Understand the Core Lifecycle

Describes the HPE Ezmeral Data Fabric core lifecycle and defines the lifecycle stages, which are Active, In Maintenance, and End of Maintenance.

Core Lifecycle Stages

Hewlett Packard Enterprise periodically releases new core software. Each core release is supported for an amount of time that can vary depending on the new releases that follow it. When new core versions are released, older core versions are deprecated or discontinued. Each core version therefore has its own lifecycle. As shown in the diagram, a core release can transition through three lifecycle stages:

Active
In Maintenance (18 months)
End of Maintenance

Typically, within six months after a new release, Hewlett Packard Enterprise issues an advisory to indicate the end of maintenance for older versions of core. Eighteen months after the advisory is issued, the In-Maintenance core version reaches the End-of-Maintenance stage and is discontinued.

To view the current lifecycle status for every core release, see Core Support and Lifecycle Status. The following table describes the lifecycle stages:

Support and the Lifecycle Stages

Support Activity	Notes	Lifecycle Stage
Support Activity	Notes	Active	In Maintenance	End of Maintenance
Proactive Maintenance (Minor, Maintenance, Patch)	Includes proactive fixes for security vulnerabilities, critical bugs, and other issues.	Yes	No	No
Reactive Maintenance (Escalation Support + Patch)	Requires the user to open cases resulting in tactical fixes for critical bugs, where backporting is feasible.	Yes	Yes¹	No
Assisted Support (Usage / Debug Support)	Does not include patch fixes.	Yes	Yes	No

¹Includes fixes for critical bugs and CVEs reported to Support. Does not include documentation updates.

Core Versions

In HPE Ezmeral Data Fabric interfaces and documentation, core versions are expressed as a dot-separated string of numbers having two, three, or four places. Updates and bug fixes result in changes to the major, minor, maintenance, and patch versions of a core release:

Notification of Changes in Support for Released Core Versions

To notify users about changes in EEP support, Hewlett Packard Enterprise issues periodic support advisories. When core releases are deprecated or discontinued, users of those releases are encouraged to upgrade to newer versions. For more information about support advisories, see Security Vulnerabilities and Support Articles in the HPE Support Center.