Network Protection End-of-Life Policy
Article ID: 151118
Updated On:
Products
Issue/Introduction
What is the End-of-Life Policy for Network Protection products?
Resolution
Introduction
In the course of developing and delivering innovative and functionally richer products that address customer needs, Symantec may from time to time discontinue certain products, platforms and models. Symantec Product End-of-Life Policy for Network Protection Products is intended to provide information to help customers plan the evolution of their environment and make more informed purchase, support and upgrade decisions.
Definitions
Appliance: The Equipment with the OS.
Symantec Network Protection Software Products: Network Protection Products offered by Symantec only in software form.
End of Life (EOL): The last date support is available for the applicable product. This is the last date Symantec will respond to any issues with the product. After this date, all support services for the product are unavailable, and the product becomes obsolete.
End of Maintenance (EOM): The last date defects will be fixed for an OS release. After this date, Symantec will no longer commit to develop, repair, maintain or test the OS.
End of Sale (EOS): The last date the applicable Equipment may be purchased.
Equipment: The physical product, or platform and its physical components.
Long Term Release (LTR): Minor Release of OS that will be supported for a minimum of 3 years from designation as an LTR or a minimum of 2 years after EOM notification, whichever date occurs later.
Standard Release: Minor release of OS that will be supported for a minimum of 1 year after EOM notification.
Operating System (OS): Symantec Network Protection Products operating system.
OS Release Nomenclature:
|
Major Release (x) |
Significant new functionality or major architectural change to the previous version of the OS. |
|
Minor Release (x.y) |
New features added to the OS to enhance capabilities, improve usability and serviceability. |
|
Maintenance Release (x.y.z) |
Primarily meant to fix bugs and OS defects, although limited OS enhancements may be included. |
|
Patch Release (x.y.z.a) |
Resolves one or more specific OS defects, made available to a limited set of customers. |
Policy
This policy applies to Symantec Network Protection Appliances that reach End of Sale date after April 30, 2010 and does not apply to Symantec Network Protection Software Products.
Symantec reserves the right to modify this policy for specific products as business demands justify. This policy and any modifications to this policy including notices and information regarding EOS, including the last date to order new Appliances, renew support contracts and suggested migration path(s) for the affected Appliances will be posted on the Policies section of the Broadcom support web site.
a. Network Protection Apliances are typically supported for at least five years from the Appliance purchase date for customers under active maintenance agreements. The actual EOL date for each Appliance may vary and will be the later of (i) 5 years from the purchase date, if the purchase is made prior to the end of the fiscal quarter in which an EOL notification is issued and (ii) the EOL date, which date shall always be issued by Symantec with two years' advance notice. The five years of support availability for Appliance purchases made after the Symantec fiscal quarter in which the EOL notification was made will be prorated and will relate back to the last day of that fiscal quarter in which the EOL notification was made. In order to achieve full support availability, customers must have continuous support with no gaps in coverage. Commencing on the EOL notification date and during the period until EOL date, Symantec will continue to provide:
(i) technical support;
(ii) spares or replacement parts for Equipment in accordance with the Return Materials Authorization (RMA) process. If an identical appliance or component is not available, Symantec will replace with a similar or better; and
(iii) a supported version of OS that is compatible with the Equipment, subject to (b)(iv) below.
b. OS support will be as follows:
(i) In general, Symantec will support a given Major or Minor Release of OS for a minimum of 180 days from EOM notification, unless the Release is designated as a Standard or Long Term Release.
(ii) In the event Symantec designates a specified Release as a Standard Release, such release will be supported for a minimum of 1 year from EOM notification.
(iii) In the event Symantec designates a specified Release as a Long Term Release, such release will be supported for a minimum of 2 years from EOM notification.
(iv) Customers may be required to upgrade to the latest OS release in order to correct a reported problem.
c. For some software releases (Symantec Network Protection Software Products or OS), the EOM and EOL date will be the same. If the EOM date is not specified on the Policies section of the Broadcom support web site, the EOM date is the same as the EOL date.
d. Customers are advised to move to the most current Maintenance Release (x.y.z) for the given Minor Release (x.y). For purposes of clarification, bug fixes and limited enhancements (if applicable) will be provided on the most current Maintenance Release only during the applicable notice period.
e. The Symantec support services outlined above require a current support contract for the Symantec Network Protection Product. Support contracts that have not been renewed timely or have lapsed after 12 months of the EOS date are not renewable. Renewal of support contracts will generally be available until the last year of support, but will not extend beyond the EOL date. Please contact your Symantec sales representative or Symantec channel partner regarding fees payable during the period between EOS and EOL.
For individual product EOS and EOL statements, see:
End of life and product lifecycle for ProxySG and Advanced Secure Gateway
End-of-Life for Download Management and Reporting
Content Analysis - End-of-Life Documents
End of life and product lifecycle for SSL Visibility Hardware and Software
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