How to select a VMFS Recovery license for your needs
This guide provides a concise and user-friendly explanation of license selection terms, terms of use, and various usage cases.
License Lifetime
Our licenses are issued for a lifetime and include one year of free updates. The "compatible version" retains data indefinitely, continuing to work as long as you desire. The "compatible version" refers to a product version released before the purchase date + one year. If an incompatible version is installed over a compatible one, you will receive a notification.
Upgrade Terms and Conditions
We have implemented a non-intrusive update check that can be easily turned off in the options. After the free update period expires, you can apply for an update at 50% off the initial price to access the latest version. There are no automatic subscriptions or hidden fees. It is the responsibility of customers to store compatible versions or choose to update. Please note that Diskinternals does not store previous versions of the software, but we make efforts to maintain a version history and archive of past versions.
License Selection
Refer to the table below to choose a license based on your specific case or usage profile:
Cases with Deleted VMDK Files, Corrupted VMFS, and Other Scenarios
If you don't need to reconstruct the RAID disk, opt for the Standard version. Even for damaged VMFS volumes residing on an undamaged RAID disk, the Standard license suffices, regardless of the number of disks in the array.
RAID Reconstruction
VMFS Recovery licenses primarily differ based on the number of disks in RAID. For arrays with more than 6-10 HDDs, choose the Pro version, and for arrays with more than 10 HDDs, opt for the Ultimate version. Keep in mind that both hardware and software arrays are considered.
Note: Compare the number of disks in the license to the original array, not the current count. For example, to recover data from a 12-disk RAID 6 array where 2 disks were lost, an Ultimate license is needed.
Hot Spare disks are not included in the calculation. For instance, if you had a 6-drive RAID 5 with 2 Hot Spare disks, the Standard version is suitable for this case.
Another crucial consideration: The Standard version does not support RAID 6 and RAID 60 arrays, nor does it support disks using NTFS, ReFS, or VMFS file systems with the Deduplication feature enabled. For RAID 6 or Deduplication support, choose between the Pro or Ultimate versions.
License Movement
To move your license to another physical or virtual PC, run the deinstall process and then install a version compatible with your key on the new PC. Activate it, and you can repeat this process as many times as needed. If the old PC is broken or unavailable, simply install and activate your license on the new system.