Docker support benefits

One key reason organizations start looking at Docker Enterprise is for support. While the Community edition of Docker does provide community-based support; this requires organizations to post their issues in public forums. Not only is there no guarantee of the issue being addressed in a timely manner, it may be inappropriate to post a bug report related to a vulnerability in an enterprise's infrastructure. This is especially sensitive for users in a regulated industry.

Docker's full-stack support starts at the Docker Engine. While we are primarily focusing on Docker Enterprise Standard and Advanced, there is a basic offering that provides support for just the Docker Engine and does NOT provide UCP and DTR. This also happens to be the level of support that is included with Windows Server 2016. All Docker-supported platforms allow customers to receive patches on the same version level for up to 2 years. Without support, you are forced to upgrade every 6 months.

With Docker Enterprise Standard and Advanced editions, support extends beyond the engine to the universal control plane, Docker trusted registry, and any Docker-certified plugins or Docker-certified containers being used by the customer.

Again, as mentioned previously, there are two levels of support: business-critical, which provides 24/7 support, and business day, which is available during normal business hours.