EOL vs EOS question

[Jerry]

Hi mates, got a quick one.

What would you recommend to the Customer having a "fleet" of CAPP models when it comes to the HW upgrade path. It is with regards to quite a few EOS models which soon will became "archaic" ...

Just imagine that due to the Compliance reasons you just cannot have EoS/EoL devices after Jan 2020.

All suggestions highly appreciated. Feel free to put some valid once please as my Customer is really big longstanding CP Partner .

Thanks in advance for you valid input. 

[Aidan_Luby]

I might be misunderstanding your question but CheckPoint seems to release all new appliances every 4 years, if you wanted long-term support, buying new appliances next year would be good timing. Otherwise you could buy the 2016 model appliances which should still be supported for awhile. Actually even the 2012 model appliances are supported until 2022, whereas the 2016 appliances have no announced EOL or EOS.

It's detailed on this page and in this graphic:

[JozkoMrkvicka]

It all depends on what the Customer can afford.

Running production on HW which is already EOS/EOL is acceptable in some cases, especially if there is a future plan to migrate/decommission of respective HW.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but Check Point can still provide you valid support (best effort) on HW which already reached EOS/EOL.

VSX is a good choice in terms of the ratio between money and performance. You can migrate dozens of physical appliances into 1 single box (VSX), without need to buy additional HW for replacement.

That said, everything is about money ...

[Maarten_Sjouw]

Jerry,

These questions come by our desks almost every week, there are 2 parts in my answer I can give you:
It really depends on each situation, ie small remote locations, whats the real need? mostly up to 100Mb with or without all blades... SMB?
Is there a possiblity to consolidate? if yes look at Chassis or Maestro setup's. In the latter you can use current hardware and replace when needed.

[PhoneBoy]

The Support Lifecycle page lists "recommended replacements" for all End of Sale/Support appliances.
https://www.checkpoint.com/support-services/support-life-cycle-policy/

A cpsizeme from the relevant appliances uploaded to the Appliance Sizing Tool can be useful in "right sizing" the replacement appliance as well.