These Support Plan Policies cover Brocade products that are supported under a purchased Brocade Support Plan. Any equipment or software for which you have not purchased a Support Plan is covered only by the warranty you received when you purchased the equipment or software. Except for the Severity Definitions and Response Time Targets, which apply to in-warranty support, these Support Plan Policies do not apply to equipment or software for which you have not purchased a Support Plan.

IMPORTANT NOTE: ALL SUPPORT IS PROVIDED ONLY SUBJECT TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE APPLICABLE BROCADE SUPPORT AGREEMENT. These Service Plan Policies are subject to change at the discretion of Brocade. Changed versions of these Support Plan Policies will be posted on this page.

• Support Terms
• Hours of Operation
• Information Required
• Call Flow
  • Severity Definitions
  • Response Time Targets
• End of Life Support

Worldwide Technical Assistance

Brocade Support Plans are supported by a worldwide organization with some 200 locations in 27 countries, closely integrated with the state-of-the-art Technical Assistance Center at Brocade headquarters in San Jose, California.

Onsite Hardware Repair and Replacement

In the unlikely event that your hardware goes down due to a hardware problem, a Brocade-trained technician can be onsite within 4 hours (depending on the level of Support purchased), with replacement parts to restore the affected Brocade equipment functionality as quickly as possible.

Software Updates

Brocade Support Plans include a comprehensive software update program that is available for a fee and includes Bug Fix Releases and Software Maintenance Updates.

24x7 Online Self Help

24x7 Online Self-Help allows end users to submit support requests and check status online, and to download Web-distributed software bug fixes and patches, as well as software maintenance releases and free feature updates. It also makes available online a wide array of information, including the online knowledge base, compatibility matrix, white papers, release notes, technical bulletins, and product documentation.

Flexible, Solution-Oriented Coverage

Brocade Support Plans offer end users a flexible approach to ensuring the availability of mission-critical data and hardware resources. The plan levels allow users to choose the coverage which best suits their specific requirements, from small entry-level businesses to enterprise class support with onsite engineers. Multi-year options are available to make long-term budgeting easier.

Telephone Technical Support

Brocade Support Plans provide direct telephone access to the Brocade Technical Assistance Center. The Center operates on a 24x7 basis and is equipped with Brocade qualified host bus adapters and storage devices from Brocade qualified vendors. Calls are automatically routed to the staff person best qualified to assist with your specific question.

Support Level Objectives

Brocade maintains strict support level objectives for each defined severity level, plus escalation procedures for handling unresolved support requests. Under these procedures, unresolved issues are transferred to technical support management teams, and onward to successively higher levels of technical and operational management, until the problem is resolved.

Out of Warranty Inspection

If a switch goes out of warranty before a Support Plan is purchased, the switch must be inspected and certified as serviceable for a charge. Brocade may inspect the switch within a reasonable time following the date on which Hardware Support begins. If the switch is not in an acceptable condition for Hardware Support, customers may have Brocade restore it for a charge, or may withdraw their request for Hardware Support, provided that customers will be charged for any Hardware Support Services that Brocade has performed at the customers' request prior to withdrawal.

Brocade's Technical Assistance Center is available 24x7 for hardware and software issues. Please check your service plan to verify the level of service and hours of access per your contract.
You should be ready with the following information when contacting Brocade Support, either via phone, e-mail or Web:

• Brocade product serial number, MAC address or switch World Wide Name
• Service contract number or/and customer ID number
• Switch firmware version level
• Detailed problem description
• Product topology and its component connected to the Brocade products in question
• The issue priority level that you believe is applicable
• For Brocade Switches: The telnet command "supportSave/supportShow" output from the suspected switch(es)
• For Other Brocade Products: Any and all Log and error files

a. For Hardware issues
Brocade support will help trouble shoot the reported issue and if it is hardware related. Brocade will dispatch a service technician to the site with the necessary replacement parts in accordance with the terms of the purchased support plan.

b. For Software issues
A Service Request will be generated and the Brocade Support team and will classify the problem's severity level from 1 to 4 as follows:

• Severity Critical: Customer's systems are down or performance is severely impacted due to but not limited to data loss or data corruption. No other work can continue until the issue is resolved. No workaround is yet available.
• Severity High: The product's functions or network operations are impaired or unavailable. The customer can still address other related issues, but a valid workaround is not yet available.
• Severity Medium: A system or product function might have failed, but workflow is not impacted at the systems level. Brocade Support knows about the issue, and a workaround is available.
• Severity Low: The customer acknowledges that the issue is non-critical and considers resolution within the next maintenance or major release adequate. The customer can submit a Request for Enhancement (RFE) to modify existing products or product documentation.

Depending on the specific circumstances, Brocade might incorporate certain problem fixes into the next maintenance release of the software. Problem fixes for Severity Level 2 issues will be incorporated in the next major release of the software/firmware, and documentation corrections will be incorporated into the next documentation revision.

Case Severity	Target Response Time*	Target Escalation to Development*	Target Resolution**
Severity Critical	1 hour	8 business hours	Provide action plan within 24 hours from problem identification
Severity High	4 business hours	2 business days	Solution or workaround within 7 business days from problem identification
Severity Medium	8 business hours	7 business days	Workaround within 15 business days from problem identification
Severity Low	8 business hours	After a technical support engineer validates or reproduces the problem	Brocade will decide within 60 days if the RFE will be incorporated into a future product release

** The times listed in this chart are targets only and are not a guarantee that Brocade will respond or resolve an issue within the target time.

Hourly Rate

Brocade Service and Support's hourly rate for issues handled on a time and materials basis is US$425 per hour plus travel expenses.

End of life announcements for individual Brocade products are posted at http://www.brocade.com/support/end_of_life.jsp. The same Brocade Service Plans that are offered for generally available products may be purchased to cover end of life products. Service and support coverage typically ends five years after the product end of life announcement. Software maintenance and support purchased under a Brocade Service Plan is available for both the current and immediately preceding version of software. Brocade strongly advises customers to install the latest software release as soon as possible.

This is a general policy that may vary from product to product. Please review the end of life announcements on the Brocade Web site for additional details on specific products.