Hp54xx software family differences

[Francesco Soffia_1]

hallo

hp 54xx switches have a lot of software versions:

- UPDATE

- EARLY AVAILABILITY

- MAINTENENCE

- CERTIFIED

- OTHER

What are the differences ?

When use each one type ?

best regards

Francesco

[SCOOTER]

I would check with support what exactly the differernt branches are but for the Maintenance I found the below in the release notes under Description:

Description

Version K.15.04.0012m is a Maintenance update on the K.15 Maintenance branch.

K.15.04.0007m was the first Maintenance version for the K.15 software branch. It was based on K.15.04.0007, and therefore has the same initial version number, except that the Maintenance version has an "m" suffix. After this initial maintenance version, new enhancements, features, and support for new hardware will normally be added to the Current Product Engineering (CPE, or primary) branch only. Thus, the version numbering in the two branches (CPE or Maintenance) will not be synchronized after the first Maintenance version.

Maintenance branch software is recommended for users who want to:

■ Standardize on a major software version after it has gained some maturity,

■ Remain on a major version for an extended period of time to reduce time and expense of qualifying a new major version,

■ Do not need to use new hardware or features that are not supported in Maintenance branch.

Within the same major version, users on the CPE branch can migrate to the Maintenance branch if the release on the Maintenance branch has the required feature and hardware support. For more information, refer to the HP switch user guides to K-software Releases.

That should at least answer part of your questions

[Francesco Soffia_1]

hi

I read the same release notes but I'm not satisfied...

I understand that :

MAINTENANCE is not synonymous with reliable

True upgrades are only in primary brances then in UPDATE family

Upgrades with any risks are in EARLY AVAILABILITY family

is it right ?

Francesco

[jefflj]

Maintenance branches are for customers that want to stay on one code branch, an example would be if you had installed your switch and brought it up to K.15.04.  After releasing it to your production network, you decide you don't want to risk introducing issues by upgrading to some other K.15.x code.  In this case you could upgrade along the maintenance branch (i.e.. K.15.04.0007) and get fixes for K.15.04 issues only.

Certified code versions have been submitted to, and passed, specified certification tests.

Early releases are code versions that are done, but have not fully completed the test and release process. There MAY be some risk of defects in early release code, but they are small.

Update code is fully tested and released code that may include sw fixes, new protocols and/or increased functionality. 

[Arimo]

Hi all

I'm sorry, but that's incorrect. Every released SW version has gone through full QA testing, including Early Availability -releases.

EA is just the first stage of software release process. The process (including the differences and philosophy between EA, General Availability and Maintenance) is described in this document:

http://bizsupport1.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c02762241/c02762241.pdf

On the SW page "Update" contains, well, updated versions of GA -releases. Update means going from a minor release to another minor release, for example from K.15.06.0008 to .06.0017. Moving from K.15.06 to K.15.07 is an upgrade (from major release to major release). These are the ones you would normally use.

Under Other you find for example the MIBs and SW versions which are needed for intermediate updates. For example you can't update directly from K.13.50 to K.15, you have to update to K.13.68 first because of Boot ROM differences. In general you don't need SW versions listed under Other but in exceptional situations.

Certified are indeed gone through specific certification processes. Another batch of software which are only needed in exceptional circumstances. For example DoD UC APL stands for Department of Defence Unified Capabilities Approved Product List - I doubt anyone else needs these but US Government offices. If you'd need a certified software version, you would definitely know about it :-)

Maintenance releases are built for stability and reliability. They do not update very often. These are useful for example in a core device of a stable network which seldom changes. New features etc. aren't added, the updates focus on bug fixes.

[Francesco Soffia_1]

thankyou  Arimo

best regards

Francesco

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@Arimo wrote:

Hi all

I'm sorry, but that's incorrect. Every released SW version has gone through full QA testing, including Early Availability -releases.

EA is just the first stage of software release process. The process (including the differences and philosophy between EA, General Availability and Maintenance) is described in this document:

http://bizsupport1.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c02762241/c02762241.pdf

On the SW page "Update" contains, well, updated versions of GA -releases. Update means going from a minor release to another minor release, for example from K.15.06.0008 to .06.0017. Moving from K.15.06 to K.15.07 is an upgrade (from major release to major release). These are the ones you would normally use.

Under Other you find for example the MIBs and SW versions which are needed for intermediate updates. For example you can't update directly from K.13.50 to K.15, you have to update to K.13.68 first because of Boot ROM differences. In general you don't need SW versions listed under Other but in exceptional situations.

Certified are indeed gone through specific certification processes. Another batch of software which are only needed in exceptional circumstances. For example DoD UC APL stands for Department of Defence Unified Capabilities Approved Product List - I doubt anyone else needs these but US Government offices. If you'd need a certified software version, you would definitely know about it :-)

Maintenance releases are built for stability and reliability. They do not update very often. These are useful for example in a core device of a stable network which seldom changes. New features etc. aren't added, the updates focus on bug fixes.

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