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License- need information

Faisshaikh
Level 3
Partner

we have enough Backup Exec 15 licenses of “Agent for Windows” but not “Agent for Applications and Databases”. We wonder the consequences of only having Agent for Windows license for backing up the below server types:

 

  • SharePoint Farm
  • Exchange
  • Microsoft SQL Database cluster
  • Active Directory Domain Controller

 

If we just need file-level restoration of SQL DB, AD DB, Exchange DB and SharePoint DB (i.e. do not need mail-level,  user object restoration, database record restoration, etc.), could we just use Agent for Windows for the servers?

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

AmolB
Moderator
Moderator
Employee Accredited Certified

Agent for Application and Database license is required if you want backup applications like Active Directory, Exchange, SQL Databases, etc.

With Agent for Windows you can just backup & restore flat files and folders but not live Exchange or SQL DB's.

View solution in original post

2 REPLIES 2

AmolB
Moderator
Moderator
Employee Accredited Certified

Agent for Application and Database license is required if you want backup applications like Active Directory, Exchange, SQL Databases, etc.

With Agent for Windows you can just backup & restore flat files and folders but not live Exchange or SQL DB's.

Colin_Weaver
Moderator
Moderator
Employee Accredited Certified

OK so Active Directory can be protected without an App & DB license as long as you are only thinking about DR as you can backup the System State and critical volumes of a domain controlller and restore that which does protect Active Directiry - what App & DB gives you for Active Directory is individual AD object restore capability.

 

For Sharepoint SQL and Exchange flat file backups may silently exclude their data form being backed up from a drive letter because you shoud back them up with the correct agent. (Active File Excusion of AFE may apply) Also even if you coud backup the actual files directly (which you can if you disable AFE but then a lot of other files that you dont need may get backed up as well)  you would still have to actually stop the services that run those databases to safely back them up - and log trucation of the background databases probably won't happen so you will then have alot of other things to consider.

 

However there is something you may not be aware of:

Whilst a file server (that is not the Backup Exec server itself) needs an Agent for Windows license to backup user data and the system state etc and the Agent for Windows license does not give database capability. If you have an App & DB license to backup, as an example, an Exchange server, this App & DB license does allow you to backup the file system and System State of that server as well so you dont also need to buy an AWS license for that server if an App & DB license applies to it.