3820 Upgrade Notes - Useful for Customer Clarification on Support
In terms of the EOL information, can you access this:
You will find the Product Change Notification with the details on dates. Please let me know if you have any issues with accessing the document. Here were the dates:
End of life Information
Last Order Date: 05/31/2017
Last Ship Date: 11/30/2017
With regard to how long after the EOL will the 3820 be supported this is helpful from a policy perspective.
http://www.oracle.com/us/support/library/hardware-systems-support-policies-069182.pdf
Let me attempt to address your two questions, namely:
- When is the last day of support for the 3820
- How long will maintenance releases exists for the E-Cz7.3.0 release on the 3820 or will this be the last release.
Frank, please keep me honest with these responses.
Last Day of Support of the 3820
The End of Service Life is they key term and that has not been announced yet. I believe this is typically about 5 years post the end of sale.
E-Cz7.3
INTERNAL LINKS
Error Correction Policy for Acme Packet Legacy and Re-Branded Oracle Communications Products (Doc ID 1901448.1)
Quick Answer: E-Cz7.3 will be the last minor release available. Specials, maintenance and patches will be available till February 2018. These dates come from the Lifetime Support document on page 23 for Enterprise Session Border Controllers.
First, here is the decoder ring on the release nomenclature:
<major>.<minor>.<special><maintenance><patch>
Here are some key dates from here (page 9):
- General Availability on 2/2015.
- Premier Support ends on this in February of 2018.
- Extended Support Ends: Not Available
- Sustaining Support End Date: Indefinite
Bug fixes will be provided on a specific minor or special release within a major stream for 30 months from GA. Bug fixes are delivered within that 30 month window via a single serial stream of both maintenance and patch releases, meaning the release of a new maintenance or patch version for a given minor or special release supersedes all previous maintenance and patch versions of that minor or special release. After the 30 month window has ended, the software must be upgraded to a more recent minor or special release in order to obtain additional bug fixes.
If I am reading this correctly, E-Cz7.3 is the end of the road but special, maintenance, and patches will be available until the 5-year lifetime of the major release (7.0) is up which is February 2018
Here is a helpful resource on Premier Support:
https://www.oracle.com/support/premier/index.html
Here is the cliff notes on the Lifetime Support Elements, namely Premier, Extended, and Sustaining. This is pulled from here.
Premier Support
As an Oracle customer, you can expect the best with Premier Support, our award-winning, next-generation support program. Premier Support provides you with maintenance and support of your Oracle Database, Oracle Fusion Middleware, and Oracle Applications for five years from their general availability date. You benefit from
•Major product and technology releases
•Technical support
•Access to My Oracle Support
•Updates, fixes, security alerts, data fixes, and critical patch updates
•Tax, legal, and regulatory updates
•Upgrade scripts
•Certification with most new third-party products/versions
•Certification with most new Oracle products
Extended Support
Your technology future is assured with Oracle’s Extended Support. Extended Support lets you stay competitive, with the freedom to upgrade on your timetable. If you take advantage of Extended Support, it provides you with an extra three years of support for specific Oracle releases for an additional fee. You benefit from
•Major product and technology releases
•Technical support
•Access to My Oracle Support
•Updates, fixes, security alerts, data fixes, and critical patch updates
•Tax, legal, and regulatory updates
•Upgrade scripts
•Certification with most existing third-party products/versions
•Certification with most existing Oracle products
•Extended Support may not include certification with some new third-party products/versions.
Sustaining Support
Sustaining Support puts you in control of your upgrade strategy. When Premier Support expires, if you choose not to purchase Extended Support, or when Extended Support expires, Sustaining Support will be available for as long as you license your Oracle products. With Sustaining Support, you receive technical support, including access to our online support tools, knowledgebases, and technical support experts. You benefit from:
•Major product and technology releases
•Technical support
•Access to My Oracle Support
•Fixes, updates, and critical patch updates created during the Premier Support stage
•Upgrade scripts created during the Premier Support stage
Sustaining Support does not include
•New updates, fixes, security alerts, data fixes, and critical patch updates
•New tax, legal, and regulatory updates
•New upgrade scripts
•Certification with new third-party products/versions
•Certification with new Oracle products
For more specifics on Premier Support, Extended Support, and Sustaining Support, please refer to Oracle’s “Technical Support Policies.”