How is Backup Exec licensed, and what do you need to send to get an accurate renewal quote? Backup Exec licensing depends on three things: the edition, the meter (front-end terabytes, instances, CPU sockets or individual components) and whether the licence is perpetual or a subscription. Send your entitlement IDs, edition, meter, quantities and expiry dates, so the quote matches what you run. Backup Exec and Desktop and Laptop Option (DLO) remain available and renewable through a channel appointed by the vendor.

How Backup Exec licensing works

Arctera's Backup Exec 25 Product Use Rights (version 2.0, February 2025) list each edition with its licence duration and meter:

Simple: subscription only, per front-end terabyte (FETB) or per instance.
Bronze, Silver and Gold: perpetual or subscription, per FETB or per instance. Each step up adds agents and options; Gold is the most inclusive.
V-Ray: perpetual only, per CPU socket on the hypervisor host or cluster node.
Custom: perpetual only, licensed per device, agent or option, for example per server or host.
Simple Restore Only: subscription, per FETB up to 10 FETB, for restoring data backed up under Simple, with no new backups.

FETB is measured as the largest aggregate full (or synthetic full) backup, with partial terabytes rounded up. An instance is a single compute instance, such as a virtual machine or a physical host. Rules that surprise people at renewal:

A Simple Core Pack includes five instances plus protection for ten Microsoft 365 users, and each instance cannot exceed 1.45 FETB.
Under Simple, Bronze, Silver and Gold, if protected data exceeds the licensed level for 30 days, backup functionality is deactivated until the licence is increased or the data reduced.
When a Bronze, Silver, Gold or Simple subscription ends, use of the software ends, including restores. For Simple, restoring older data then needs a Simple Restore Only subscription.
Sites that share one FETB or instance entitlement must deploy the same edition.

DLO is licensed separately. The DLO 10.0 Product Use Rights meter it by users, where a user can be "an individual person and/or device".

Maintenance: what you are renewing

For perpetual licences, the renewal is maintenance. The Backup Exec maintenance document, published by Arctera for Backup Exec, System Recovery and DLO, describes Basic Maintenance (regional business hours), Essential Support (24x7) and Verified Support (Essential plus US-based case management). All include bug fixes, patches and Upgrade Assurance, which gives the right to use newer versions but does not add licensed copies.

An older Veritas-era licensing overview says a perpetual licence keeps working if maintenance lapses, but support and version upgrades stop, while a subscription bundles support. Confirm current terms before letting anything lapse.

What this means for GCC customers

Many organisations in the region bought Backup Exec years ago, and whoever placed the order may have left. If that sounds familiar, the first renewal after a change of partner is where errors creep in: the wrong edition, an outdated meter, or quantities copied from an old quote.

Growth is the other common cause. If you added virtual machines, Microsoft 365 or new sites, your FETB or instance count may have moved. Under FETB or instance licensing, exceeding the licensed level for 30 days can stop backups, so measure before you renew. Because lifecycle statements for Backup Exec changed during 2026, ask for the current lifecycle dates for your version in writing with the quotation.

What to send for an accurate quote

To get a Backup Exec renewal quote that matches your entitlement, collect:

Entitlement IDs and your contract or order references. In the console, Installation and Licensing, then License Information, shows installed licences and expiry dates.
Edition and meter: Simple, Bronze, Silver, Gold, V-Ray or Custom, and whether you are licensed per FETB, instance, socket or component.
Licence type: perpetual with maintenance, or subscription, and the maintenance level (Basic, Essential or Verified).
Current usage: protected FETB or instance count from the console, and the number of DLO users.
Installed version and any planned changes: new sites, more virtual machines, Microsoft 365 backup, or an upgrade.

Our licence renewals team checks entitlements, quantities and expiry dates before you sign, our Backup Exec engineers confirm usage and upgrade paths, and the Desktop and Laptop Option page covers DLO. If your backup server is also ageing, read could you rebuild your backup server from scratch?

Frequently asked questions

Is Backup Exec licensed per terabyte or per server?

It depends on the edition. Simple, Bronze, Silver and Gold are licensed per front-end terabyte or per instance. V-Ray is licensed per CPU socket, and Custom licenses individual servers, agents and devices.

What happens if our Backup Exec subscription expires?

Under the Backup Exec 25 Product Use Rights, use of the software ends, including restores of data backed up before expiry. For Simple, restoring that data requires a Simple Restore Only subscription.

Can we still renew Backup Exec and DLO in the UAE?

Yes. Backup Exec and DLO remain available and renewable through a channel appointed by the vendor, and Virtech quotes renewals for customers in the UAE and across the GCC.