Support for EOL NetApp DS14 MK2 is Here

There is support for EOL NetApp DS14 MK2 equipment, disk shelves designed for use with NetApp controllers. Unfortunately, sometimes even NetApp doesn’t know whether or not they offer it.

We recently received a call from a customer who contacted NetApp and arranged for a support contract for the DS14 MK2. Only when they submitted the purchase order, the OEM did an about-face and said this disk shelf was past not only EOL but past EOSL (end of support life) as well. And thus agreements were available.

This is one of the problems that can arise with the OEMs, especially as customers dig deeper into the product catalogue. And it’s more than a minor frustration.

The lack of options on something like a support shelf can put customers between a rock and a hard place. In some cases, recently purchased fabric attached storage (FAS) systems are difficult to pair with older disk shelves—leaving IT managers at a loss for how to preserve their investment and achieve required reliability.

Park Place Technologies expands clients’ flexibility by offering contracts on end-of-life equipment long past when NetApp or other OEMs will. So an FAS with a few years left on its licenses and OEM support can still link with a third party-supported disk shelf (or several), like the NetApp DS14MK2.

Or better yet, the entire set-up can be moved to a third party storage infrastructure maintenance contract! Here’s why that makes the most sense.

Simplicity

Park Place works with clients who pair OEM and third party support, even for interconnected systems. But as these IT leaders get more comfortable with our capabilities, they move more and more of their NetApp hardware maintenance over to us.

It makes sense. With a single provider for most or all of the equipment on which a large enterprise or SMB relies, there is less confusion. When a problem arises, internal staff needn’t conduct an initial troubleshooting process to determine which support vendor to call.

Using Park Place as a one-stop shop also ends the finger-pointing between different maintenance providers, which can be especially problematic when facing complex systems integrated systems for which no one wants to take responsibility. With Park Place, there’s no more politics, just solutions.

Savings

So from an operational perspective, maximizing use of third party maintenance certainly makes sense. Better yet, it delivers significant benefit to the budget.

Even for equipment for which NetApp still offers contracts, Park Place can provide the same or better coverage for 40% to 70% less. On EOSL equipment, this price points puts us squarely in the range of less capable, “bargain basement” providers, so there really is no reason to skimp on service quality to find a price point appropriate for legacy equipment.

Service

Despite the clear advantages of third party maintenance, many prospective clients still wonder if there are sacrifices involved in using Park Place to support EOL equipment, like the NetApp D14 MK2, or newer systems.

The answer is no. In fact, there are distinct improvements in service quality.

For example, every Park Place contract includes our In Touch program, a suite of customer-requested features that make NetApp support more responsive, effective, and personalized: Assistance with hardware, software, and firmware issues. Immediate access to Level 3 support with no escalation procedure. And a local, Level 3 account engineer. These are just three of the most popular enhancements Park Place clients rave about.

So if you still need a NetApp D14 MK2 disk shelf or other EOL NetApp equipment, don’t worry. Our data center hardware maintenance has you covered. And if you have a lot of NetApp equipment on hand, all the more opportunity to benefit from the simplicity, savings, and service you get when working with Park Place.