Backup Exec 12.5 claims virtual machine licensing is a lot easier and cheaper now, but I’ve been doing some research…and that claim isn’t quite as true as it seems!
The new agents for ESX & Hyper-V are claimed to be able to back up all the Virtual Machines on a physical server..but this is only true as long as they are all file servers!
If you have any application on the VM’s such as SQL, Exchange, Sharepoint, Oracle, SAP etc, you will still need to licence each VM with an application agent and treat it like a separate physical machine…just like before.
Also, the new Virtual Agents only allow you to perform FULL backups. If you want to perform incrementals etc, you will need to buy an Agent for Windows Systems for each VM…just like before.
While the new Virtual Agents will reduce costs and complexity to some degree and they show a step in the right direction, they are by no means the revolution that Symantec indicated!
Cloudy with a chance of Licensing 