IBM ProtecTIER End of Life: Support Ended November 30, 2020
IBM ProtecTIER is end of life. IBM withdrew the last ProtecTIER products from marketing on February 13, 2018, and its end-of-support date for the final models, the TS7650G gateway (3958-DD6) and the TS7620 appliance (3959-SM2), is November 30, 2020. Every earlier model ended sooner, and the last software versions reached IBM's End All Support date on November 30, 2022. No ProtecTIER hardware or software is supported by IBM today. The dates are from IBM's withdrawal notification pages for the TS7650G (3958-DD6) and the TS7620 (3959-SM2), and from IBM's published product lifecycle list.
ProtecTIER hardware: every model
| Model | Machine type | Withdrawn from marketing | End of support |
|---|---|---|---|
| TS7650G ProtecTIER Deduplication Gateway | 3958-DD6 | 2018-02-13 | 2020-11-30 |
| TS7620 ProtecTIER Deduplication Appliance | 3959-SM2 | 2018-02-13 | 2020-11-30 |
| TS7650G ProtecTIER Deduplication Gateway | 3958-DD5 | 2016-05-10 | 2020-09-30 |
| TS7650G ProtecTIER Deduplication Gateway | 3958-DD4 | 2012-06-04 | 2019-12-31 |
| TS7620 expansion unit | 3959-EXP | 2018-02-13 | 2019-12-31 |
| TS7650G ProtecTIER Deduplication Gateway | 3958-DD3 | 2010-10-26 | 2018-11-30 |
| TS7650G ProtecTIER Deduplication Gateway | 3958-DD1 | 2009-03-28 | 2018-11-30 |
| TS7650 ProtecTIER Deduplication Appliance | 3958-AP1 | 2012-10-03 | 2018-11-30 |
| TS7610 ProtecTIER Deduplication Appliance | 3959-SM1 | 2012-06-04 | 2016-10-31 |
| TS7680 ProtecTIER Deduplication Gateway for System z | 3958-DE2 | 2012-09-25 | 2015-11-30 |
ProtecTIER software
| Software | Version | End of support | End All Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| ProtecTIER Enterprise Edition | 3.4 | 2020-11-30 | 2022-11-30 |
| ProtecTIER Enterprise Edition | 3.3 | 2020-11-30 | 2022-11-30 |
| ProtecTIER Appliance Edition | 3.3 | 2020-11-30 | 2022-11-30 |
| ProtecTIER Entry Edition | 3.4 and 3.3 | 2020-11-30 | 2022-11-30 |
| All editions | 3.2 | 2017-04-30 | 2019-04-30 |
| All editions | 3.1 | 2015-04-30 | 2017-04-30 |
Dates are written year-month-day, as in IBM's product lifecycle list, which has one row per machine type and per software version. "End All Support" is IBM's own column name; for every software row it is later than the end-of-support date. Versions 2.x ended earlier still. Our build re-reads IBM's two withdrawal pages and fails if the November 30, 2020 date changes.
What to do if a ProtecTIER is still in service
- Treat it as unsupported infrastructure holding critical data. Put it in the risk register with an owner and a retirement date. It is past every date IBM publishes.
- Pick the new backup target first, then move the data through your backup application: copy or re-run the backup sets to the new target, and let the old retention periods expire on the ProtecTIER. Deduplicated repositories do not migrate by file copy.
- Test a restore from it now. The most likely way to find out the appliance has a problem is during a recovery, which is the worst time.
- If it has to stay for a while, take it off any network it does not need, restrict its management interfaces, and be clear about what a third-party hardware maintenance contract does and does not give you: replacement parts, not software or security fixes.
- Check the systems around it. An appliance this old usually sits next to backup servers and operating systems of the same age: see IBM AIX, Oracle Solaris and what to do after end of life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is IBM ProtecTIER end of life?
Yes. IBM withdrew the last ProtecTIER products from marketing on February 13, 2018, and its end-of-support date for the final models, the TS7650G gateway (3958-DD6) and the TS7620 appliance (3959-SM2), is November 30, 2020. No ProtecTIER hardware model or software version is still supported by IBM.
When did support end for the IBM TS7650G ProtecTIER gateway?
It depends on the model. IBM's lifecycle list gives November 30, 2020 for the 3958-DD6, September 30, 2020 for the 3958-DD5, December 31, 2019 for the 3958-DD4, and November 30, 2018 for the 3958-DD3 and 3958-DD1.
When did ProtecTIER software support end?
For the last versions, ProtecTIER Enterprise Edition 3.4 and 3.3, IBM's lifecycle list gives an end-of-support date of November 30, 2020 and an End All Support date of November 30, 2022.
Did IBM name a replacement for ProtecTIER?
IBM's withdrawal notification pages for the ProtecTIER models name no replacement product. Owners have to choose a new backup target themselves and move their backups through the backup application.