Public Cloud Support FAQ

• What is the purpose of the Public Cloud Data Services End of Support (EOS) policy guidelines? 

The purpose of our support policy is to provide customers with a clear understanding of the lifecycle of our data services and the associated support policies. These guidelines help customers plan their cloud strategies and investments by providing transparency around the availability, support, and end-of-life dates for each service.

By adhering to these guidelines, we are committed to providing customers with the highest level of service and support, as well as ensuring that our cloud services meet the evolving needs of our customers. We understand that our customers rely on our services to support their business operations, and we are committed to providing the support and resources necessary to ensure their success.

• When does the Public Cloud Data Services EOS policy go into effect?
  

The policy goes into effect immediately and applies to all upcoming Data Services releases. Please refer to the Current End of Support (EoS) Dates table for each Data Service to understand EOS dates for already released versions.

• Why is the Public Cloud Data Services EOS policy different from the Cloudera Data Platform Public Cloud policy?
  

Our Data Services are built on Kubernetes, a popular open-source container orchestration platform. Cloudera relies on Kubernetes services provided by our cloud providers (like AWS EKS, Azure AKS, and GCP GKE). By leveraging Kubernetes, our data services can automatically scale to meet the changing demands of our customers, ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently and effectively.  Containerization technology is moving at a fast pace, with new versions of Kubernetes being released frequently. While these new versions often bring new features and improvements, they can also introduce changes to Kubernetes APIs, making it essential for us to certify our data services against a specific version of Kubernetes. 

Our Public Cloud Data Services EOS policy is drawn to respect the cloud providers’ EOS policies and ensure that our data services remain secure, reliable, and compliant.

And on a regular basis we will assess any updates to the cloud provider Kubernetes EOS policy to ensure as much alignment as possible.

• What is the recommended upgrade cadence? 
  

We recommend upgrading to every release, but at a minimum twice a year, to ensure that you have access to the latest features, security and bug fixes, and performance optimizations. Regular upgrades help to keep your software up-to-date with the latest developments, which can improve the functionality and reliability of our Services. Upgrades also ensure that any security vulnerabilities are addressed in a timely manner, reducing the risk of data breaches or other security incidents. Additionally, regular upgrades enable you to take advantage of performance optimizations and other improvements that can help to streamline workflows and boost productivity. We encourage all users to upgrade regularly to maintain a secure, efficient, and effective software environment.

• Will I be able to select the version of the data service I want to upgrade to or deploy?
  

No, when upgrading or deploying a new DS service, you will always get the latest, most secure, and performant version of our data services. 

• Does Cloudera offer maintenance (major stability and security fixes) releases?
  

Within the Data Service’s support window, Cloudera will proactively review security vulnerabilities and bugs reported by customers and if necessary, provide patches in the form of cumulative hotfixes on top of the latest major or minor release.  Older releases will not receive hotfixes. Additionally, these will not extend the EOS of the release.  They are to ensure customers receive fixes to critical security and stability issues, and we encourage customers to upgrade to the latest hotfix on a regular basis as they become available.

• How can I upgrade a data service that reached EOS?
  

Data services will have specific guidelines around out of support upgrades. These upgrades will generally be limited in scope of what it covers due to the potential difference between the base and target versions. Please refer to the individual DS documentation for details. 

• Will my data service remain operational once it reaches its EOS date?
  

It is important to note that upgrading your data service within the support window is crucial to ensure it remains secure, operational and supported. That being said, data services will remain operational for a period of time after reaching their End of Support (EOS) date. Cloud providers can decide to force upgrades to their Kubernetes services once they reach EOS, which breaks the data services deployed on them. This is why we strongly recommend incorporating regular upgrades in your operational plans before reaching the EOS date and staying within the support window to ensure they remain fully functional and supported.

Cloudera will proactively reach out to customers  via TSBs warning of EOS of cloud providers, especially in instances where forced upgrades are in effect. 

• What happens to the data services when the underlying cloud provider Kubernetes goes EOS?
  

Existing Data Services that have been deployed on the EOS Kubernetes version may continue to function.  However, at this point, neither the cloud provider nor Cloudera will be able to support the deployed data service if issues arise.