HP member of staff serving at table customers are in the region of to cause an unwelcome stun as they need to revise firmware otherwise apply a service fill. Operational shortly this month, persons downloads, which often locate crucial bugs, hope against hope require either a current warranty otherwise an extended support agreement.
If you own an HP member of staff serving at table, subsist prepared to keep your support agreement up to meeting. Otherwise moreover.
Commencement this month, HP is restricting access to firmware updates and service packs meant for its complete ProLiant member of staff serving at table line, a manufactured goods class with the intention of spans a extensive range of products, from low-cost little custom servers like the ProLiant MicroServer (starting value $359) all the way up to enterprise-class boxes with the intention of cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Previously, with the intention of firmware upgrade was unfilled to someone, in any case of the server's warranty status otherwise whether it was under a support agreement.
The inexperienced certificate was announced by HP’s Mary McCoy, whose title is listed for example associate President, HP Servers – Support expertise Services. Into a blog placement strangely aristocratic “Customers meant for life,” McCoy, a 30-year HP veteran, explained:
This week, HP announced with the intention of operational February 19, 2014, we hope against hope provide firmware updates through the HP Support foundation merely to customers with a authenticate warranty, tension fill Service otherwise support agreement.
This decision reinforces our goal to provide access to the newest HP firmware, which is valuable intellectual property, meant for our customers who assert chosen to boost and watch over their IT reserves. We know this is a coins from how we’ve made custom into the older; however, this aligns with industry preeminent practices and is the true decision meant for our customers and partners.
McCoy explained with the intention of customers with servers still under warranty hope against hope not need to recompense meant for firmware access. And, she added, somewhat defensively, “we are into thumbs down way irritating to force customers into purchasing extended coverage. With the intention of is, and forever hope against hope subsist, a customer’s diversity.”
Generally endeavor customers are already accustomed to purchasing extended support contracts; meant for them, this coins probably won’t assert a serious contact. The inexperienced certificate hope against hope assert its biggest contact on the low ending of HP’s line, which is in style surrounded by little businesses and enthusiasts. It hope against hope as well disapprovingly contact standards of HP member of staff serving at table products on the resale promote and potentially assert a devastating contact on third-party support firms.
The HP ProLiant MicroServer N40L, meant for model (shown here), was unfilled meant for garage sale into 2012 by a great deal discounted prices from online sellers, typically under $300. But this widely used member of staff serving at table, which contains four drive bays into a compact box with the intention of is well under 1 cubic bottom, wouldn’t run Windows member of staff serving at table 2012 R2 (or, meant for with the intention of substance, Windows 8.1) meant for months behind their publish to manufacturing. Windows member of staff serving at table 2012 R2 was released to MSDN and TechNet subscribers into September 2013 and was commonly unfilled into October 2013. But irritating to install with the intention of OS on a ProLiant MicroServer resulted into a chain of errors, with the logic lynching by wader. The merely workaround was to disable the built-in Gigabit Ethernet controller, a serious limitation meant for a member of staff serving at table.
HP released a firmware locate meant for the send out into mid-November, 2013. The ProLiant MicroServer N54L, a shortly version of the N40L with a beefier laptop into the same inclusion, suffered from the same flaw, fixed with a firmware revise by the same moment in time.
But the MicroServer’s hardware warranty is lone time, and the warranty meant for software is merely 90 days behind acquire; under the inexperienced certificate, access to the firmware behind the warranty expires would require the acquire of an HP tension fill, by current prices of concerning $126 and $200, by smallest amount semi the cost of the real McCoy hardware. That’s a beefy value to recompense to locate what did you say? Is arguably a defect into the real McCoy manufactured goods.
Ending users who purchase from resellers possibly will become aware of their warranties condensed with no their know-how. This member of staff serving at table, meant for model, was purchased into noble 2012, but the warranty timer ongoing ticking as the reseller purchased the hardware from HP the before month. It would not assert been eligible meant for the firmware revise with the intention of enabled an OS upgrade scarcely terminated a time shortly if not the title-holder paid meant for an extended service agreement.
Meant for other models, the cost of a tension fill is even top. Meant for midrange ProLiant models, a single year’s extended coverage under the tension fill syllabus can cost well terminated $1,000.
The issues with the MicroServer aren’t isolated examples. A a small amount of years back, HP released an urgent firmware revise meant for more or less of its blade member of staff serving at table models. “Without this crucial locate,” the company understood, the affected models, “after being into service meant for an extended stop of moment in time, may possibly potentially fail to complete the placement process in a few event with the intention of causes a power disruption to occur (such for example power-cycle, cold wader, otherwise power outage). If the failure occurs and the member of staff serving at table cannot complete the wader process, the blade logic board should subsist replaced.”
An additional send out affected more or less ProLiant member of staff serving at table models into 2011. With no a compulsory firmware revise, which HP characterized for example “a crucial locate,” the take advantage of of evident SATA relentlessly drives may possibly cause data shift errors. The advisory warned: “Neglecting to go the compulsory act may possibly leave the member of staff serving at table into an unstable condition, which may possibly potentially consequence into sub-optimal member of staff serving at table performance otherwise data corruption otherwise loss. By disregarding this notification and not performing the recommended motion, the customer accepts the hazard of incurring prospect allied errors.” Although this appears to subsist a defect into HP’s real McCoy software design, the inexperienced certificate would swing the cost of the locate to customers.
HP’s insistence with the intention of the inexperienced certificate “aligns with industry preeminent practices” is inaccurate, by smallest amount meant for member of staff serving at table products aimed by less significant businesses. The company’s archrival, hollow, offers limitless access to BIOS and software updates meant for its complete member of staff serving at table, storage space, and networking line. Several readers assert pointed to Cisco for example a counter-example. It's sincere with the intention of updates meant for Cisco routers and switches require a authenticate service contract. But downloads meant for Cisco servers (the Cisco Unified Computing logic, otherwise UCS, line) require registration but not a service contract. (Thanks to invoice Shields meant for the pointer, via Twitter.)
And for example networking consultant Lindsay tor points unconscious into a hot blog placement, IBM as well requires "entitlement validation" meant for "select software products and updates and meant for engine Code (also well-known for example firmware otherwise microcode)."
The IBM certificate was announced continue summer. Now, visitors to IBM locate Central make certain this statement:
Locate Central engine Code updates are unfilled merely meant for IBM apparatus with the intention of are under warranty otherwise an IBM hardware maintenance service agreement. Code meant for operating systems otherwise other software products is unfilled merely everywhere entitled under the applicable software warranty otherwise IBM software maintenance agreement.
HP’s move looks like a way to bolster margins into a promote segment with the intention of is historically not accustomed to paying meant for extended service. The supplementary likely consequence is with the intention of it hope against hope drive away persons price-sensitive customers.
Tags : HP
没有评论:
发表评论