NetBackup licensing covers the terms under which Cohesity licenses NetBackup, the enterprise backup software it took over with the Veritas enterprise data protection business in December 2024. The governing document is the Product Specific Terms for NetBackup, which supplements the Cohesity Software Terms of Use and prevails where the two conflict.[1] It applies to “NetBackup (all versions, as applicable)”. It also says that Software “may be licensed to You on a Capacity Edition basis (i.e., based on a Front End Terabytes or Front End Terabytes Plus basis, or CPU basis) or on a Traditional-license basis, in each case on a perpetual or subscription term-license basis.”[1]
The NetBackup documentation describes three licensing models. Capacity licensing counts the data protected. Traditional licensing counts protected clients, servers and options. NetBackup Enterprise Virtual Client (NEVC) counts the CPU sockets of hypervisors.[3] A Capacity Edition licence “cannot be combined with a Traditional license in the same NetBackup Domain”. The same applies to NEVC.[1] A NetBackup Domain is a single backup server, or a cluster of backup servers managed by one server.[1] Catalog: Capacity Edition and Traditional licences cannot share a NetBackup Domain.
Editions
The Capacity Editions are bundles of NetBackup components licensed together under one capacity meter. “Notwithstanding any other provision”, every component in an edition is metered on the edition’s meter.[1]
| Edition | Meter | Term | Main limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform Base – Complete Edition | FETB | Perpetual or subscription | Server, Enterprise Server, Standard and Enterprise Client, Application and Database License Pack, tape, NDMP, Shared Storage, Vault, SAP Agent, Data Protection Optimization, Replication Director, Self Service; Resiliency Platform up to the licensed FETB |
| Complete Edition with Flexible Licensing | FETB Plus | Perpetual or subscription | Same components; FETB Plus from NetBackup 8.1.2 |
| NetBackup Enterprise | FETB or FETB Plus | Subscription only | Same components as Complete Edition |
| Platform Base – NDMP Edition | FETB | Perpetual or subscription | NDMP policy type only |
| NetBackup Data Mover | FETB | Perpetual or subscription | NDMP, DNAS or Universal Share policy types only |
| Platform Base – Limited Edition | FETB | Perpetual or subscription | Windows, Linux and Solaris x86; up to 250 FETB across all domains |
| Platform Base – Windows and Linux Edition | FETB | Perpetual or subscription | Windows, Linux and Solaris x86 systems |
| Platform Base – Big Data Workload Edition | FETB | Perpetual | Big data agents with that licence entitlement |
| Enterprise Virtual Client | CPU | Perpetual or subscription | VMware vSphere, Hyper-V, Acropolis, AzureStack only |
| NetBackup Restore Only | Not stated | Subscription | Store and restore existing backups only; no new backups |
Sources for the table: Product Specific Terms for NetBackup s.1.1 to 1.11.[1]
Several Capacity Editions can be combined in one NetBackup Domain: Complete, Complete with Flexible Licensing, NDMP, Big Data, Enterprise and Data Mover. The Limited Edition can only be used in a domain that contains its own components and the Limited Edition Application and Database Add-on. That add-on is licensed per installed Instance of the agent or plugin.[1] NetBackup Restore Only first appears in the June 2026 terms. It permits use “to store and/or restore the customer’s Restorable backups existing on the date of commencement” of the subscription, provided those backups were validly licensed.[1][2]
NetBackup capacity can also be bought through the Cohesity Data Cloud bundles. Each TB of CDC Core or Enterprise entitles the customer to 1 TB of data protection with either DataProtect or NetBackup, on a back-end, capacity-limited basis.[12]
Metrics
- Front End Terabyte (FETB). The June 2026 terms define it as data “for which the Software is used or is capable of being used to provide backup functionality (including, for clarity, storing and restoring), corresponding to the largest Restorable aggregate full (or synthetic full) backup of all such data assuming fully Restored.”[1] The November 2025 version measured the largest full backup “as actually measured by the Software”.[2]
- Front End Terabyte Plus. Workload-weighted FETB: 1 FETB Plus covers 1 FETB of physical data, or 1.5 FETB of virtual or third-party cloud data.[1]
- NetBackup Enterprise Virtual Client CPU. The number of CPUs in the virtual environment being protected.[1]
- Traditional meters: Tiered Server, Per Client and Tiered Client, Tape Drive, Per Tiered NAS Device, Per Shared Drive and Per Master Server. Data Protection Optimization Option, Replication Director and Self-Service are counted per Front End Terabyte even under Traditional licensing.[1]
Counting / floors
Front End Terabytes
Partial terabytes round up to the next whole terabyte, and one terabyte is 1,024 GB.[1] Usage is measured by the nbdeployutil utility, which the documentation now calls NetBackup Deployment Insights. It uses either “accurate licensing” data or the image headers in the NetBackup catalog. Where several backup copies exist, only the first copy counts, and the final total is the sum of FETB for each client or client and policy combination.[4] The capacity report covers the last 90 days “per the license agreement”. It includes only full and user-directed backups, including backups that have since expired.[3] The June 2026 terms add that “duplicate copies of backups or expired/deleted data no longer capable of being Restored are not considered Restorable”.[1] Catalog: FETB rounds up per terabyte of 1,024 GB; FETB counts Restorable data, not duplicate copies.
The documentation gives practical advice on reconciling a report. The customer can accept the spreadsheet as generated, or change it and note the reason. Because charges are per terabyte, “it may not be beneficial to dispute charges for a few gigabytes”.[10]
FETB Plus
The 1.5x ratio for virtual and cloud workloads depends on two conditions. Usage data must be sent every month, either through Cohesity NetInsights Console or by another method Cohesity approves. The customer must also have upgraded within 90 days of the initial purchase. Otherwise “one (1) FETB Plus unit of Software may be used to protect one (1) FETB of data, regardless of the workload.”[1] The terms give an example: 100 FETB Plus may protect 50 FETB of physical data and 75 FETB of virtual data. Third-party cloud workloads qualify only on x86-64 platforms.[1] Catalog: FETB Plus ratios depend on usage data transmission.
Features that license a whole domain
Some features change the count. NetBackup SaaS Protection Integration, Malware Scanner, Immutability for Microsoft Azure and Advanced DB-PaaS Support each require, for every NetBackup Domain where they are used, a Capacity Edition quantity equal to the total FETB or FETB Plus managed in that domain. Deduplication Direct for Oracle and the Isolated Recovery Environment for bring-your-own storage need 1 FETB for each FETB backed up with the feature. Advanced Cloud DR counts the FETB to be recovered at all cloud disaster recovery sites.[1] Catalog: Domain-wide FETB for Malware Scanner and other features.
Traditional licences
Under Traditional licensing, server and client tiers are “determined by the total number of physical CPUs” installed.[1] The terms also set these rules:[1]
- A Master or Media Server licence includes a client licence for NetBackup application and operating system files only. Protecting other data on that server needs a separate client licence.
- One NetBackup Enterprise Client or Application and Database Pack licence per tiered server or client covers several instances on that machine.
- NetBackup Library Based Tape Drive covers robotic physical drives only. Stand-alone drives attached directly to a server cost nothing. Virtual tape libraries need NetBackup Data Protection Optimization Option licences.
- Each Oracle RAC system needs a Master/Media Server or Client licence plus an Oracle Database Agent licence.
- On IBM zSeries, each LPAR is licensed as a separate machine.
- Starter Packs are limited to one per NetBackup Domain. The 5, 20 and 40 client packs carry fixed counts of clients, servers, drives and database agents.
Catalog: Traditional licences: one per tiered server, client or drive.
Limited Edition ceiling
Platform Base Limited Edition may protect NetBackup environments “no larger than 250 Front End Terabytes”, and the ceiling “includes Front End Terabytes across all NetBackup domains”.[1] Catalog: Limited Edition is capped at 250 FETB across all domains.
Virtualization & partitioning
NEVC is the per-socket model for virtual estates. It may be used only to protect VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, Acropolis Hypervisor and AzureStack environments, and “Unix environments cannot be licensed with NEVC”. NEVC customers must buy NetBackup Self Service separately.[1] The documentation explains how nbdeployutil counts sockets. A VM backed up from a clustered host counts the sockets of every host in the cluster. A VM that migrated between hosts counts the sockets of both hosts if both backups fall within the last 90 days. Multi-primary reporting is not supported for NEVC.[5] Catalog: NEVC covers listed hypervisors only, not Unix; NEVC counts every host in a cluster and both hosts after migration.
Under FETB Plus, a “Virtual” workload is any workload on VMware, Hyper-V, Nutanix AHV, Red Hat Virtualization, Azure Stack or OpenStack, or in a Docker or other OCI-compliant container, whatever the policy type or deployment domain.[1]
Cold disaster recovery
With a current maintenance and support contract, NetBackup may be installed on cold DR equipment. It may be used there for up to 30 Testing Days of failover testing in any 12 months, concurrently with production. After a Disaster it may run in production for up to 90 consecutive days, but not at the same time as normal production. The DR copy must be the same version as production, and the right ends if support lapses.[1] A Testing Day is any day on which testing takes place, so three hours on Monday and two on Friday count as two days.[1] Catalog: NetBackup Cold Disaster Recovery license.
Cloud / BYOL
NetBackup may run in the Cloud Service Provider environments for which Cohesity has pre-configured it, and in container orchestrator environments using NetBackup Cloud Scale Technology. Use in those environments “accumulates” with on-premises use against the licences purchased. The customer must get the cloud provider to cooperate with any Cohesity audit, or provide the provider’s usage reports.[1] Cloud Scale Technology in Kubernetes requires Capacity Edition FETB or FETB Plus equal to the data backed up with it.[1] Catalog: Cloud and container use accumulates with on-premises use.
Licence files and usage reporting
NetBackup licences are .slf files. A file records which report applies (Capacity or Traditional), whether it is an evaluation, subscription or perpetual file, and the service contract and customer account.[7] Administrators add licences under Settings > License management in the web UI, either from the Cohesity Entitlement Management System (VEMS) or from a downloaded .slf file.[9] The bpminlicense command adds, validates, lists and deletes licences in the repository on the primary server.[8] Its example output shows how an entitlement is described, for instance “NETBACKUP PLATFORM BASE COMPLETE ED WITH FLEXIBLE LICENSING XPLAT 1 FRONT END TB PLUS ONPREMISE STANDARD SUBSCRIPTION”.[8] A licence file can be applied more than once. The customer is still “legally bound to install and use only the entitled capacity FETB or the number of NetBackup servers, clients, agents, and options” purchased.[7] When an evaluation licence expires, NetBackup services shut down, but configuration and catalog data are kept.[7] Catalog: NetBackup licences are .slf files from VEMS.
NetBackup 8.1.2 and later collect usage automatically for a usage reporting widget in the web UI. Usage also feeds Cohesity Usage Insights in the NetInsights Console, which compares backup sizes with capacity, traditional and NEVC entitlements.[6] The licence terms allow Cohesity to collect deployment and usage data, including the Front End Terabyte count, client counts, policy configurations and job records. Customers can configure their environment so that this data is not uploaded automatically.[1]
Subscription expiry
In the June 2026 terms, a customer whose subscription has expired may use NetBackup without a current licence for “three (3) months following expiration of the subscription”, solely to restore data backed up before expiry and without support.[1] The 26 November 2025 terms allowed twelve months.[2] The same version added NetBackup Restore Only, a subscription limited to storing and restoring backups that already existed when it began. Catalog: NetBackup restore window after subscription expiry cut to three months.
Appliances and lifecycle
NetBackup Appliance Software has its own terms. Capacity is licensed in Tebibytes, in whole units rounded down, so 700 TB becomes 636 units. A perpetual licence is tied to the Node on which it was pre-loaded and ends with that Node. A subscription can move between Nodes, but only one after another, not at the same time.[11] Catalog: NetBackup Appliance Software: TiB, rounding down, node-bound perpetual.
NetBackup versions still follow the Veritas Product Life Cycle Policy, which Cohesity publishes. The Primary Phase typically lasts 3 to 4 years from general availability, followed by an Extended Phase of 1 to 2 years and a Sustaining Phase of 1 to 6 years, both at extra cost.[13]
Out of scope
This article does not cover NetBackup IT Analytics, Resiliency Platform, Flex Scale or NetBackup SaaS Protection, each of which has its own product-specific terms. FortKnox for NetBackup is covered in Cohesity DataProtect, SmartFiles and SaaS licensing, and the general contract, audit and renewal rules in Cohesity general terms, audit and renewals. Backup Exec is not a Cohesity product; see Arctera.