License Renewal?

@Blockheads88

technically nothing happens. You lose the ability to upgrade SoftRAID, and tech support is limited (we are phasing out support on expired licenses)

But SoftRIAD will continue to work fine. When the next MacOS is released, you may not be able to launch the application, but if you are on Ventura, for example, your license will work indefinitely on Ventura.

A month before your license expires, you will get notification so you can renew your support/ Upgrade plan.

does this help?

I would like to seek further technical clarity following up on your answer.

Currently, SoftRaid is at version 7.5, if this person's licence expires in June and there is no new version of SoftRaid released in the meantime, will he only have access to version 7.5 or does he have access to all version 7.x or 7.5x versions? You say he will be OK staying on macOS Ventura, but if you fix a bug in 7.6 for Venture and that is released after their licence expires will they get access to this fix?

I'm not trying to moan about this just understand what we get for our money now and in the future.

@sparkplug37 

When a support plan expires, the license does not expire. however, there are no upgrades or technical support available, without a support + upgrades plan.

So you are saying that whatever version of SoftRaid that your licence expires, say 7.5, will be the last version you will be able to run with your licence and if we try to install a later version, say 7.6 it would refuse the licence details? Can I tell in your portal what our last version is? Would you happen to have old version available to download at a later date?

@sparkplug37 

The last version will be the last available on your support plan's expiration. Yes, you will be able to download that version again. I am not sure of the mechanism yet.

so to continue to use my paid OWC Hardware I now also have to pay upgrades for Softraid to keep using my Hardware????

@steve223 

You received a 3 year warranty with your enclosure I suspect. You are eligible for free support and all upgrades during the warranty period. After that, to keep getting upgrades and support, we ask you to renew your support plan.

No, you are not required to renew support, but to take advantage of SoftRAID with future MacOS upgrades, you do need to.

if you do not upgrade MacOS this fall, you can keep using SoftRAID with your enclosure and computer. You can keep using your enclosure without SoftRAID, (use Disk Utility or Apple's RAID), also.

But to keep receiving support and upgrades, you must have a SoftRAID support plan in place.

@softraid-support I do understand that Hardware support has a time limit and I purchased Raid Hardware which requires driver/software to properly run pretty poor form TBH Softraid is required to use your OWC enclosures  for instance never have been asked by Promise to pay for update to their Promise Utility nor any other Raid provider

@steve223 

I am sorry, but this is how it is.

MacOS has major changes every OS release for the past 7 years. It takes massive engineering to keep up with the changes. We cannot tax future owners to support older ones.
with a support plan comes telephone and chat support, also.

Promise, since you named them, has no need to support MacOS in the deep integrated way we do. (And they abandoned users of their older enclosures with M1, while we still can support them) hardware RAID controllers can easily fail also, where you are stuck as you cannot put a newer controller with your older RAID.

One advantage of hardware RAID is its set it up and forget about it ability. On the other hand, you must get certified replacement drives in most cases, which cost more, the controller can fail, etc. So it is a trade. With SoftRAID if your hardware fails, just put the drives in a new enclosure. We support multiple RAID levels with the same drives as example for more flexibility.

SoftRAiD has a long term growth path, which has slowed because of the changes to MacOS each year, but we are catching up, and next year, we hope to show significant new features in return.

If you want to use your enclosure as JBOD, you can, and it will be reliable.

@softraid-support yea, I did not buy 2 x Thunderbays because I want to run JBDO and I dare to say not many people would, while you mentioned Promise, that may be, but my Promise drives always worked not something I can say for OWC which was plagued with software issues for the better part of a year. Problem is your advertising as unless you maybe dig deep in the fine print it nowhere states that you need to pay a software rental fee after the support period to keep using the hardware.

Have a look at your advertising, quite missleading does not appear to me that you need to rent your software after an initial grace period. It says SoftRaid XT included nowhere does it state that you need to purchase a yearly licence and update the plan after x amount of years.

@steve223 

You are correct the site does not state explicitly all SoftRAID updates during the warranty period are no charge.

The web site/sales pages are undergoing a upgrade, and the SoftRAID portion will be updated. New language will reflect the pricing model, I am pretty sure. 

The software/hardware integrated products space is moving towards this model however. Look at internet routers, the good routers most all want annual fees.

Here is an example:
https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Nighthawk-Tri-Band-Whole-System/dp/B08V2ZGBNK

Nowhere does it say that Netgear Armor is a $99 year expense. Maybe it should.

When you compare OWC integrated solutions with hardware RAID, even after 5 years, it is less expensive to purchase the Thunderbay than hardware RAID solutions, which often are not repairable after 5 years. Our thunderbay (thunderbolt 1) solutions from 2014, are still fully supported by SoftRAID.

Support and upgrade revenue goes to support SoftRAID engineering and our excellent technical support. That is not cost-free.

Reminder: The forum is intended for technical support. You can address complaints to leadership@owc.com, where they will be read by upper management.

@softraid-support hm that is support as you engage in misleading Advertising; given the amount of issues I had with your Software Raid in the past and how long the bug list on your web site is it's not something I would recommend for any production environment. And BTW Netgear Armor is a Firewall addon it's not required for the basic functionality of the Router. SoftRaid is required for the basic functionality of your RAID system hardly a good comparison.

@steve223 

There are tens of thousands of satisfied professional environment users who are using SoftRAID for production. SoftRAID is free during warranty periods. all upgrades, and full support, including telephone support.
The fact you do not get "free stuff" after warranty expires is not "misleading advertising". Who pays for the cost of developing those upgrades at that point?
Its a matter of who you think should pay those costs and in what way.
if you want to argue we should charge $100 or $200 more per enclosure and offer free support for longer, you can. You do not have to meet payroll. We made decisions to keep the company alive and thriving long term. It is more important to ask, "Will OWC be here to support me and my company's requirements in 5-10 years?" That is my perspective, as an employee, customer, and support person.

And the way we ultimately implemented support plans is clear and easy to understand. Have an active support plan and need support? You can call in, email, or chat and get quality technical support. You get free upgrades for the new MacOS, and other SoftRAID upgrades. Expired support plan? No additional upgrades. Your volumes always mount, your data is always available. Its understandable. It took a couple years to implement this model, but it works and it is easy to explain.