How to get information, help, and technical assistance

If you need help, service, technical assistance, or want more information about IBM® products, you can find a wide variety of sources available from IBM to assist you.

Information

IBM maintains pages on the web where you can get information about IBM products and fee services, product implementation and usage assistance, break and fix service support, and the latest technical information. For more information, refer to Table 1.

Table 1. IBM websites for help, services, and information
Website	Address
Directory of worldwide contacts	http://www.ibm.com/planetwide
Support for IBM Spectrum Virtualize™	www.ibm.com/support
Support for IBM System Storage® and IBM TotalStorage products	www.ibm.com/support

Note: Available services, telephone numbers, and web links are subject to change without notice.

Help and service

Before you call for support, be sure to have your IBM Customer Number, component ID (which is SANVCNSW1 for IBM Spectrum Virtualize ), and your country code available. If you are in the US or Canada, you can call 1 (800) IBM SERV for help and service. From other parts of the world, see http://www.ibm.com/planetwide for the number that you can call.

When you call from the US or Canada, choose the storage option.

If you call from somewhere other than the US or Canada, you must choose the software option when you call for assistance. When you call IBM to service the product, IBM provides support only for issues with the IBM Spectrum Virtualize software. If you are experiencing what is clearly a hardware problem, contact your hardware manufacturer for support.

You might be asked for your machine type. For IBM Spectrum Virtualize , the machine type is 0001-S01.

In the US and Canada, service and support can be extended to 24 x 7 on the same day. The base warranty is 9x5 on the next business day.

Getting help online

You can find information about products, solutions, partners, and support on the IBM website.

To find up-to-date information about products, services, and partners, visit the IBM website at www.ibm.com/support.

Before you call

Make sure that you take steps to try to solve the problem yourself before you call.

Some suggestions for resolving the problem before you call IBM Support include:

Check all cables to make sure that they are connected.
Check all power switches to make sure that the system and optional devices are turned on.
Use the troubleshooting information in your system documentation. The troubleshooting section of the Knowledge Center contains procedures to help you diagnose problems.
Check for any obvious hardware errors, and check your manufacturer's support website for any known issues. If any hardware problems exist, resolve the hardware problems first before you contact IBM support.
Go to the IBM Support website at www.ibm.com/support to check for technical information, hints, tips, and new device drivers or to submit a request for information.

Using the documentation

Information about your IBM storage system is available in the documentation that is available on this Knowledge Center and on the IBM support website.

That documentation includes online documents, readme files, and help files in addition to the Knowledge Center. See the troubleshooting information for diagnostic instructions. The troubleshooting procedure might require you to download updated software . IBM maintains pages on the web where you can get the latest technical information and download updates. To access this information, go to www.ibm.com/support and follow the instructions. Also, some documents are available through the IBM Publications Center.

Sign up for the Support Line Offering

If you have questions about how to use and configure the machine, sign up for the IBM Support Line offering to get a professional answer.

The maintenance that is supplied with the system provides support when there is a problem with a fault in the system machine code. At times, you might need expert advice about using a function that is provided by the system or about how to configure the system. Purchasing the IBM Support Line offering gives you access to this professional advice for your system, and in the future.

Contact your local IBM sales representative or your support group for availability and purchase information.