-Dupe, Accelerator and Pure Disk without the need for an Enterprise Disk License.

It goes on however, to say that AIR is part of the Storage Lifecycle Policies feature and to use SLPs you do need an Enterprise Disk License.

So you could use a de-dupe VTL via OST but unless you buy vault you cant easily duplicate it.

The way i read all of this is that for real NetBackup functionality you would need both anyway for a decent automated system

Hope this helps

rleong
Level 3
Partner Accredited Certified

Thanks for replying Mark.

Checking our own Data Protection Opimization license inside Netbackup itself, it does give you the Flexible Disk Option.
What that means is, the Data Protection Optimization license already gives you AdvancedDisk, which in turn, enabled the ability to use SLP.
That makes sense because AIR requires both Deduplication and SLP.

But I didn't really have to check inside Netbackup to find that out.
It already says so in the license guide.

Back to my original query.

In the older 7.5 guide, the Enterprise Disk license gives you (note: I am aware they are front-end TB based):
 - OpenStorage
 - AdvancedDisk
 - Vitual Tape (VTL)

And the Data Protection Opimization gives you:
 - OpenStorage
 - AdvancedDisk
 - Deduplication
 - Accelerator

As you can see, the VTL feature was exclusive to the Enterprise Disk license.


However, in the new 20/Jun/2012 guide, they added VTL to the Data Protection Opimization feature list.
Since it is just a check box in a table, plus I couldn't find any mentioning of this change in the Data Protection Opimization section, I was wondering if they ticked that check box by mistake.
I would have expected an extra paragraph explaining this change.
 

Is this new change mentioned anywhere else other than in the new Jun2012 Nbu 7.5 license guide?

Thanks,

RLeon

Mark_Solutions
Level 6
Partner Accredited Certified

AH! I see now - guess Symantec will have to answer that one then - it may even be a typo / mis-formatted table as you say.

I would send it directly to your account manager for a definitive answer - having said that i have mine here today so let me see if i can force something out of him while he is here - get back to you later

Mark_Solutions
Level 6
Partner Accredited Certified

All details with my Symantec Account manager - will let you know when i hear anything

mstinton
Level 3
Partner Accredited Certified

The licensing guide states the following for the NetBackup Data Protection Optimization Option:

Enterprise Disk Option Considerations
For customers using standard licensing model, NetBackup Data Protection Optimization Option includes many features that are normally available through Enterprise Disk Option. Specifically, customers can make use of NetBackup Storage Life Cycle Policies, NetBackup Media Server Load Balancing, NetBackup OpenStorage connectivity and NetBackup Cloud-store connectivity.

 

So if you want to utilse a Dedupe or non-Dedupe VTL you need the Enterprise Disk license.

If you want to utilse the Accelerator functionality you need the netbackup data protection optimisation option instead of the Enterprise Disk license.

The guide also state for AIR requiremens:

The Automatic Image Replication feature is a part of the Storage Lifecycle Policies feature and requires the Enterprise Disk license and, where appropriate, the Data Protection Optimization option license, for both the source and target domains.

So to utilise AIR you need either the Enterprise Disk License or the Data Protection Optimisation license.

rleong
Level 3
Partner Accredited Certified

Hi mstinton,

If you compare the table on page 18 of the Feb2012 version of the Nbu 7.5 license guide,
against the table on page 16 of the 20th/Jun2012 version of the Nbu 7.5 license guide,
you will understand what I mean.

Mark, thanks for forwarding the query. I hope they get back to you soon, because clients don't wait around.

Me? Well.... let's just say my account manager(s?) are very busy people...
That, in no way is implying that your's, or anyone else's account manager are not busy; or that they are trying not to be busy; or that they appear to be not busy but are in fact very busy, an vice versa.
In fact, I am not, and did not imply anything. Let's leave it at that.

*Goes back to playing with bpminlicense*