Still not getting the VUL thing

[JC_Solvos]

Hello everyone.

Ever since hearing about VUL for the first time, I've been afraid of the first renewal of one of my customers, and that time has come: I've always had difficulties trying to understand the new licensing, the more info I get about them, the more confused I am, and given that my teammates are in the same situation, and even our channel distributor seems to be dodging some of our questions, I believe that I need to post them here in order to get some clarification.

First of all, this is what I thought I've understood about VUL licensing, so please correct me if I'm wrong:
1. The new system licenses "workloads" instead of sockets of virtualization hosts.
2. 1 Windows PC = 1 workload. 500GB of NAS storage = 1 workload. 1VM = 1 workload... It doesn't matter if you have 3 hosts with 10 VMs each, or 30 hosts with 1 VM each, it's the same number of workloads and the license is the same for both cases.
3. Veeam still sells new socket licenses.
3. On July 1st 2022, Veeam will stop selling new socket licenses.
4. On July 1st 2022, Veeam will still allow customers to renew their previously owned socket licenses.
5. On July 1st 2022, Veeam won't allow customers with previously owned socket licenses to buy extra sockets. Incase they don't fully migrate to VUL, they will need to renew their previous sockets + buy VULs for the new workloads.
6. On July 1st 2022, incase I create a new VM running over a previously existing and socket-licensed virtualization host, that VM will still be covered by the socket license, won't need VUL.

But then, I find this email from veeam_team@veeam.com in my inbox that makes me question if I've understood anything:
https://imgur.com/a/z6zaXqA

Given that's in Spanish (I'm Spa), I leave you here the text so you can copy-paste in your favorite translator:
"A partir del 1 de julio de 2022, si se necesitara hacer un backup de VMs VMware e Hyper-V, sería necesario realizar la migración a VUL."

So...
7. If the customer renews his socket license this upcoming January, will the backups suddenly stop working on July 1st?
8. If the customer renews his socket license this upcoming January, will the new VMs or new backups created after July 1st work?

Thanks in advance.

[Gostev]

Hello!

1. Correct.
2. Correct assuming by a Windows PC you meant a server. Because workstations/desktops are cheaper with 3 PCs pack = 1 workload.
3. Correct.
4. Correct.
5. Partially correct. While Socket SKUs will be physically removed from the price list preventing most customers from procuring more, there are always exceptions. For example, we will continue to honor any existing ELAs which allow a customer to expand. Also, NSQs will remain a possibility on a case-by-case basis. However, it would be fair to say all exceptions apply to medium size businesses and above only, in other words those customers who actually have a Veeam sales rep to talk to, as to present their special use case/situation and negotiate.
6. Correct.
7. No. Backup will continue working, and even if they don't renew (since they have a perpetual license).
8. Correct, and even if they don't renew (since they have a perpetual license).

Veeam can't magically turn existing perpetual licenses into a pumpkin on July 1st even if we wanted... although we would never do such thing in the first place, as disabling a *perpetual* license is simply unthinkable.

Thanks!

[JC_Solvos]

Thanks! Crystal clear now.

[jw_ic]

This is a great primer for the VUL's, perhaps this should be put into a FAQ for VUL licenses on the main website.

[fsr]

Interesting. What will happen after July 1st 2022 if you had a socket license with expired support? It will be possible to renew the socket licenses (paying whatever extra cost for been expired), for example, if you need support, updates, add sockets, etc?

[Mildur]

You can extend the maintenance for existing sockets.

But you cannot buy another socket after July 2022. You will need to convert them to VUL, to extend your license for more workloads/hypervisor.

Mixing sockets and VUL will work under specific conditions. But if you backup a virtual environment, you cannot use VUL to backup the vms if a socket license is present. So migrating to VUL is the best way forward when needing to protect additional hypervisor hosts.