11.0

11 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2011
Installation of an agent is possible without specifying a license or a license server in the following
cases:
 When installing the software for online backup only. Such backup does not require a license, but
requires a subscription for the Acronis Backup & Recovery Online service.
 When installing Agent for VMware vSphere ESX(i) (p. 8) (both versions). The licenses will be
consumed later, when a backup of the specified virtual machines starts. One Virtual Edition
license will be required for each host where a virtual machine is selected for backup.
Checking licenses
An Acronis agent connects to Acronis License Server every time the agent service starts and then
every 1–5 days, as specified by the agent configuration parameters. If the agent is unable to connect
to the license server, it initiates an alert. The agent keeps working without the license server for 1–60
days (as specified by the configuration parameters). After that it stops working until there has been a
successful license check.
If the agent connects to the license server but does not find the appropriate license, it tries to
acquire another license. If no license is available, the agent stops working until it succeeds in
acquiring the license.
By default, the agent tries to connect to the license server every day and keeps working without a
license server for 30 days.
1.3.1 How many licenses do I need?
Assume that your company network includes a server and five workstations running Windows. All
the machines are backed up by the administrator who prefers setting up and monitoring backups
from a single place. Therefore, you consider licenses for advanced editions. A license cost depends
on the operating system the software is installed in.
To protect all the machines, you need:
 Five licenses for Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 Advanced Workstation
 One license for Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 Advanced Server or Advanced Server SBS Edition,
depending on the operating system your server is running.
1.3.2 Licensing for virtual machines
Acronis offers a special licensing policy for virtual machines.
 An Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 Advanced Server license enables the backing up of a physical
host and four virtual machines.
 An Acronis Backup & Recovery 11 Virtual Edition license enables backing up a physical host and
an unlimited number of hosted virtual machines. You can install the product into the guest
systems, back them up from the host, or combine both methods.
Installation of Agent for VMware vSphere ESX(i) (both versions) is possible without specifying a
license or a license server. When creating a backup plan, one Virtual Edition license will be
required for each host where a virtual machine is selected for backup.