DataStax Luna Support Policy

Last Updated Date: 
June 30, 2021

The following support policy has been updated as of September 22, 2022. For the most recent applicable support terms, please see https://www.datastax.com/legal/datastax-support-policy.

The latest update applies to all new and renewal Subscriptions for DataStax Luna after June 30, 2021. Prior subscriptions are governed by the previous terms. DataStax provides Support of eligible software under the terms of this Support Policy as long as the Customer maintains a current subscription to Support. “Support” means the services described in this Support Policy and does not include one-time services or other services not specified in this Support Policy, such as training, consulting or custom development. This Support Policy is part of and subject to an agreement with DataStax (the “Agreement”) that incorporates this Support Policy and the Order Schedule under which Customer purchased its Subscription to Support. Any capitalized terms not defined hereunder shall have the meaning specified in the Agreement.

1. Supported Software

Support is offered for and covers only the unmodified Apache Cassandra software release versions and if applicable to the Subscription Tier the unmodified Open Source Projects specified under this Support Policy (the “Supported Software”). Support is not provided for software that has been altered or modified or incorporates any third party patch or fix.

2. Technical Contacts

Support may be initiated and managed only by Customer’s Technical Contacts. “Technical Contacts” are named individuals who are responsible for administration of the Supported Software within the Customer’s organization. Customer may designate the number of Technical Contacts that corresponds with its Subscription Tier in Table 1 below. Customer shall only designate as Technical Contacts those individuals who have knowledge of and experience with the operation of the Supported Software and who have sufficient permissions and authority to access the Supported Software in Customer’s environment. Additional Technical Contacts may be available for an additional fee.

TABLE 1

Subscription Tier# Technical Contacts
Essentials10
Professional10
EnterpriseUnlimited
Free Trial2

3. Informational Support

DataStax will provide reasonable product and technical support to address questions concerning the use of the Supported Software. Technical Contacts may initiate Support by submitting a ticket through DataStax’s 24-hour Support portal at https://support.datastax.com. Support is provided in the English language only. Customer acknowledges information and materials provided to DataStax in connection with receiving Support may be used by the DataStax global support team for the purpose of providing Support in accordance with this Support Policy.3. Informational Support

4. Issue Support

DataStax will partner with Customer on any Issue submitted by Customer’s Technical Contacts. Such efforts may include helping with diagnosis and troubleshooting, configuration assistance, or suggesting workarounds. Customer shall not submit Issues arising from any software other than the Supported Software or otherwise use Support for unsupported software.

In the case that a possible defect is identified with the Apache Cassandra software that is not in Extended Life Support, DataStax may engage with the open source Apache Cassandra community to work towards a resolution and then work to submit such patches for contribution and incorporation to the Apache Cassandra project.

An “Issue” is a material and verifiable failure of the Supported Software to conform to the applicable Documentation. Support will not be provided for the use of the Supported Software in a manner inconsistent with the applicable Documentation. Customer shall not submit Issues arising from any software other than the Supported Software or otherwise use Support for unsupported software.

The following definitions relate to the Severity Levels for any Issues submitted to DataStax.

“Urgent” means a catastrophic problem in Customer’s production systems. Examples include a complete loss of service, production systems that are crashed, or a production system that hangs indefinitely. Customer cannot continue essential operations.

“High” means a high-impact problem in Customer’s production systems. Essential operations are seriously disrupted, but a workaround exists which allows for continued essential operations.

“Normal” means a lower impact problem on a production or non-production system that involves a partial or limited loss of non-critical functionality, or some other problem involving no loss in functionality. Customer can continue essential operations. Normal problems also include all problems on non-production systems, such as test and development systems.

“Low” means a general usage question. It also includes recommendations for requests for new products or features, and requests for enhancements or modifications. There is no impact on the quality, performance, or functionality of the product in a production or non-production system.

5. Subscription Tiers

DataStax offers the following Subscription Tiers for DataStax Luna. The features included in each Subscription Tier and additional information regarding response time, methods of support, ticket limits and other specific information are as set forth below.

FeaturesEssentialsProfessionalEnterpriseFree Trial
Subscription MeasurementUnlimited ClustersUp to the Number of Clusters in the Order ScheduleUp to the Number of Clusters in the Order Schedule30 Day Time Period Limit - One free trial per organization**
Ticket Limitations5 Tickets Per YearUnlimitedUnlimited10 Tickets
Issue Response Time24x5*24 x 724 x 78X5*
<= 24 hr normal/low<= 24 hr normal/low<= 24 hr normal/low<= 24 hr all tickets
<= 8 hour high<= 4 hour high<= 4 hour high
<= 1 hr urgent<= 1 hr urgent<= 15 minutes urgent
Engineering EscalationNoNoYesNo
Extended Life Support for Apache Cassandra versions beyond the end of support from the Apache Cassandra project.NoNoYesNo
Support for Open Source ProjectsNoYes (k8ssandra only)YesNo
Technical Account ManagerNoNoYesNo
Luna Success Architect PackageNoYesYesNo

* At the start of the Subscription, the Customer must select a Support Region (US EAST, US WEST, APAC, or EMEA). After a Technical Contact submits a support ticket to DataStax via the Support portal, DataStax Support will respond to the Customer's support ticket on business days in the Customer’s designated Support Region. For Essentials, Support is provided to Customers twenty-four (24) hours per day, five (5) days per week, weekends and holidays excluded. For any Free Trial, Support is provided to Customers eight (8) hours per day, five (5) days per week.

**This is a limited one-time only offer. No more than one Free Trial per Customer is allowed. If Customer is an entity, no more than one Free Trial per entity. DataStax reserves the right to terminate any Free Trial that does not meet these requirements.

6. Customer Responsibilities

Customer shall provide DataStax with data, process information, supporting analysis, and access to Customer’s Technical Contacts as reasonably required to allow DataStax to reproduce and diagnose reported Issues. Customer is responsible for the adequate duplication and documentation of all of its files and data for back-up purposes.

7. Supported Software

Unless Customer’s Subscription Tier includes Extended Life Support, Support covers only the Software versions of Apache Cassandra that are supported by the Apache Software Foundation (“ASF”) as further set forth at https://cassandra.apache.org/download/

Once the Apache Software Foundation (“ASF”) ceases support on a version of the Software, the last release of the version shall be moved to Extended Life Support only and for Customers whose Subscription includes Extended Life Support DataStax will provide Support for at least one (1) year after the ASF ceases support on the version. For example:

  • Apache Cassandra v.2.2.x will be under Support until the release of Apache Cassandra v.4.0.0 to general availability.
  • Once Apache Cassandra v.4.0.0 is generally available Apache Cassandra v.2.2.12 would be moved to Extended Life Support

Support covers only the following Software versions for the Open Source Projects:

  • Cassandra Reaper v2.1.2 and above
  • Cassandra Medusa v0.7.1 and above
  • DataStax Kubernetes Operator v1.4.1 and above
  • Nosql Bench v3.12 and above
  • DataStax Drivers for Apache Cassandra - versions available at https://downloads.datastax.com/#datastax-drivers
  • K8ssandra v1.0.0 and above

Subject to the terms set forth herein, DataStax reserves the right to update the Supported Software at any time by updating this Agreement with at least three (3) months prior notice. Any notice will be provided via update to this Support Policy.

Support for other versions of Apache Cassandra or modified by any source other than Apache Software Foundation or DataStax is not provided under this Support Policy. Support for other versions of the Open Source Projects or for software obtained from or modified by any source other than the governing applicable project is not provided under this Support Policy. Support only covers use of the Supported Software installed on platforms or systems in accordance with the Documentation. Support does not cover use of the Supported Software on platforms or systems that are no longer supported by the original vendor.

8. How to Escalate a Support Issue

DataStax Support is committed to providing accurate and timely solutions to technical support needs. If Customer has a critical or serious technical issue on its production system or is not satisfied with the response or resolution provided by DataStax Support, Customer may use one of the following escalation paths to have its concerns addressed:

  • For support issues where the business impact has changed or was not correctly stated initially, request to have the priority of the ticket increased according to the above service level definitions;
  • For an existing issue that has become critical in nature where Customer’s production system is down, inaccessible, or Customer is dissatisfied with the DataStax response or resolution, follow the procedure below for management review:
    • Verify that the support ticket is up-to-date and all requested information and files have been provided and request an escalation; and/or
    • You can use either “Escalate to Support Engineer” or “Escalate to Manager” buttons depending on the situation and if you need more eyes on the situation.
  • Once an escalation request has been received, the support manager will: (1) contact Customer’s Technical Contact to acknowledge the escalation and determine the mode of communication and frequency of updates; and (2) work to ensure that the appropriate resources are available to identify a solution or workaround.

If DataStax Support deems it is required to address an Issue, DataStax Support will escalate the Issue and Customer and DataStax Support will work directly with other DataStax teams.

9. Technical Account Manager

If Customer’s Subscription Tier includes a Technical Account Manager (“TAM”), DataStax will appoint a TAM to Customer's account to conduct monthly ticket reviews, root cause analysis, product roadmap presentations and holistic strategy analysis and quarterly cluster health assessments. This will be provided Monday - Friday during regular business hours (9am - 5pm) and excluding holidays in the Premium Support region selected by the Customer. Customer understands and agrees that any product roadmap or other strategy analysis is provided AS IS and that any product roadmap is purely informational and is not a promise for future functionality. Customer understands that the TAM is a shared resource and DataStax may substitute an Alternate during business hours to meet its obligations under the Agreement.

Quarterly Onsite Visits. Upon mutual agreement by the Parties, the TAM will be available for quarterly onsite visits to a mutually agreed upon Customer business location. The Parties can agree to complete this meeting via teleconference. Onsite visits will be conducted Monday - Friday during regular business hours (9am - 5pm) and excluding holidays.

Customer must select the desired Premium Support region (US East or US West or EMEA or APAC) at start of the Subscription which includes the TAM.

10. Luna Success Architect Package

If applicable to your Subscription Tier, the Luna Success Architect Package includes up to 12 Consulting Days to carry out the following Services to assist with ongoing application stability. DataStax will perform two health checks 6 months apart, ideally in months 1 and 7 of your Luna Subscription. A health check is a complete diagnostic scan of your Cluster to help troubleshoot and improve your open-source Apache Cassandra® configuration. The full scope of the work and Customer responsibilities related to a health check, are included in the Luna Essentials Diagnostics and HealthCheck offering in our Services Terms. In addition to the health checks, the Luna Success Architect Package includes (1) 10 x half day (4 hours per half day) ask me anything sessions to address the following: Ad-hoc advice and troubleshooting support, support ticket technical reviews, review any operational issues, and provide preconfigured operational runbooks; and (2) 8 x 1 hour targeted coaching sessions delivered by Solution Architects to reinforce topics. The delivery dates for these sessions will be mutually agreed upon between the parties, but once scheduled are subject to the cancellation terms in the Services Terms.