Commvault licensing is the set of terms and metering rules under which Commvault sells its data protection, cyber recovery and data security products. These are sold as customer-managed software, as software-as-a-service (Commvault Cloud SaaS), as integrated appliances and as cloud-native services such as Clumio. Current product names begin “Commvault Cloud”; the Guide lists the earlier Commvault Complete licences as end of sale.[2] Commvault states that its platform “is available as a license, term-based subscription, integrated appliance, or software-as-a-service”.[1] One document, the Master Terms and Conditions, governs both the on-premises Software and the SaaS Solution. It replaces any earlier end user licence agreement or terms of service a customer may have had.[1] The contracting party is Commvault Systems, Inc., together with its affiliates and subsidiaries.[1]
How much a customer may use is set by the order form and measured by rules in the License Program Guide. Commvault says the Guide explains how it “measures and meters its end-customer licensing requirements”.[2] The documentation tells administrators to consult the Guide and their software provider to understand the licences in their environment, because the product’s own licensing mechanisms only enforce the programs.[3] For the general models, see subscription and consumption licensing and effective license position.
Editions
Commvault groups its portfolio by capability: Backup & Recovery, Auto Recovery (replication and orchestrated failover), Compliance (eDiscovery), Risk Analysis, Threat Scan, Cleanroom, AirGap (Commvault-managed immutable cloud storage), ThreatWise and Cloud Rewind. On-premises storage is sold as Commvault Grid appliances or Grid reference-architecture software.[2] The common capabilities are packaged into three bundles:[2]
| Bundle | Included capabilities | Sold per |
|---|---|---|
| Silver (Operational Protection) | Backup and Recovery | TB or VM |
| Gold (Autonomous Recovery) | Backup and Recovery, Auto Recovery, Threat Scan, Cleanroom | TB or 10 VMs |
| Platinum (Cyber Recovery) | Gold plus Risk Analysis | TB or 10 VMs |
When a bundle is bought, each included feature is granted in the quantity of the bundle SKU. For example, 5 TB of Gold gives 5 TB each of Backup and Recovery, Auto Recovery, Threat Scan and Cleanroom.[2] Catalog: Bundle features are granted in the purchased quantity; SKUs such as the Gold Package per TB and the Platinum Package per 10 VMs.
Every product line in the Guide carries a delivery model (Software or SaaS), a licence metric, prerequisites and a Commvault Value Unit (CVU) total. CVUs are a points system for comparing licences and evaluating conversions. Commvault says they “have no bearing on technical functionality and are simply advisory in nature”.[2] Commvault does not publish list prices.
Metrics
| Commvault unit | Catalog row | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Ingested (front-end) terabyte | Front-End Terabyte | Backup & Recovery, bundles and add-ons for non-virtual workloads; SaaS databases and files[2] |
| Per 10 virtual machines | Virtual Operating Instance | Virtual environments, software and SaaS[2] |
| Per capped operating instance | Operating Instance | Non-virtual Backup & Recovery (500 GB cap)[2] |
| Socket | Socket | Legacy virtual protection per hypervisor socket[2] |
| Per user | Mail and Cloud User, Endpoint User, AD user, DevOps user | Mail, Microsoft 365, Salesforce, endpoints, Active Directory, DevOps[2] |
| Per heartbeat | Heartbeat | Active Directory, as an alternative to per-user counting[2] |
| Per node; per provisioned or stored TB | Node, Provisioned TB, Stored TB | Grid, HyperScale 1.5, AirGap[2] |
| Credits | Clumio credit | Clumio, by rate card[8] |
In capacity reporting, a terabyte is 10244 bytes of front-end data retained in backup, archive, snapshot and replication jobs.[5] Counting detail for the software metrics is in Commvault software capacity and workload licensing. The SaaS metrics are covered in Commvault Cloud SaaS and Clumio licensing.
Counting / floors
The CommCell is the licence container. A CommServe server manages each CommCell and normally acts as its licensing hub, so licences are controlled per CommCell. For SaaS, the tenant plays the same role.[2] A licensing server can pool several CommCells, but the pooled licences must still follow the mixing rules for a single CommCell.[2] The most important mixing rule is this: once a CommCell has per-VM or socket licences, every virtual machine in it must be licensed that way, and none can be counted by terabyte.[2] Catalog: The CommCell or SaaS tenant is the licence container; Per-VM or socket licensing excludes TB counting of any VM in the CommCell.
Current and peak usage. The License Summary Report shows current usage. The Subclient Peak Usage Report shows the total protected over a month, including clients that were removed later in the month.[4] Service providers must bill from the peak figure.[9] Commvault Cloud SaaS defines total usage as the cumulative count of unique entities protected “in any capacity and for any duration” during the billing period.[7] Catalog: Subclient peak usage includes entities removed during the month; SaaS total usage counts every unique entity protected in the period.
Floors. The Guide sets no general minimum quantity. Instead, its minimums are built into the units: VM licences are sold in packs of ten, operating instances are capped at 500 GB each, and a HyperScale or Grid storage pool must be licensed in full.[2]
Enforcement. Each CommCell receives a unique licence key. Most products are hard enforced, typically at 110% of the purchased total, with progressive warnings and then 30 days of restricted functionality. Some, such as per-mailbox backup, are only soft enforced. Where usage is not hard enforced, the customer is responsible for compliance and may face periodic review and reconciliation under the Master Terms.[2] In SaaS, a tenant whose usage exceeds 100% enters a 60-day grace period, after which backups stop.[6] Catalog: Hard-enforced licences restrict at about 110% of purchase; Customer is responsible where usage is not hard enforced; SaaS overage triggers a 60-day grace period before backups stop.
Virtualization & partitioning
Commvault counts virtual machines rather than hypervisor cores. A VM counts as a Virtual Operating Instance only if Commvault can detect that it runs on a supported hypervisor or container platform. Unix partitions such as LPARs and LDOMs, and PaaS databases such as Amazon RDS, count as non-virtual.[2] Per-socket licensing, which counts CPU sockets on hypervisor hosts, is a legacy option. It cannot coexist with per-VM licensing in the same CommCell.[2] Clusters, Kubernetes and proxy-based NAS backups have their own counting rules. These are covered in the software article. See also virtualization and partitioning.
Cloud / BYOL
Commvault software can run in public clouds under the customer’s own licence. Commvault publishes “Commvault Cloud on Windows/Linux BYOL” images that deploy the all-in-one software on a cloud instance, for example from AWS Marketplace; equivalent procedures exist for Azure and Google Cloud.[10] Commvault Cloud SaaS is a separate subscription. Its fees exclude any replication or egress charges from the cloud provider, which the customer pays.[1] Clumio, a backup service for AWS and Google Cloud, is bought through AWS Marketplace or invoiced directly. It is metered in credits against a rate card, either prepaid or pay-as-you-go.[8]
Programs
- Subscription and perpetual with maintenance. Customer-managed software is sold either way. SaaS products are subscription only, unless they are sold through a cloud marketplace.[2] Unless the order form designates a perpetual licence, the Solution Term renews for an equal term at then-current rates, unless either party gives notice 60 days before renewal.[1]
- Service Provider program. Service providers are not end users and may not buy resale-packaged licences for commercial hosting. Every Commvault part number shows whether it is for resale to end customers or for the service provider program.[2]
- 60-day evaluation and 30-day Trial. The software includes a 60-day evaluation that may be used for test and development. The Master Terms separately allow a 30-day non-production Trial.[2][1]
- Transition program. Licences from before July 2018 (capacity licence agreements, Solution Sets, Agents & Options, appliance and IntelliSnap for NetApp licences) can be converted to the current programs. See Commvault Grid, HyperScale and legacy licence conversions.
Contract terms and audits
The Master Terms grant software rights “solely for its internal data center operations”. They require customers to keep the reporting features of capacity-based Software active and to pay for all excess usage.[1] Commvault may audit on 45 days’ notice, no more than once every 12 months. Non-compliance must be remedied within 30 days.[1] Licensed capacity and users do not extend to entities the customer acquires.[1] See Commvault Master Terms, audits and compliance and, for the general discipline, software license audit and true-up.
Out of scope
- Prices. Commvault publishes relative CVU values, not prices; partners and Commvault quote prices.
- Signed enterprise agreements, public-sector contract vehicles and marketplace private offers, which can override the web terms.
- The Service Provider program terms, which are not public.
- Clumio’s Main Service Agreement and AWS Marketplace listing terms, and ThreatWise and Cloud Rewind service terms.
- Commvault hardware (Grid appliances) as hardware; only the software entitlements are covered.