Backup Exec 2012 Licensing (V-Ray Edition and hyper-v scenario)

[Silencer01]

Dear Sirs,

I currently have a question regarding some licensing issues with Backup Exec 2012 (V-Ray Edition and Hyper-V).

We are going to implement 2 hyper-V Servers with a backupserver. There will be some virtual machines will be running a SQL-server and also a SBS (with Exchange and AD,..) which also need to be backuped.

I have been looking at the licensing document (http://eval.symantec.com/mktginfo/enterprise/other_resources/backup_exec_licensing_guide_21223660.en-us.pdf), calling our reseller and symantec, but none of them seem to be giving me a straight answer for our situation. I was hoping to find an answer here in the forums.

So as I said we have 2 hyper-v servers (with 2 CPU's of 6 cores per CPU). The backupserver only has 1 CPU with 6 cores.

I want to backup all the virtual machines (with all the running applications on it) and also backup the vhd's...
 

In this situation, what do I exactly need and how many agents/licenses should I buy?

I see that the V-Ray Edition is licensed "per occupied processor socket on the virtual host", but I have no idea how I should see this. It also has an agent for hyper-v included, so is this for 1 server/2 servers?

Thank you so much for the answers.

[MattiasA]

The V-Ray uses a simplified licensing system which means you will only need a quantity of 4 licenses (two dual CPU hosts).

This also includes the licensing for all the application and database agents run on the virtual machines.

This does not include any licensing for physical clients (beyond the backup server).

[pjeannin]

Hi,

You need one licence per CPU. (Only for Hypervisor => 4 licences 6 core in you case)

No agent is required for the applications in VM.

Regards,

Pierre.

[Silencer01]

Hi Everyone,

Ah ok thanks everyone.

Would this set-up also work:

• Backup Exec 2012
• Agent for hyper-v
• Agent for applications and databases

Or when I use this scenario, I will need 2 agents for hyper-v, because I am running 2 physical hyper-v servers?

What would be your choise for this set-up?

Thanks again for the replies and replies for the future!

Kind regards,

Sven

[MattiasA]

I am not sure about which one is more cost effective, you'll have to ask your preferred reseller about the price.

The alternative set-up won't be any different except you will get the option to run your Exchange or SQL on physical machines (they include Windows remote agent license).

Two Hyper-V agent licenses are needed because of the two hosts.

[Silencer01]

Hi MattiasA,

Thanks for your comment. With the V-Ray Edition it will costs us around €400 more than with the other solution on an amount of €3600 for the V-Ray Edition.

Which one would be your preference and what does the V-Ray Edition have to offer more in our scenario? The deduplication is not neccessary, we will do this with other software.
Is the V-Ray Edition also better in management and making backups or how should I see this?

Thanks again!!!

Kind regards,

[pjeannin]

Or when I use this scenario, I will need 2 agents for hyper-v, because I am running 2 physical hyper-v servers?

=> YES

What would be your choise for this set-up?

=> If you need applications agents, le v-ray (with 4 licences) will be cheaper.

Pierre

[MattiasA]

The V-Ray Edition is simply a licensing model designed for backup of a virtual environment which means that it has the exact same features as the regular product with equivalent license keys.

I would go with the regular licensing model if it is cheaper and covers your backup needs.

Keep in mind though that if you add one or two applications that you want to back up with an agent it quickly changes the situation in favor of the V-Ray edition.

[Silencer01]

Hi Mattias,

Thanks for the reply! At the moment I only want 3 applications backuped: Active Directory, SQL-server and Exchange-server.

Do I need 3 licenses from the application and database agent? Or will 1 be enough?

Thanks again for the answers.

Kind regards,

[MattiasA]

You will need 3 Application and Database agent licenses.

[ZeRoC00L]

You need 1 AD agent, 1  SQL agent and 1 Exchange agent.

And offcourse the Backup Exec Media server.

[Silencer01]

Wow thanks for the reply! I had contact with Dell who was going to supply the licenses and they only said 1 license. Thanks for this, was going to a client tomorrow with the pricing.

In that case, the V-Ray Edition might come out cheaper, I guess. I am going to contact dell to change their offer.

Thanks for the comment!!

Kind regards,

[Silencer01]

Hi ZRoC00l,Thanks for the reply.

With Backup Exec 2010 there were indeed different agents for different applications, but with 2012 they all are mentioned in a "applications and database agent", so I (& Dell) thought that 1 would be enough and it covers all of the applications mentioned in this agent description.

But I need indeed 3 applications and database agents, to backup the AD, SQL and Exchange.

Thanks for the reply!!

[unzhurst]

One more question to the first szenario:

2 physical hyper-v host, each with 2 6c cou´s

1 physical backupserver with 1 6c cpu (backup exec is installed on this machine)

I want to backup the complete virtual environment and the backupserver itself. Licensing should be done via v-ray. Do i need a separate license for the backupserver?

Regards,

Patrick

[MattiasA]

Hey Patrick,

Every V-Ray license includes a license for a Media server so you do not need anything else to protect your environment.

With this in mind, because you already need more than one V-Ray license, it is very easy for you to create a replication site with another Backup Exec media server since you already have the license for it.

Best regards,
Mattias