5 2 0:Licensing
Overview
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SEP provides a flexible approach to licensing of hybrid SEP sesam backup solutions that simplifies procurement and meets the specific needs of different organizations.
SEP sesam licenses fall into one of the following broad categories:
- Unit-based licensing
SEP's unit-based licensing model begins with the main Backup Server (SEP sesam Server) as the first unit. All additional units are separated in different tiers for different workloads.
The concept behind this model is to license only what the customer actually uses.
- Capacity-based licensing
SEP also offers capacity-based licensing models that provide convenient and flexible licensing for ever-changing environments.
SEP sesam's volume licensing model is primarily aimed at large and dynamic security environments where numerous different database or groupware applications are deployed. Rental licenses are based on volume and provide maximum flexibility with minimal administration effort and no additional cost. This license is ideal for large installations, without depreciation expense.
With this model, customers have access to most features and functionality and the only relevant factor is the amount of data backed up. Customers are able to customize their backup solutions to their specific financial blueprint and infrastructure.
SEP licensing models
For more information on SEP licensing models and available licenses, contact SEP sesam sales.
SEP volume perpetual licensing
The SEP volume licensing model is based on front-side data volume size. In addition, further differentiation is made according to the type and complexity of the databases used (Level 2 and/or Level 3). Licenses are perpetual and maintenance is included for the first 12 months. After the subscription expires, SEP sesam savesets can still be used for restores, but backing up data is no longer possible.
Calculating front-side capacity
All SEP sesam capacity-based licenses are calculated by how much original, source-side data is protected (front-side TB). This equates roughly to the sum of all files, databases and hypervisor snapshots of the clients to be backed up. In practice, this means that the maximum volume of all backup jobs (normally the largest FULL backup) is calculated, provided it is stored on any SEP sesam media (retention policy). The original data is calculated before deduplication or compression.
SEP subscription licensing
SEP sesam subscriptions are purchased per year, based on the data volume per front-side terabyte and depend on the utilization of the SEP database agents. Maintenance is included in each subscription timeframe. Subscriptions are licensed for a period of 12 months and include full maintenance.
After the subscription expires, SEP sesam savesets can still be used for restores, but backing up data is no longer possible.
SEP unit licensing
The SEP sesam unit model provides unit-based licenses tailored to a customer's individual needs. Licensing is modular and scalable, expansions of any license components (Tier1, Tier 2, Tier 3, Users and Data Volume) can be made at any time. Maintenance is included within the first 12 months.
To calculate the units you can use our online unit-calculator: SEP sesam unit calculator.
SEP maintenance
All SEP sesam Backup Server licenses for volume models, classic models and SAP Business One Edition include 12 months maintenance. SEP maintenance consists of software updates (incl. latest features, patches and bug fixes) or renewal services and technical support. Extensions (at initial purchase or later) are always adopted to the runtime of an existing SEP sesam Backup Server environment and include a maximum maintenance validity of 12 months. Excluded are consulting services, such as analysis of the data to be backed up, infrastructure analysis, determination of the target state, creation of a solution concept, and installation services.
VM Essential Edition
The SEP sesam VM Essential Edition is licensed according to the number of installed sockets. A maximum of 6 sockets and up to 50 virtual machines can be used in one license environment. VM Essential (Plus) Edition VMware and Essential (Plus) Edition Hyper-V can be mixed. Note that it is not possible to combine VM Essential and VM Essential Plus editions.
It is not possible to extend functionality, but it is possible to switch to the volume licensing model.
Managed Service Provider
The SEP MSP licensing model is suitable for managed service providers and data center operators who use SEP sesam to offer Backup as a Service (BaaS) to their customers. Based on long-term contracts with different service levels, you get a complete full-service package.
Licensing is based on units divided into 3 different tiers (Standard, Enterprise or Enterprise Plus) or based on the TB data volume (front-side capacity), which is divided into service classes for database usage (Level 2 and Level 3). It is not possible to mix these two license models.
Offers, order confirmations and invoices are issued on a monthly basis.
The SEP sesam MSP maintenance consists of the software upgrade, the update service and the SEP sesam 2nd and 3rd level support. Excluded are consulting services, such as analysis of the data to be backed up, analysis of the infrastructure, determination of the target state, creation of a solution concept, and installation service. During the maintenance period, customers can download patches and bug fixes as well as the latest SEP sesam versions.
After the first qualified error analysis, SEP is available to the MSP for 2nd and 3rd level support via the SEP hotline (+49 (0) 8024 464 464 4) from Monday to Sunday (available 24 hours a day). For details on current support information, contact SEP sesam sales: sales@sep.de.
Also available are SEP CAPS (SEP Cloud App Protection Service) licenses for Cloud-2-Cloud backup and restore of SaaS applications such as Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Google Workspace, and Salesforce.
Data volume of backed up items is limited to 1 TB per user, but can be split among all users as desired. There is no charge for uploading/downloading data and inactive users (excluded from the backup) are not charged.
SEP Community Edition
SEP sesam now offers a free community edition (CE) license for home use and test environments (a non-commercial use license). After registration an email with the community edition license will be sent to you. The CE license works with all SEP sesam standard products from our download center.
With the CE license you can use the following components:
Backup Data:
- no limits for the frontside data
Backup Options:
- 5x backup clients
- 1x RDS
- 3x Streams
- 1x NDMP
- 1x NetApp
- 1x of each supported hypervisors (except Nutanix AHV) incl. 5 VMs per hypervisor
- 1x L2 database (PostgreSQL, MSSQL, MySQL)
- 1x L2 application (Groupwise, Kopano, OpenLDAP, IMAP)
- 5x mailuser
Backend Infrastructure:
- 3 TB storagepool
- 1 TB Si3 deduplication (with replication and source side deduplication)
License administration
Requirements
To create an application-specific license, you need the following information about the SEP sesam backup server:
- Host name
- IP address
- Delivery note number
- Hardware platform (i386, x86, PPC, ia64, ...)
The SEP sesam Server name and IP address can be found in the SEP sesam Web UI or GUI in the menu bar -> Help -> License Information.
Information about the delivery note number and the hardware platform can be retrieved on the Linux console with the command:
uname -i
or on the Windows command line with the command:
set
Send this information to sales@sep.de. If you have any questions during the 30-day installation support period, please contact SEP sesam sales.
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Note |
| After installing SEP sesam, all features are available without restriction for 30 days. Seven days before the temporary license expires you will be reminded about the upcoming license renewal. After the 30-day period has expired, the backup functions of the software are disabled. However, restores up to this point are still possible. |
Entering a license
Licenses are usually sent as an attachment by email. The attachment contains the license file, which you must enter on the SEP sesam Server.
- extract the file sm_lic.zip on the target machine
- copy the file
sm_lic.inito<SESAM_ROOT>/var/ini
To determine the correct hostname and IP address for your SEP sesam license, find this information using one of the following options:
- SEP sesam Web UI: in the menu bar, click Help icon -> License Information.
- SEP sesam GUI: in the menu bar, click Help -> License Information, or use the keyboard shortcut ALT + L.
- UNIX command line:
#> source <SESAM_ROOT>/var/ini/sesam2000.profile #> sm_info c
- Windows command line:
> <SESAM_ROOT>\var\ini\sm_prof > sm_info c
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Note |
| Before entering a new license, make a backup copy of your existing license. If there are any problems with the new license, you can always restore your working state with the original license. |
Changing an existing license
If the IP address or server name of the backup server is changed, you have to transfer a SEP sesam Server license. This includes adapting the existing server license to match the changed server name and/or the new IP address.
Send the old and new license information to SEP AG (by email to sales@sep.de) to ensure that there were no errors during the transfer and to notify the contact person.
The transferred license is sent by email within the warranty response time. New versions of the existing license and service documentation are created and the customer center is updated.
License transfer is free of charge for customers with an existing SEP upgrade contract.
License and service documentation
In addition to the license file, which is sent in digital form (usually by email), the customer also receives license certificates for the purchased modules and an upgrade/support card (if they have opted for an upgrade or support contract).
The documentation contains a summary of all relevant information (IP address, server name, license details, runtime and response times) and is sent by regular mail or as a PDF document by email.
See also
Quick Start – SEP sesam Release Versions