I have a question concerning hardware lifecycle. How is the end of an IGEL endpoint lifecycle defined? I can see a list of old hardware in the KB. But how about new hardware? If I buy one of the new UD2s, when will it be EOL? Or is it defined only by the lifecycle of the IGEL OS that is able to run on it?
I.e. the new UD2 will be EOL when IGEL OS 12 will be released AND IGEL OS 12 isn’t compatible? Or can the life of the hardware virtually be infinite if future OS releases don’t need different hardware? (Until the last transistors bite the dust? As long as we pay the maintenance-license of course😁) Or is it defined by the availability of replacement parts?
I ask because we’d like to plan ahead and I can’t find the right KB-article 😄 Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!
Hi Daniel, this is a great question, and there is a KB article kb.igel.com/licensesmore-legacy/software-life-cycle-20678858.html that explains the lifecycle quite well. However, I will put down a few points here to summarize 🙂
The lifecycle of an IGEL Thin-client (UD3, UD6, etc) follows this pattern:
2-2.5 years of “Sales life”
3 years of “Maintenance” (fixing bugs, providing support, and making sure new versions of firmware are still compatible with this hardware)
After that, it’s End of Maintenance which means that we no longer provide support or bugfixes for this hardware, and future firmware versions do not officially support this hardware.
It’s important to note that for IGEL thin-clients, the support depends entirely on the age of the model. Even if the firmware that is installed on the thin-client is still supported on newer models, there is no more support for the older model.
Now I will answer some of your more specific questions:
> If I buy one of the new UD2s, when will it be EOL? Or is it defined only by the lifecycle of the IGEL OS that is able to run on it?
The lifecycle of IGEL hardware follows a pattern of ~2y sales life, 3y maintenance. So usually it is about 5 years. However, with OS11 the Maintenance has become a renewable subscription, so if the hardware is still supported on newer IGEL OS versions, it is possible that the hardware could have a longer lifespan (as you mentioned, you would need to extend the maintenance subscription). I don’t know anything about OS12 etc 😄 but IGEL firmware versions usually have a life of about 3 years. So I would think that OS11 will be around until 2022 (don’t quote me on that 😉)
> can the life of the hardware virtually be infinite if future OS releases don’t need different hardware?
Remember that the hardware warranty is only 3 years, extendable to 5 years if you have registered for support. So after that, if there was a hardware failure, it wouldn’t be covered by the warranty. The maintenance subscription is only for software support and doesn’t affect the warranty.
If I have missed out anything or if something I said is not clear, please let me know 🙂
Now _that_ is an answer 😁 For now I’m enlightened. Thanks David!
@member thanks for the feedback. We are always trying to make our Knowledge Base better – were there any pages which particularly helped or which were not helpful? Or was there some clear information which you think should be included that is not already present? 🙂 thanks in advance
Yeah my initial issue was that I could only lookup devices that are already EOL. As we are buying quite a lot hardware atm, there was no way to see, what lifespan they will have. The KB doesn’t help as there are only devices mentioned that are already EOL. So maybe it would be an idea to create a KB article that covers the topic of hardware-life.
To sum up:
If we buy a new IGEL endpoint (HW) I can estimate a lifespan of 3-5.5 years for that very endpoint where I can be sure that I can use the hardware as an IGEL endpoint and not as a paperweight. (Assumed we pay all the necessary licenses etc.🤑)
To be more precise:
If we buy a new IGEL endpoint, we would have to know the release date of that hardware-model to calculate the lifespan for our asset-, service- and lifecycle management.
So my hopefully last question @member:
Where can I see the release date of the IGEL endpoint _model_ to make that calculation?
(If I misunderstood the whole thing, we better discuss it via direct message.)
Continue reading and comment on the thread ‘How is the end of an IGEL endpoint lifecycle defined?’. Not a member? Join Here!
Learn more, search the IGEL Knowledge Base
Ask a question or comment on the above message thread?
Join or log in to the IGEL Community to ask us anything and meet other IGEL customers, partners, and EUC enthusiasts.Submit a question, or Join Today!