#1 Software for Data Storage, Backup & Business Continuity
General Information
Our products are designed to help you get the most out of your data storage software and to provide you with peace of mind. We know how important good support is, especially when you need help ASAP. That’s why our team of technical engineers is here for you - ready to provide solutions.
Requirements to receive Open-E´s Technical Support
1. Product registration is essential
All Open-E products must be registered before applying for technical support (free or paid).
You can register your product by clicking the link below.
https://www.open-e.com/support/product-registration/
2. Product must be entitled for technical support
Only fully paid Open-E products, within the described time period, are entitled for technical support.
For example:
- Open-E JovianDSS must be registered and activated, and you need a valid support license.
- Open-E DSS V7 is entitled for 1 year free Basic Support, but the product must be first registered and activated.
- Open-E DSS V7 SOHO is not entitled for free support.
3. Only current releases are supported
We support the current release and one release prior to the current full release of all Open-E products. However, in addressing an incident, the Open-E support team may ask you to update the current version of your Open-E product to help you with your support inquiry. Product updates are included for all support products.
EOL (End of Life) products are not entitled for technical support
Please, check if your product is EOL in our product archive:
https://www.open-e.com/support/products-archive/
If you have an EOL product, and you wish to upgrade to latest version, please contact us at pre-sales@open-e.com or purchase directly from https://www.open-e.com/store/
The reason for EOL Open-E products are unable to obtain support lies in the fact that drivers can be outdated for the latest hardware components today. This is why we are unable to provide the latest drivers. Open-E does not create the drivers only the manufacturer does. We just install them for proper functional usage. For more details please refer to our: Open-E’s Product End-of-Life Policy.
4. Software Updates with Active Technical Support Plan Only
Our software can only be updated if you have an active technical support license. If your support plan expires, you will not be able to activate the system after the update installation. You will be prompted to re-activate your product after installing the update to verify your technical support status.
5. Obtaining a support Ticket is a must
Email and Phone support is only available when you have submitted your entry using your User Portal. Next, click on the Technical Support tab to start the process - this will ensure that you have received a support ticket via email to be able to contact an engineer. This provides the best method to the support engineer and the customer to resolve your support inquiry. When contacting support via email and/or phone please provide your name, telephone number(s), email address and the preferred method of communication.
6. Please be aware that your ticket will be automatically closed within two weeks in case we receive no communication from you
Severity levels and response times
Normally Open-E's response time is 1-2 hours after receiving an e-mail or phone ticket.
Open-E support addresses Severity Level 1 as highest priority. The Severity Levels and examples are listed below.
| Severity | Examples of issues | Response time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Standard | Premium | 24/7 Support | Per incident |
||
| Severity 1 |
| 8 h | 8 h | 4 h | 4 h | 4 h |
| Severity 2 |
| Up to 48 h | Up to 24 h* | 8 h | 8 h | N/A |
| Severity 3 |
| Up to 48 h | Up to 48 h | 24 h* | 24 h* | N/A |
*Next business day
Geographical division
| Territory | Covered by | Time | Exclusions |
|---|---|---|---|
| North and South America |
American Support Team | 9AM EST - 5PM PST (East and West Coast Time Zones) |
Weekends and USA public holidays |
|
Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia |
EMEA Support Team | MON - THU: 9:00 - 17:00 FRI: 9:00 - 15:00 (German Time) |
Weekends and German public holidays |
Important notes
1. Other free sources for Open-E Technical Support:
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ knowledgebase): https://forum.open-e.com/faq.php
- Open-E Forum: https://forum.open-e.com/
- Open-E Knowledgebase and articles: https://kb.open-e.com/
- Open-E Blog: https://open-e.com/blog
- How-to Resources: see how-to resources
- Webinars and Videos: see upcoming and past webinars
- Data Sheets: See data sheets
2. Trial versions of Open-E software:
We recommend that you fully test the latest Open-E JovianDSS or DSS V7 Trial to make sure that your system requirements are met and understand the features and options that interact with your successful results. The Trial versions can be downloaded directly from your User or Partner Portal. Trial versions are only given support when an Open-E support engineer is testing or using the Trial version to sustain a critical issue. Trial versions by themselves are not allowed to obtain support.
3. Small updates:
We provide Small Updates for new software drivers that are released and tested in order to support your systems hardware. We can only provide new drivers that are only GPL approved and, in some cases, we cannot provide full support if we do not have the hardware device in our labs to test and verify.
Small Updates are provided to resolve technical issues related to new drivers or other to support the hardware or software to resolve an issue.
Not all updates can be done due to the fact that they have not been tested or are not GPL approved drivers and cannot be provided until then. All certified hardware by Open-E is listed on our website from the following links:
Open-E JovianDSS Certified Servers
Open-E DSS V7 Certified Servers
There are times when updates can take time to test in our QA department, please understand that this can take more than a few days and is difficult to provide an exact date as to the completion of the update, though every effort will be made with the utmost expediency.
4. RSS - Remote Support Services:
Remote Support Services are scheduled with an Open-E Tier 2 support engineer to resolve incidents that are associated with the Open-E software only. All issues that are not related to the Open-E software are not covered by Open-E Support.
5. Hardware Compatibility:
All tested and certified hardware by Open-E is listed on our Hardware Compatibility Lists:
6. Source Code Disclaimer:
Due to the fact that we do not develop certain parts of the source code but is integrated with the Open-E products, we are not in control of the updates or unknown issues that have not yet been encountered due to the fact that it is open source. Though this is very rare, we need to disclose this information. In the event that a technical issue appears with the services based on that code, we may not be able to solve the issue ourselves. Open-E will make every effort to work with the open source developers to find a solution for the customer. Please keep in mind that we cannot guarantee a solution to be resolved with an exact estimated time but know that we historically work with the community to expedite this quickly. In the event that we discover that this is the case for your issue you will receive a notice of the following: "Your ticket has an issue related to the source code of "AAA" we will need additional time".
