What is the difference between the old and new licensing model in CodeTwo Backup

Problem:

You’re about to update CodeTwo Backup to version 2.2.x and you are not sure what the difference is between the old and the new licensing model.

Solution:

Starting with version 2.2.x, CodeTwo Backup introduces the per-user licensing model. When compared to the previous approach, the new one is considered as more favorable for the users, especially in terms of the public folders and SharePoint data backups. In the new licensing model, if all users in your organization are assigned CodeTwo Backup license (i.e. you are backing up their mailboxes), you don't need any additional licenses to back up public folders or SharePoint sites, as one license covers all resources. In comparison, the old licensing model required separate licenses for backing up public folders or SharePoint sites and the number of needed licenses depended on the size of the data you were backing up (the more data was backed up, the more licenses you needed). In the new licensing model, on the other hand, the number of licenses has to be the same as the number of users who can modify the contents of the object being backed up, regardless of its size. 

More detailed information regarding the new licensing model is available in the user's manual of CodeTwo Backup.

Follow the links below to learn about:

• the major differences between the old and new licensing model used in CodeTwo Backup
• the possible impact on your backup jobs and licensing after updating CodeTwo Backup to version 2.2.x
• how to deal with the problem where you end up with insufficient number of licenses after the update.

Major differences between the old and new licensing model

The main differences between the two licensing models are shown in the table below:

^* Only one license is consumed per one user. This means that if in an organization of 50 users all these users are assigned CodeTwo Backup license, you can back up all data, i.e. mailboxes, public folders, SharePoint data and OneDrive for Business sites. On the other hand, if only 40 of these users are licensed but all 50 users have access to (can modify the contents of) a specific SharePoint site, you need 10 additional licenses to be able to back up that site.

** When backing up both mailbox and OneDrive site of the same user, you only need to assign one CodeTwo Backup license to that user.

Possible impact on your backup jobs and licensing after updating CodeTwo Backup to version 2.2.x

After updating the program to version 2.2.x, all your licenses are shown as unassigned. To reassign them to the users whose mailboxes you have been backing up, simply start your backup jobs or wait for the backup jobs to start automatically (if you have set up the scheduling functionality).

Below are three scenarios that show the most possible outcomes regarding your licenses after updating CodeTwo Backup to version 2.2.x:

1. None of your backup jobs will be affected
2. You will end up with additional licenses
3. You will not have enough licenses to continue your backup jobs

Scenario 1

You own 50 licenses of CodeTwo Backup that are used to back up 50 user mailboxes. This means that moving to a new licensing model will have no effect on your running backup jobs. Once you start the existing backup jobs, the licenses will be automatically assigned to appropriate users. Additionally, you can back up all shared resources (such as public folders) without increasing your license count.

Scenario 2

You own 100 licenses of CodeTwo Backup that are used to back up:

• 75 user mailboxes (75 licenses)
• 10 GB of public folders data (5 licenses) 
• 200 GB of SharePoint data (20 licenses).

In this scenario, the contents of public folders and SharePoint sites can be accessed and modified by 75 users (or less) that are already licensed.

After updating the program to version 2.2.x, you will notice that the program consumes only 75 licenses once all your backup jobs are started. This leaves you with 25 free licenses that can be used, for example, to back up additional 25 user mailboxes. However, if more than 75 licensed users have the create, edit or delete access permissions to public folders or SharePoint sites that are being backed up, the program will assign those extra licenses to any additional users (up to a maximum of 25 users).

Scenario 3

You own 50 licenses of CodeTwo Backup that are used to back up 500 GB of SharePoint data. The SharePoint sites that you are backing up can be accessed and modified by 70 users in your organization. 

After updating the program to version 2.2.x, once you start your backup job(s) you will get the following notification:

No more licenses available for job '<job name>'

and the backup job will not start. This happens because more users are associated with these SharePoint sites than you have licenses – you need 20 more licenses (you can click the notification on the Bad news card to see all users associated with the SharePoint sites you want to back up).

This scenario is most likely to occur if you have been backing up solely public folders or SharePoint data with CodeTwo Backup version prior to 2.2.x. For more information about what you can do to continue backing up your data, read the section below. 

Dealing with the problem of insufficient number of licenses

If you have not installed version 2.2.x of CodeTwo Backup yet, but you know or suspect that you will not have enough licenses to continue running your backup jobs, you can:

• continue using your current version of CodeTwo Backup;
• check if you can change the access permissions to read-only to some public folders or SharePoint sites for as many users as many licenses you are missing (read more below) and then perform the update. Only those users who can create, edit and delete the contents of public folders or SharePoint sites are counted by the licensing module of the program. 

If you have already updated CodeTwo Backup to version 2.2.x and you receive the

No more licenses available for job '<job name>'

notification, you can:

• downgrade CodeTwo Backup to the previous version of the program and continue backing up your data under the old licensing model (contact our Support to guide you through the downgrade process); 
• click the No more licenses available for job '<job name>' link on the Bad news card for the backup job that failed to start (or complete). Check how many licenses you are missing, and which objects failed to be backed up. Next, if possible, change the access permissions to public folders or SharePoint sites you are backing up for the users listed in the Bad news notification window so that none of these users can modify (create, edit or delete) the content of these folders or sites. 

Follow the links below to learn how to:

• change permissions to public folders
• change permissions levels to sites in SharePoint Online
• change permissions to sites in on-premises SharePoint

If none of the above solutions work out for you, contact our Support for further help.