Download the PDF of the Unitrends Support Handbook
Overview
This Customer Support Handbook details support services, contact information and best practices for contacting Unitrends Support to ensure quick response and issue resolution.
The Unitrends website (https://www.unitrends.com) has been designed to provide Customers and Users with a plethora of information, tools and resources. Below are a list of the various online, self-service tools and resources that have been developed to equip Customer’s and User’s with the tools that will help you make the most of your Unitrends product. Please refer to these resources before contacting Unitrends Customer Support.
| Resources | How to Contact: |
| Customer Care Center | All Unitrends Customers and Users have 24×7 access to the Unitrends Customer Care Center. From the Customer Care Center there is one click access to all of Unitrends support self-service resources and tools. To access the Customer Care Center, simply navigate to https://www.unitrends.com and select ‘Support’. |
| Customer Portal | Unitrends Support Customers are granted 24×7 access to the Unitrends Customer Portal.
From the Unitrends Customer Portal, Customers will find links to: • Unitrends Live Support Chat • The ability to ‘log’ or ‘create’ a Support Case • The ability to view the status of your open Support Cases. To access the Customer Portal simply navigate to https://www.unitrends.com and select ‘Support’, then your Product from the ‘Products’ drop-down list. To open a case, click ‘Open A Case’ at the bottom of the page. |
| Discussion | All Unitrends Customers and Users have 24×7 access to the Unitrends Discussions. Via the Discussions one can exchange information with other Unitrends Customers and the subject matter experts at Unitrends. The Unitrends Discussions are maintained and moderated by our top tier Support Engineers. Access to our Discussions are available at no extra charge to Customers.
To access the Discussion, simply navigate to https://www.unitrends.com, select your Product from the ‘Products’ drop-down list to enter your Product Community and select Community. |
| Knowledge Base | All Unitrends Customers and Users have 24×7 access to the Unitrends Knowledge Base. The Unitrends Knowledge Base has been intentionally designed to provide our customers the ability to provide a powerful self-service support option.
Intended to be our first stop for Unitrends Customer Support, the Knowledge Base is a repository of articles, videos, technical documents and best practices and provides the ability to search for solutions to common questions. To access the Unitrends Knowledge Base, simply navigate to https://www.unitrends.com, select your Product from the ‘Products’ drop-down list to enter your Product Community and use the Search bar to access knowledge base. articles. |
| Video Tutorials | All Unitrends Customers and Users have 24×7 access to the Unitrends Video Tutorial Library. Watch our video tutorials and learn how to install, configure and use the Unitrends solution.
To view available video tutorials, simply navigate to https://www.unitrends.com and select ‘Support’ then ‘Training’. There you will find a catalog of videos and tutorials. |
| Documentation | All Unitrends Customers and Users have 24×7 access to the Unitrends Technical Library. Review and download the latest product documentation online.
For a detailed list of all technical documents and user guides simply navigate to https://www.unitrends.com and select ‘Support’ then ‘Documentation’. |
Platinum Support Plans
Unitrends is committed to providing the absolute best technical customer support in the industry. We know that problems and outages do not always arise during ‘business hours’ or ‘weekdays’. For Recovery-Series Appliances, Unitrends Enterprise Backup, and ReliableDR customers with an active Platinum support plan, Unitrends provides 24×7 access to our World Class technical support engineers.
Please note: All Unitrends support communications and correspondence will be conducted in English.
Additional Hardware Support Plans
Basic Hardware Support
All Software Customer Support Plans include the Basic Hardware Support. The following warranty is made available to Customer in accordance with and for the time period specified in the Agreement if Customer has elected to receive and pay Unitrends Support:
- Hardware Parts Warranty1
- Next business day shipment of replacement hardware parts (does not include Chassis Replacements) in the event of a hardware failure that is the result of a material defect in Unitrends hardware
- 3-5 business day replacement unit shipment in the event of a hardware failure that is the result of a material defect in Unitrends hardware
- Firmware upgrades
Pledge Hardware Support
Hardware warranty support provided under the Pledge Warranty plan is the same as that provided under
Basic Warranty plan, with the additional services noted below:
- RapidReplacement™ next business day replacement unit shipment in the event of a hardware failure that is the result of a material defect in Unitrends hardware
- Original appliance replacement when the customer renews the maintenance term if the customer has an active subscription to Pledge
- If Pledge is used in concert with Unitrends Cloud, then Unitrends ships a replacement appliance with the last available replicated version of the customer’s data
- Most hardware issues can be diagnosed remotely, allowing for next business day delivery of any necessary (non-chassis) parts if diagnosis completed by 2pm Eastern, after 2pm Eastern second business day
Severity Definitions and Response Time SLA
Severity levels provide an indication of the urgency of an issue and help us provide a timely and effective re- sponse. A case that is created with an incorrect severity level negatively impacts the overall case management process and potentially our ability to provide an accurate response to the Customer’s issue. When a Customer reports a case to Unitrends, we provide our interpretation of the severity level. We ask that the Customer reviews the severity level and ensures that the severity level best matches the problem or issue.
Response goals are intended to provide a target for initial response to an issue or problem. Please note that Unitrends support will work a Severity 1 issue around the clock for our Support Customers providing that there is a technical resource at the Customer’s location to work with us until:
- A resolution or workaround is in place and the negative impact to the Customer’s business has been mitigated.
- The case severity is mutually
| Severity Level | Definition | Platinum |
| Severity 1 | One or more of the following:
|
One (1) Business Hours |
| Severity 2 |
|
Three (3) Business Hours |
| Severity 3 |
|
Six (6) Business Hours |
| Severity 4 |
|
Ten (10) Business Hours |
Contacting Customer Support
For optimal support, we recommend that the Customer designates a few representatives from the company that are eligible for opening cases with Unitrends and receiving technical updates and maintenance information. The selected representatives should have the appropriate technical skills and system level access to work with the Unitrends Technical Support Engineers in resolving open issues.
When contacting Unitrends Customer Support, Customers should be prepared to provide the following information:
- Existing case number, if applicable
- Name, company name and telephone number with extension
- The Unitrends appliance Asset Tag Number2
- Product Name and release level the Customer are currently
- Operating environment including network
- Issue description: include symptoms, start/end date and time
- Impact assessment: current condition, functional impact, urgency
- Steps taken to troubleshoot the issue thus
Submitting a Support Case
Unitrends has many paths that our customers can choose from to submit or create a Support Case:
Customer Portal
Customers with current support plans are granted 24×7 access to the Unitrends Customer Portal. Through the portal Customers have the ability to submit a Support Case and / or view the status of a previously submitted Support Case.
To access the Customer Portal, Customers simply navigate to https://www.unitrends.com and select ‘Support’, select your Product from the ‘Products’ drop-down list, then select ‘Open A Case’ at the bottom of the page. Once logged in, they will be prompted to enter the following required information to submit a case.
- Asset Tag Number3
- Name and contact information
- Severity Level of the Issue (Unitrends will set the case at a Severity 3 if this is not provided)
- Type of Issue
- Problem or Issue Description
Unitrends will be notified that a case has been submitted and will send an email confirmation with the case number to the contact listed on the case.
Please note: cases submitted via the Customer Portal will only be monitored Monday – Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern, excluding major US Holidays. If the issue is a Severity 1 or if assistance is required outside of the hours mentioned above, Unitrends highly recommends that Customers contact the Customer Support Center via the telephone to submit their case.
- Unitrends uses the Asset Tag number to validate the Customer’s support eligibility, so this number must be provided to log or create a support case for resolution. For physical appliances, the appliance asset tag is located either on the back or the front of the appliance server. The asset tag can also be retrieved by going to ‘About’ and clicking on ‘System Information’ in the user
- Unitrends uses the Asset Tag number to validate the Customer’s support eligibility, so this number must be provided to log or create a support case for resolution. For physical appliances, the appliance asset tag is located either on the back or the front of the appliance server. The asset tag can also be retrieved by going to ‘About’ and clicking on ‘System Information’ in the user
Unitrends Customers can create a case via email by sending their case request to [email protected].
The following information is requested in the email to ensure that the case receives the proper attention:
- Asset Tag Number4
- Name and contact information
- Severity Level of the Issue (Unitrends will set the case at a Severity 3 if this is not provided)
- Problem or Issue Description
Unitrends will be notified that a case has been submitted and will send an email confirmation with the case number to the contact listed on the case.
Please note: cases submitted via email will only be monitored Monday – Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern, excluding major US Holidays. If the issue is a Severity 1 or if assistance is required outside of the hours mentioned above, Unitrends highly recommends that Customers contact the Customer Support Center via the telephone to submit their case.
Telephone
To submit a case via the telephone, Unitrends Customers can call Unitrends Support at one of our regional support numbers. Click here to find the best number for you: https://www.unitrends.com/contact#phone-numbers
Asset Tag Number5The Customer Support Engineer will request the following information, which will be used to validate support eligibility and create a case.
- Name and contact information
- Severity Level of the Issue (Unitrends will set the case at a Severity 3 if this is not provided)
- Problem or Issue Description
Once the case has been created, the Customer Support Engineer will provide the case number, which will be used to track and reference the case. If a Technical Support Engineer is available, the issue will be handled immediately. If all Technical Support Engineers are assisting other customers, the case will be responded to within the targeted response time associated with the contracted Support Service.
- Unitrends uses the Asset Tag number to validate the Customer’s support eligibility, so this number must be provided to log or create a support case for resolution. For physical appliances, the appliance asset tag is located either on the back or the front of the appliance server. The asset tag can also be retrieved by going to ‘About’ and clicking on ‘System Information’ in the user
- Unitrends uses the Asset Tag number to validate the Customer’s support eligibility, so this number must be provided to log or create a support case for resolution. For physical appliances, the appliance asset tag is located either on the back or the front of the appliance server. The asset tag can also be retrieved by going to ‘About’ and clicking on ‘System Information’ in the user
Case Follow-up and Issue Resolution
During the resolution of a case, the Unitrends Technical Support Engineer will maintain contact via the telephone and/or email or both as needed.
Unitrends’ investment in Customer Support sets us apart. We hire and train our Technical Support Engineers to ensure that they are the best in class at providing the level of service that we believe will not only satisfy you but will ‘dazzle you’. While a Customer’s issue is open, the Technical support Engineer assigned to the case will provide updates and keep the Customer informed of the resolution status of the case. If at any point in time you believe that you are not getting the level of service that you need, we encourage you to escalate your case via the Customer Portal. Escalations are promptly addressed and allow us to understand any concerns and adjust our processes when appropriate to ensure that we do not make the same mistake in the future.
The Technical support Engineer has been trained to obtain the Customer’s permission and agreement that the issue has been resolved prior to closing your case. The following criteria are used by the Technical Support Engineers to determine when it is time to close a case:
- All questions and / or inquiries have been answered.
- A software fix or upgrade has been installed and has resolved the issue.
- A permanent business or system workaround has been provided to resolve the
- The reported issue is either a result of a customer specific customization and/or issues that are caused by the Customer’s environment that cannot be resolved by Unitrends.
Once any of the above has been achieved, the Technical Support Engineer will attempt to contact the Customer to get agreement that the case can be closed. The Technical Support Engineer will make (at least) three attempts, on separate business days, to ensure that there aren’t any other mitigating circumstances that they may not be aware of that would prevent them from closing the case. If, after these three attempts, the Technical Support Engineer is not able to contact the Customer, the case may be closed. If a similar issue persists after the case has been closed, we ask that the Customer open a new case and reference the old case for context.
Remote System Access Support
All Unitrends Technical Support Engineers are skilled at utilizing the remote access capabilities of applicable Unitrends products. Remote System Access, often referred to by the Technical Support Engineers as a “Support Tunnel”, is required to ensure successful and timely resolution to reported issues. Unitrends Customer Support also requires SNMP and IPMI 2.0 sideband LAN access to the appliance for proactive and diagnostic capabilities.
Guide to Collecting Case Information Data
The following information provided below is intended to guide the Customer in collecting the information that should be prepared prior to contacting Customer Support to initiate a case. Having this information ready beforehand will expedite the case resolution process.
Asset Tag
For physical appliances, the appliance asset tag is located either on the back or the front of the appliance server.
The asset tag can also be retrieved by going to ‘About’ and clicking on ‘System Information’ in the user interface.
Unitrends Software Release Level
The current software version running on the appliance can be retrieved by going to ‘About’ and clicking on ‘System Information’ in the user interface.
Issue Description and Error Message
When a backup fails or completes in an incomplete manner, a description of the failure is provided in the backup summary. This description is also included in the failure reports emailed to the backup administrator if this report option is selected.
Additional information on a specific backup can be gathered from log files generated by the backup. Server log files are located in the directory /usr/bp/logs.dir. The log file associated with a specific backup is named in the backup summary. For example, the summary will indicate that log information is being written to a file named bpserver_ 1.log. This log will contain information specific to the backup from which it was created.
When trouble shooting errors or failures, Unitrends Technical Service Engineer may ask to have these log files sent to the Support Center via email or fax.
Gauging Customer Satisfaction
When the Technical Support Engineer has closed the case, the Customer will receive a very short survey that will ask specifically for feedback on how we are doing and how we can serve you better. We encourage Customers to make use of this opportunity to offer candid feedback to help us continually improve our service.
Physical Appliance Repair
If your Technical Support Engineer determines that the Unitrends supplied hardware is defective, then they will immediately initiate a hardware part replacement or repair. For diagnosis before 2pm Eastern on a business day, delivery of parts will be the next business day (excluding chassis replacements). For diagnosis after 2pm Eastern or on a non-business day, delivery of parts will be on the second business day (excluding chassis replacements). Most repairs do not require an onsite hardware service technician; however, If onsite service is required, the Technical Support Engineer will communicate with the hardware service technician explaining the nature of the problem and coordinating the on-site repair or diagnostic visit. The Customer Support Engineer will then provide the Customer with the hardware service technicians estimated time of arrival.
Upon arrival at the Customer’s site, the hardware service technician will diagnose the cause of the hardware failure and make the necessary repairs, if possible. If a replacement part is not immediately available, then the technician will have the part sent via overnight shipment and return to install the replacement pat the next business day. After the necessary hardware repairs are made to restore the equipment to working condition, the Technical Support Engineer will contact the Customer to ensure that any other necessary administrative actions are completed to bring the system back online.
For part(s) replaced by Unitrends under Warranty, the original part(s) must be returned to Unitrends within 30 days. Unitrends will provide a Return Authorization (RA) in the box with the replacement part(s) that are shipped. Any original part(s) not returned to Unitrends within 30 days will be invoiced to the receiving account at the cost of the replacement part(s).
Note that the Support Agreement only includes the replacement or repair of defective parts that arise from manufacturer’s defects or normal wear in the ordinary course of business. The following is not covered by Hardware Support:
- Reconditioning of Supported Hardware or major overhauls to Supported Hardware
- Updates to Customer’s Support Hardware that are necessary to use a software update
- Updates to Customer’s Support Hardware necessary to expand capacity, processing speed or memory of the Support Software or Supported hardware to accommodate the Customer’s business requirements
- Replacement of Support Hardware damaged as a result of improper use, maintenance or
- Archive or RAID disks not purchased through
Unitrends uses new and reconditioned parts made by various manufacturers in performing limited warranty repairs and building replacement products.
Environmental or Third Party Software Support
Unitrends will endeavor to resolve errors or problems with the currently supported versions of Unitrends products that do not meet product design criteria and impact customer business processes as described in the Severity Level Assignment section above. Other issues or situations outside of the scope of the Support Agreement do not qualify for initiating a case. These situations can include, without limitation, problems caused by non-Unitrends hardware, software not supplied or installed by Unitrends; issues with non- supported versions of Unitrends products, product installation problems with products not installed by Unitrends, or the installation and configuration of additional servers.
Some of these non-support agreement situations can be handled by the Unitrends Professional Services organization. Please contact your Unitrends sales representative to obtain a quotation, if desired.
Unitrends Customer Support will assist the Customer in problem analysis to determine whether the issue is caused by third party software, hardware or other customer environmental factors (i.e. LAN/WAN, Dissimilar Bare Metal Driver Support).
When, as a result of analysis, the Unitrends Technical Support Engineer determines that the problem in question is being caused by either a third party software or hardware customer procured solution or an environmental factor, we must ask that the Customer assume ownership of those identified problem areas and resolve those issues which are impacting the Unitrends Solution.
Product Supportability
Support of Releases
Unitrends policy is that the current (most recent) version of the Unitrends Solution is eligible for full support to include updates and fixes while support for older versions may be limited. Unitrends Support is available to those Customers that are using old or deprecated versions and wish to upgrade to a supported version.
Unitrends Customers are entitled to all software maintenance upgrades, firmware upgrades and new feature releases that are released for all licensed Unitrends products covered by their current Support Agreement. Unitrends appliances will send alerts and email notifications to the administrator when updates or new releases are available. Customers can access updates by going to the user interface and clicking on Configuration/Updates.
Unitrends reserves the right to release Software Updates that may require upgrades or replacement of Supported Hardware. If and when this occurs, customers that have paid for continuous support coverage will be provided special hardware-only upgrade pricing. Customers who have not paid for continuous support coverage will not be entitled to receive this special upgrade pricing offer.
Product Quality and Maintenance
Unitrends follows rigid quality control procedures during the development of our products. All of our new product releases goes through rigorous test phases including Beta Test and controlled Release before we release our products officially to Customers.
Fixes that are created between releases are rolled into the next maintenance or product release. At times, when there is an urgent need, a hotfix may be created for a specific customer and/or product version. All customers are notified of the availability of new releases.
Enhanced Service Available
For customers with current support plans, we provide the following enhanced services. Please refer to your selected support plan to determine eligibility of listed service options.
Third-party Application/Environment Assistance
Customers with current support plans will receive assistance in diagnosing third-party application and environmental issues which affect the backup solution.
- Limited NAS, SAN and tape support
- Limited support for physical servers hosting virtual appliance
Customer WAN Assistance
Customers with current support plans will receive assistance with diagnosing WAN issues for replication or cross-replication troubleshooting. This will include making sure the correct ports are open on the firewall.
24X7 Support
Customers with current support plans are eligible to contact Unitrends Support 24×7, days per year.
Dissimilar Bare Metal Driver Support
Customers with current support plans will receive assistance in gathering the correct drivers for their hardware when performing dissimilar Bare Metal restores. This functionality is for Window 2003 platforms and higher and would involve going to manufacturer’s site of hardware to be used in restore to collect drivers.
Unitrends Cloud [Additional fee]
Unitrends Cloud is a cloud-based off-premise disaster recovery service that complements the data protection of Unitrends on-premise appliances for our customers who want disaster recovery but do not want to own and operate their own dedicated off-premise vaulting appliances.
For Customers who choose Unitrends Cloud, Unitrends is primarily responsible for configuring, monitoring and troubleshooting the Unitrends Cloud customer operations and managing the replicated data in the cloud. This is done proactively and reactively from initial configuration, to day-to-day monitoring and including failure troubleshooting.
RapidSeed [Additional fee]
RapidSeed is an optional service that allows the backup data on an on-premise appliance to be “seeded”, or copied, quickly to the cloud. Unitrends provides the equipment and the service required. The RapidSeed
service can be used at initial install or anytime within the disaster recovery lifecycle. Each use of the RapidSeed service is provided as a stand-alone solution.
RapidReplacement Support with Unitrends Cloud [Pledge]
RapidReplacement with Unitrends Cloud offers all of the advantages of our standard RapidReplacement plus the replacement appliance is shipped loaded with replicated data. This allows for full recovery of all clients protected by Unitrends Cloud. RapidReplacement is part of the Unitrends platinum level of service.
Unitrends Customer Support Quick Reference Resource and Contact Guide
My Unitrends Asset Tag#
| Support Service Resource | How to Contact: |
| Unitrends Customer Care Center | Navigate to https://www.unitrends.com and select ‘Support’ |
| Unitrends Customer Portal | From the Unitrends Customer Care Center, select your Product from the ‘Products’ drop-down list to enter your Product Community for login access to the following resources:
• Unitrends Live Support chat • The ability to log or create a Support Case • The ability to view the status of your open Support Cases. My Portal Login is: My Portal Password is: |
| Unitrends Discussions | From the Unitrends Customer Care Center, select your Product from the ‘Products’ drop-down list and select ‘Community’. |
| Documentation | From the Unitrends Customer Care Center, select ‘Documentation’. |
| Video Tutorials | From the Unitrends Customer Care Center, select ‘Training’, then ‘Catalog’. |
| Email Support | Send requests for email support to [email protected]. |
| Telephone Support | Click here to find the best number for you: https://www.unitrends.com/contact#phone-numbers |