F5 EOSL Deadlines in 2021

F5 EOSL Deadlines in 2021

Do you have any F5 hardware (BIG-IPs, VIPRION blades, Herculons, etc.) running on your network? If so, you might want to check their End of Service Life (EOSL) dates because a number of F5 EOSL deadlines are coming up this year (2021).

What is an F5 EOSL and why should you be concerned about it?

An EOSL is a crucial date in an OEM equipment’s lifecycle beyond which the OEM will no longer provide maintenance and tech support services for the equipment in question. Technically speaking, F5 actually calls these dates End of Technical Support (EoTS) but we’re just going to use the two acronyms interchangeably, as EOSL is also commonly used in the IT space.

Normally, once F5 announces a hardware product’s End of Sale, which is the date when F5 will stop selling units for that particular product, the company gives customers a grace period of 7 years after the said date before it stops providing any form of support. The end of those 7 years is the designated EoTS date.

The reason you should be concerned when this date arrives is that many of these F5 products are used in mission critical processes. For example, F5 hardware running the BIG-IP platform are usually load balancers. Load balancers provide security to backend hosts while distributing load to those hosts to prevent overloads. Thus, if an F5 BIG-IP device fails after its EoTS date, you won’t be able to get any support from F5. That can cause significant downtime and seriously impact business operations.

So, does that mean you have no choice but to upgrade once your F5 EOSL deadline is due? Not really.

How to get support beyond F5 EOSL

If you need to buy more time so you can save up for an upgrade, you can purchase what is known as third party maintenance or TPM. TPM is a maintenance and technical support service offered by some IT firms to help customers extend the life of their OEM hardware.

It’s worth noting however, not all IT firms are truly capable of providing TPM services. You should only be getting TPM from service providers who are experienced in handling end-of-life products and who have an adequate supply of spare parts. Otherwise, you run the risk of paying for the service but still suffer significant downtime if something goes wrong.

One of the most reputable providers in the space is CentricsIT. The CentricsIT TPM service is backed by a global network of highly experienced engineers and stocking depots that can quickly address your maintenance and support needs. Indeed, this means you can receive TPM support practically anytime and anywhere in the world.

That’s not all. CentricsIT TPM has been proven to help customers realize substantial cost benefits. Many of our customers have gained 40-70% savings on IT maintenance costs through our TPM services. Any savings on IT maintenance costs can be reallocated to other projects in your core business.

Gone are the days when an F5 EOSL deadline meant it was time to retire your F5 equipment and break the bank for an upgrade. You now have more practical options.

Juniper F5 2021

Some of the F5 EOSL deadlines in 2021 include the following: