Lightbits Support Guide
Introduction
Lightbits provides full support for all of our software and hardware products. This document describes the support conditions and communication channels available for our customers.
Contacting Lightbits Support
Registered customers may contact Lightbits support using the following channels:
- Lightbits website - with access to our technical documentation and Help Center: https://www.lightbitslabs.com/support/
- Lightbits Service Desk - to open tickets and track the resolution process: https://support.lightbitslabs.com/
- Email - support@lightbitslabs.com
- Phone - (see the Phone Support section later in this guide for additional information).
Note that unique credentials for websites and phone numbers are provided directly to customers.
Lightbits Support Offerings
Support for Lightbits software is covered by the Lightbits’ service plan (described in the following sections) and by Lightbits’ sales terms and conditions.
Lightbits TotalCare Support
The Lightbits TotalCare Support represents a service level provided by Lightbits Labs to our customers. It covers the services required to support and sustain any deployed Lightbits products or services.
The plan does not supersede current processes and procedures, unless explicitly stated herein.
The purpose of this plan is to ensure that the proper elements and commitments are in place to provide consistent support to our customers.
The objectives of this plan are to:
- Provide a clear reference to service ownership, accountability, roles, and/or responsibilities.
- Present a clear, concise, and measurable description of services.
- Match customer expectations of our actual service support and delivery.
Service Scope
The following services are covered by this plan:
- Live telephone support
- Live Slack support
- Monitored email support
- Support portal
- Documentation library
- Holistic handling of Lightbits installations as a managed application service
- Remote assistance using Remote Desktop and VPN where available - for managed and unmanaged deployments
- Emergency onsite assistance (additional charges apply).
Customer Requirements
Customer responsibilities and/or requirements for supporting this plan include:
- Payment for all applicable support costs.
- Reasonable availability of customer representative(s) when resolving a service-related incident or request.
- Making reasonable efforts to incorporate updated versions, updates, and patches of any software provided by Lightbits or on its behalf to customers. If Lightbits believes a software version fixes a reported issue and that version is not installed, Lightbits reserves the right to request the software be updated to a version specified by Lightbits before further trouble shooting the reported issue.
- Granting access to supported equipment (if required) for resolving incidents.
- Keep Lightbits informed of any planned and/or observed environmental changes.
- Immediately notify Lightbits of any abnormal behavior that can affect Lightbits systems.
- Notify the Lightbits team immediately of any system malfunctions that are or may be related to Lightbits storage.
_ Managed application-specific: _
- Granting continuous full access to the Lightbits clusters.
Lightbits Requirements
Lightbits responsibilities and/or requirements in support of this plan include:
- Appropriate notification to customers for all scheduled updates and releases.
- Meeting response times associated with service-related incidents.
Managed application-specific:
- Continuously monitor the health of Lightbits systems 24/7.
- Take proactive measures to support Lightbits systems by upgrading them to the latest stable software release.
- Apply critical Linux vulnerability patches to systems running Lightbits software.
- Keep a close watch on storage capacity and performance trends, and provide guidance to the customer on cluster expansion when necessary.
- Promptly inform the customer of all incidents, including cases when auto-healing is activated.
- Maintain high availability and minimize downtime in accordance with defined response and resolution times.
Service Management
For periods where you fully pay the applicable support services fees, Lightbits will provide the following services (the "Support Services").
Criteria
The criteria below define the priority of the case. You can refer to the given ranking system when opening a new ticket and/or choosing a communication channel.
| Priority | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Critical functionality of the Services is unavailable or inaccessible, resulting in total disruption of work or critical business impact. |
| 2 | Major functionality of the Services is unavailable or significantly degraded; no service loss and operations can continue in a restricted fashion with insignificant impact on business. |
| 3 | Service is operational but partially degraded, or there is a problem with a non-critical feature or functionality, and an acceptable workaround or solution exists. |
| 4 | Minor problem that does not impact the functionality or delivery of the Services. |
Response Times
The table below outlines the support response times per priority level.
| Priority | First Response | Communication Channel * | Resolution Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 Hours | Support Email/ Support Portal/ Phone | Lightbits and Customer will commit the necessary commercially reasonable resources around the clock - for problem resolution to obtain a workaround, or to reduce the severity of the error in commercially reasonable time. |
| 2 | 12 Hours | Support Email/ Support Portal | Lightbits and Customer will use commercially reasonable efforts during normal business hours for problem resolution, to obtain a workaround or reduce the severity of the error. |
| 3 | 1 Business Day | Support Email/ Support Portal | To be determined with the proposed course of action. |
| 4 | 2 Business Days | Support Email/ Support Portal | To be determined with the proposed course of action. |
- Refer to the Support Tools and Communication Channels section of this guide for additional information.
How Times are Measured
The response times measure how long it takes for Lightbits to respond to your request. The response can be in the form of an email/slack response or answered call.
Depending on the plan goals, Lightbits initiates work on the resolution. If you block Lightbits progress, the processing timer is stopped and will be restarted once the required information is received.
Resolution Delivery
In order to return systems back to service, Lightbits support can implement and provide temporary fixes and workarounds. Formal validated solutions can come in either the form of a “Hot-Fix” or in the next “New Release” (as defined below).
Whenever Lightbits makes a "Hot-Fix" or "New Release" generally available to our customers who have purchased maintenance and technical support services, Lightbits will provide a copy of the same to you. This will be done via Lightbits’ maintained packages repository (or other channels Lightbits and the given customer agreed to), and you will install the same on any server on which you intend to operate the Licensed Solutions.
- A “Hot-Fix” is an interim release version of the Licensed Solutions in which certain previously identified errors (as defined below) have been corrected.
- A “New Release” is an updated version of the Licensed Solutions with certain new functions and/or features. This does not include computer programs that include substantially new or different functions, and/or features relative to the Licensed Solutions.
Both Hot-Fix Updates and New Releases will include revised documentation or release notes which - when read in conjunction with previously delivered documentation - identifies with reasonably clarity the new or differing functions and/or features of the Licensed Solutions. Upon delivery to customers, any New Release will be considered a “Licensed Solution” for the purposes of this Plan.
Exclusions
Lightbits shall not be responsible in the following cases for any failure to meet any commitments defined in the Plan:
- Where the failure is caused by the customer due to failure to comply with the obligations in this Plan or the contract with Lightbits, or any use by the customer that is not the normal intended use as detailed in the software documentation. This includes by performing unauthorized modifications to the software or not installing any critical patches to the software as released by the Company. or not installing any required releases within the time period required to do so under this or any other agreement.
- Where the customer fails to fully assist Lightbits in the fault correction.
- Where the customer's Lightbits software version is outside the scope of the latest release or the two preceding releases.
- Where the failure is caused by circumstances beyond Lightbits’ reasonable control and ability to manage - including but not limited to: any acts of governmental authorities, natural or man-made disasters such as flood, fire, earthquakes, pandemics or acts of God, acts of war, acts of terror, civil unrest, strikes or other labor problems (other than those involving Lightbits’ employees, contractors, or agents).
TECHNICAL SUPPORT SERVICE FOR HARDWARE PLATFORMS
Lightbits customers can install Lightbits SDS software on their own servers, meeting Lightbits requirements. Hardware requirements and sample desired configurations can be found in the "Lightbits Hardware Requirements" document.
Incidents Handling
You can contact Lightbits Support first in case of any issues with the appliance/server running the Lightbits SDS software.
Per your call, the Lightbits Support team initiates an investigation in accordance with the Lightbits Service Plan. If Lightbits suspects that hardware is causing the issue, Lightbits will request that you involve the hardware vendor and keep Lightbits in the loop. Lightbits stays in front and fully collaborates with you and the hardware vendor until the incident is fully resolved.
SUPPORT TOOLS AND COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
Lightbits Support Portal
Lightbits operates a customer support portal: https://support.lightbitslabs.com/. The support portal enables communication with the Support team, opening a new ticket, tracking incident cases, and executing queries in the Knowledge Base.
Lightbits Documentation Library
Lightbits documentation is available online for customers at: https://www.lightbitslabs.com/support/
Communication Channels
Phone Support
In urgent situations, the Lightbits Support team can be contacted via our support phone number:
- USA & Canada: 1-866-614-9802
- International: +1-408-547-4391
or by directly calling the assigned support agent.
Live Support via Slack or Telegram
Per your request, Lightbits can open a shared Slack or Telegram channel.
Dedicated Support Emails
Lightbits provides the following emails for communicating with Support:
- support@lightbitslabs.com - all emails sent to this address are broadcasted to the Lightbits Support team around the world.
- openticket@lightbitslabs.com - this email address is dedicated to opening new tickets in the issue tracking system.
Opening a New Ticket
The following are available methods for opening tickets for new cases:
- Opening a new ticket via the Support Portal - recommended for registered customers.
- Opening a new ticket via email. Lightbits provides a dedicated email address, enabling automatic ticket creation for registered customers.
Opening New Cases via Phone
Opening a new ticket via phone - for critical issues as specified in the Plan table above.
Monitoring and Debugging Malfunctioning Systems
In order to investigate any failures, the Lightbits Support team can request remote access to your system, to run system analyzing tools for collecting logs and statistics (note that user data is not collected).
Unconnected Organizations
Some organizations have strict limitations on open posts and allowed protocols in their data centers. Such limitations could prevent accessing the system for its debugging. In situations like this, Lightbits Support relies on your readiness to assist and be guided by the Lightbits team to execute the troubleshooting suggested by Lightbits.
Lightbits highly recommends keeping trained personnel in front of such collaboration work to make it more efficient.