How To Get Bios From Hp Without Service Contract

February 9, 2014: Updated to include additional details of IBM and Cisco server update policies.

If you own an HP server, be prepared to go on your support understanding upwardly to date. Or else.

Get-go this month, HP is restricting access to firmware updates and service packs for its entire ProLiant server line, a product category that spans a wide range of products, from low-toll small business organization servers similar the ProLiant MicroServer (starting price $359) all the way upward to enterprise-class boxes that cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Here'south an instance of what customers see when they visit the HP Support Eye:

Previously, that firmware upgrade was available to anyone, regardless of the server'southward warranty status or whether it was under a back up agreement.

The new policy was announced by HP'southward Mary McCoy, whose title is listed every bit Vice President, HP Servers – Support Technology Services. In a blog post strangely titled "Customers for life," McCoy, a 30-year HP veteran, explained:

This week, HP appear that constructive Feb xix, 2014, we will provide firmware updates through the HP Back up Center simply to customers with a valid warranty, Care Pack Service or support understanding.

This decision reinforces our goal to provide access to the latest HP firmware, which is valuable intellectual holding, for our customers who accept chosen to maximize and protect their It investments. Nosotros know this is a change from how we've done business in the past; however, this aligns with industry best practices and is the right decision for our customers and partners.

McCoy explained that customers with servers still nether warranty will not need to pay for firmware access. And, she added, somewhat defensively, "we are in no way trying to force customers into purchasing extended coverage. That is, and e'er will be, a customer'south option."

Near enterprise customers are already accustomed to purchasing extended support contracts; for them, this change probably won't have a serious impact. The new policy volition take its biggest affect on the low end of HP'due south line, which is pop amidst pocket-sized businesses and enthusiasts. Information technology will also negatively impact values of HP server products on the resale market and potentially have a devastating affect on third-party support firms.

The HP ProLiant MicroServer N40L, for case (shown hither), was available for auction in 2012 at heavily discounted prices from online sellers, typically under $300. But this widely used server, which contains four bulldoze bays in a compact box that is well under 1 cubic human foot, wouldn't run Windows Server 2012 R2 (or, for that affair, Windows eight.1) for months after their release to manufacturing. Windows Server 2012 R2 was released to MSDN and TechNet subscribers in September 2013 and was generally bachelor in Oct 2013. But trying to install that OS on a ProLiant MicroServer resulted in a series of errors, with the system hanging at kick. The only workaround was to disable the built-in Gigabit Ethernet controller, a serious limitation for a server.

HP released a firmware fix for the issue in mid-November, 2013. The ProLiant MicroServer N54L, a later version of the N40L with a beefier processor in the same enclosure, suffered from the aforementioned flaw, fixed with a firmware update at the same time.

Merely the MicroServer'due south hardware warranty is one year, and the warranty for software is just 90 days after buy; under the new policy, access to the firmware after the warranty expires would require the purchase of an HP Intendance Pack, at current prices of between $126 and $200, at least half the cost of the original hardware. That's a hefty price to pay to set what is arguably a defect in the original production.

Terminate users who purchase from resellers may find their warranties reduced without their knowledge. This server, for example, was purchased in August 2012, but the warranty clock started ticking when the reseller purchased the hardware from HP the previous month. Information technology would not accept been eligible for the firmware update that enabled an OS upgrade merely over a year afterward unless the owner paid for an extended service agreement.

For other models, the cost of a Intendance Pack is even higher. For midrange ProLiant models, a unmarried year's extended coverage under the Care Pack program can cost well over $one,000.

The issues with the MicroServer aren't isolated examples. A few years back, HP released an urgent firmware update for some of its blade server models. "Without this critical fix," the company said, the afflicted models, "later being in service for an extended flow of fourth dimension, could potentially neglect to complete the POST process during any result that causes a ability disruption to occur (such as ability-cycle, cold boot, or power outage). If the failure occurs and the server cannot complete the kicking process, the blade organization board must be replaced."

Another upshot affected some ProLiant server models in 2011. Without a required firmware update, which HP characterized equally "a critical fix," the use of certain SATA hard drives could crusade data transfer errors. The advisory warned: "Neglecting to perform the required activeness could leave the server in an unstable status, which could potentially result in sub-optimal server operation or information abuse or loss. By disregarding this notification and not performing the recommended resolution, the client accepts the run a risk of incurring time to come related errors." Although this appears to exist a defect in HP'due south original software design, the new policy would shift the cost of the set up to customers.

HP'south insistence that the new policy "aligns with industry best practices" is inaccurate, at to the lowest degree for server products aimed at smaller businesses. The company's archrival, Dell, offers unrestricted access to BIOS and software updates for its unabridged server, storage, and networking line. Several readers have pointed to Cisco as a counter-case. It'south truthful that updates for Cisco routers and switches require a valid service contract. But downloads for Cisco servers (the Cisco Unified Computing Organization, or UCS, line) require registration simply not a service contract. (Thanks to Bill Shields for the pointer, via Twitter.)

And as networking consultant Lindsay Hill points out in a recent blog mail, IBM also requires "entitlement validation" for "select software products and updates and for Machine Code (too known as firmware or microcode)."

The IBM policy was announced final summertime. Currently, visitors to IBM Set up Key see this announcement:

Prepare Key Automobile Code updates are available but for IBM machines that are under warranty or an IBM hardware maintenance service agreement. Code for operating systems or other software products is available simply where entitled under the applicative software warranty or IBM software maintenance agreement.

HP's move looks like a way to eternalize margins in a market segment that is historically non accustomed to paying for extended service. The more likely result is that it will drive away those price-sensitive customers.