October 28, 2020
Defined Terms
- Consulting Service - work provided under a Statement of Work in accordance with the Consulting Service Description.
- Customer - the party purchasing the Consulting Service via a Statement of Work.
- Customer Information - Customer information, systems, software, and resources such as workspace, network access, telephone connections, and the like provided to or required by EDB personnel in order to perform the Services.
- Services – the specific services that EDB will provide to Customer as described in a Statement of Work, signed by the parties.
- Severity Level - the urgency of a production support ticket, defined in Table II: Response Definitions of the Production Support Service Description.
- Statement of Work - an underlying work document detailing the Services.
Any terms used but not defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed them in the Master Services Agreement between the parties, if any.
Production Support is problem resolution support for software listed on the Supported Production Software List as it is amended from time to time, unless explicitly described on the Statement of Work. Some software may have limits as to the Severity Level (defined in Table II: Response definitions) of support cases that can be raised in case of an issue with that software as described in detail in the Supported Production Software List. Custom software patches will be supported if written by
EDB staff though it should be noted that such review is considered a Consulting Service and is not included within the Production Support Service except when the patch represents an essential workaround to an existing production support case and is written specifically for the case. Custom software patches may also be supported following review of that software by EDB, though it should be noted that such review is considered a Consulting Service and is not included within the Production Support Service.
EDB will add new software components and software release levels to the Supported Software List as items become ready for production use, in the expert technical opinion of EDB alone.
Support may be reasonably withheld if a problem previously reported by the Customer recurs after the Customer has been advised that a bug fix exists at a higher minor release level of the current software and the Customer has not upgraded for whatever reason. Prior to PostgreSQL 10, for the PostgreSQL server, libraries, and client programs the "major version" was the first two version numbers and the "minor version" was the third. For example, 9.5 or 9.6 are major versions whereas 9.5.13 and 9.6.9 are minor versions. From version PostgreSQL 10 onwards the first number is the major version and the minor version is the second. For example PostgreSQL 10 is the major version and 10.4 is the minor version.
SERVICE PROVISION
Service Initiation and Contacts
Customer is entitled to five, or the number defined on the applicable Statement of Work, EDB portal users. At least one admin user will be assigned when the initial Customer account is created within the EDB portal. The Customer Admin user will then be able to create the remaining EDB portal user accounts and may change these contacts at any time within the EDB portal. Details of how to contact support, manage cases and other details for provision of the Services is sent to each EDB portal user upon account activation. Each EDB portal user will also be sent updated technical information including updates to the Supported Production Software List. EDB reserves the right to change this information from time to time without notice though reasonable efforts will be made to give notice of any changes. Each EDB portal user will be notified of any changes to service provision.
Instances
All database instances running must be registered prior to the date and time of the support incident to allow Production Support for that database instance. Multiple database instances running on the same virtual or physical machine require multiple registrations. Each replicated instance must be registered. If replicated instances are not registered, EDB reserve the right to refuse service if the Case involves replication, even if the replication error happens on a supported instance. The registration process will be provided at service initiation and may change over time. Customers may be requested to perform reregistration from time to time. For clarity an instance is defined as a Postgres server process running on a pair “IP address” and “TCP port” (usually 5432).
SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT
Upon receipt of a case report, whether by telephone, email or through the web portal, an EDB Support Engineer will commence efforts to verify the case and set the Severity Level. EDB will work with the Customer to assess the urgency of a case and to assign the appropriate Severity Level. Having set the Severity Level, the Support Engineer will respond as soon as possible to the Customer and within the Response Time (as detailed in Table I: Response Levels) for the Severity Level. The Support Engineer will work on diagnosing and resolving the case within the effort period appropriate for the Severity Level for that case. The table below shows the method for reporting cases, the level of response from EDB to the case report and the level of effort EDB will use to resolve the case.
Table I: Response Levels
|
Severity |
Diamond and Platinum Production Support |
Gold Production Support |
|
Level 1 |
24 x 7, 15 minute initial response via portal only with a standard 30 minute escalation time. Resolution guarantee of 4 hour workaround and 24 hour bug fix. |
24 x 7, 60 minute initial response, via portal, phone, and email with a standard 90 min escalation time. Provision of continuous effort, with reasonable breaks until workaround is in place, then during business days. Resolution goal of within 48 hours. |
|
Level 2 |
2 hour initial response, via portal phone or email with a 3 hr standard escalation time. Resolution guarantee of 8hr workaround, and a 5 day bug fix. |
2 hour initial response, via portal phone or email with a 3 hr standard escalation time. Provision of up to 8 hours continuous effort, then during business day. Resolution goal of within 10 days. |
|
Level 3 |
4 hour initial response, via portal or email with a +1 day standard escalation time. Resolution guarantee of 10 day workaround, and a 15 day bug fix. |
4 hour initial response, via portal or email with a +1 day standard escalation time. Provision of effort during business day only. Resolution goal of within 20 days. |
|
Level 4 |
Next business day initial response via portal or email with a standard +1 day standard escalation time. Resolution guarantee of a 30 day bug fix. |
Next business day initial response via portal or email with a standard +1 day standard escalation time. Provision of limited effort. Resolution goal of within 60 days. |
Diamond and Platinum Severity Level 1 issues must be raised via the EDB portal with the Severity Level set to ‘Level 1 Critical’ for the 15-minute response to be initiated.
A subscription allows unlimited support cases during any period of service. Each case will be initially handled by one assigned Support Engineer. Cases will be addressed in Severity Level order and unless otherwise requested on a first-come, first-served basis. The Customer may reprioritise their cases at any time. The Customer accepts that Severity Level 1 and 2 cases for other Customers may at times take priority over their lower severity cases, applied without prejudice to all Customers of EDB.
If the Support Engineer has not been able to solve or work around the problem after the standard escalation time (see Table I: Response Levels), the Support Engineer will contact the Escalation Team for further assistance. Should a new Severity Level 1 case occur on a separate database instance while a Severity Level 1 or 2 is still in progress, the Escalation Team will be called immediately and multiple staff will be involved in handling the cases.
Guaranteed Resolution times shown in Table I apply to database instances that are subscribed to Platinum or Diamond support only.
Table II: Response definitions
|
Severity |
Definition |
Responsibility |
|
Level 1 |
Emergency Severity Level. A catastrophic production problem which may severely impact the Customer's production systems, or in which Customer's production systems are down or not functioning; loss of production data and no procedural work around exists. |
EDB Support Engineers and/or Developers will provide continuous support, with reasonable breaks, to produce a workaround which may include a custom software patch. The Customer will provide all required assistance and will remain fully available during the continuous support period. As soon as core functionality is available (“workaround”) a permanent Resolution will be developed (“bugfix”). |
|
Level 2 |
High Severity Level. A problem where the Customer's system is functioning but in a severely reduced capacity. The situation is causing significant impact to portions of the Customer's business operations and productivity. The system is exposed to potential loss or interruption of service. |
EDB will use reasonable efforts during the effort period to produce a workaround. The Support Engineer will aim to produce a workaround before a permanent Resolution will be developed. |
|
Level 3 |
Medium Severity Level. A medium-to-low impact problem which involves partial non-critical functionality loss. One which impairs some operations but allows the Customer to continue to function. This may be a minor issue with limited loss or no loss of functionality or impact to the Customer's operation and issues in which there is an easy circumvention or avoidance by the end user. |
EDB will use reasonable efforts during the effort period to provide the Customer with a workaround as soon as possible balanced against higher Severity Level Cases. Having provided a workaround, Support Engineers will work on developing a permanent Resolution to the Case. In some cases the PostgreSQL community may not agree with the need for change. |
|
Level 4 |
Low Severity Level. A general usage question or recommendation for a future product enhancement or modification. There is no impact on the quality, performance or functionality of the product. This Severity Level covers non-urgent problems including cosmetic issues, feature requests or information requests. |
Requests will be reviewed and responded to with a reasonable level of effort during normal working hours, subject to the existence of other urgent tasks which, in the opinion of EDB, could later affect the Customer. Cosmetic changes and feature requests will be used to guide future contributions to PostgreSQL by EDB staff, though we cannot guarantee acceptance of such changes by the PostgreSQL Community. EDB reserves the right to limit conversation on these topics. |
All responses to cases will be handled remotely by EDB staff.
Additional Benefits of Diamond Postgres-BDR v3 Production Support
The EDB Diamond Postgres-BDR v3 Production Support service includes, in addition to the SLAs stated above, the following benefits:
- Access to Postgres-BDR v3 packages for use on Diamond Postgres-BDR v3 Production Support subscribed instances.
- Technical Account Manager - a named contact from EDB, with deep technical knowledge, will be assigned to the account. This contact will be available during business hours, with prior appointment, for advice and guidance that falls beyond the scope of support tickets. The Technical Account Manager will also facilitate quarterly review meetings, described further below.
- Quarterly Review - EDB will conduct quarterly review meetings with the Customer. These meetings are designed to review the operational behavior and performance of the supported Postgres-BDR v3 deployments. The review aims to help preempt issues and closely nurture the Postgres-BDR v3 deployment for optimum throughput. It also provides a regular touchpoint to share concerns, if any.
Resolution
EDB will not be able to resolve all issues, even on packages that are supported. For any supported application EDB will attempt to provide a resolution which will consist of a workaround and/or a bug fix solution.
However, PostgreSQL is a complex software product and specific issues may be difficult to resolve, especially when an issue is intermittent and/or the Customer is unable to provide sufficient access to staff or production systems. EDB may reasonably withhold or curtail support and/or reduce the assigned Severity Level should it become clear that the Customer’s staff have deliberately withheld information relating to the probable causes of the case including but not limited to recent events, commands issued, or server output. Lack of reasonable care and attention such as, but not limited to, failure to take database backups is not sufficient cause to raise the priority level of an incident. The Customer is reminded that performance checks and other consulting services are available at additional cost.
When supporting PostgreSQL in a database as a service environment, such as Amazon RDS, certain cases may not be resolvable as a result of the closed nature of these systems. Examples include, but are not limited to, patch delivery, access to the system, configuration changes and installation of extensions.
Guaranteed resolution is available only for database instances which are subscribed (and monies have been paid and received) to the Platinum or Diamond Support Level service. Guaranteed resolution means EDB will provide the resolution within the time stated or a service credit described below may be provided. Time delays resulting from the Customer, Customer’s internet connection, time expended by Customer to answer questions or provide information or access of any kind to EDB will not be counted towards the resolution time commitment.
EDB may provide a bug fix which resolves the problem, yet is not accepted by the PostgreSQL community as an appropriate fix. EDB will make reasonable efforts to resolve this, if possible, though not within a guaranteed time, at any support level.
In the event of no Customer response on a ticket for 30 days or more, EDB will consider that the ticket has been resolved and will mark it as resolution accepted.
Service Credits (Applicable only to Diamond and Platinum level Production Support)
- “Failure” means EDB’s failure (subject to the terms of this document) to meet the guaranteed resolution requirements for a particular impacted Instance.
- “Service credit(s)” means one month of contracted Instance support.
- “Reporting Timeframe” means ten (10) days from the Failure.
- “Instance” means a Postgres server process running on a unique combination of “IP address” and “TCP port” (usually 5432).
Subject to the terms of this document, and where there is a Failure that is reported (in writing) within the Reporting Timeframe, Customer will receive a Service Credit. Service Credit(s) during any yearly contracted support period, for a particular Instance, cannot exceed three months of such contracted Instance support. A Service Credit may only be applied against future purchases of Production Support on the same Instance. Service Credits are not transferable, nor will they be paid in cash.
PAYMENT, TERM AND RENEWAL
Production Support is a subscription-based service with an indefinite term. Each Statement of Work for Production Support will automatically renew unless terminated by either party in writing to the address of the party as noted in the EDB Portal, taking effect at the end of the current subscription year.
No refunds are given for cancellation.
Production Support starts following the payment of the applicable fees. Additional fees become due on the expiry date for the subscription as displayed in the EDB Portal at EDB’s then current rates. Fees vary according to the level of service selected.
REPORTING AND INSPECTION
The Customer will notify EDB promptly if the actual number of instances utilised by the Customer exceeds the number of instances for which the Customer has paid the applicable fees. In its notice, the Customer will include the number of additional instances and the date(s) on which such instances were first utilised. EDB will then issue a Statement of Work for the additional fees prorated from the notified first utilisation date to the expiry date of the current subscriptions.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Assistance
The Customer may provide EDB access to Customer Information as reasonably required by EDB in order to provide the Services. The Customer understands and agrees that (a) the completeness, accuracy of, and extent of access to, any Customer Information provided to EDB may affect EDB's ability to provide Services, and (b) if reasonable access to Customer Information is not provided, EDB will be relieved from providing any Services dependent upon such access. The Customer will obtain any third party consents necessary to grant EDB access to the Customer Information that is subject to the proprietary rights of, or controlled by, any third party, or which is subject to any other form of restriction upon disclosure.
EXCLUSIONS
Consultative Support is Extra
The Customer understands and agrees that EDB does not provide open ended advice and guidance under Production Support. Tasks such as, but not limited to, software development, application bug tracing, general testing, performance tuning, architectural or design advice, schema review, partitioning review, upgrades, backups, regular maintenance, query review, customer code review, addition of new PostgreSQL features are offered as Consulting Services and will be separately chargeable or reasonably refused by EDB if the Customer chooses not to purchase the same. The Customer further understands that Consulting Services may not be available at all times of day and may require booking in advance to secure access to qualified experts.
Serious Errors and Omissions
Serious errors and omissions by the Customer, such as but not limited to lack of backups, are not software failures and actions to remedy or provide alternatives in these situations may require additional Consulting Services which are excluded under Production Support.