N 4000 server

[kamal vithanage]

Hi ....

one of my customer using N 4000 server and it's under service contract
so customer wants to install updated patches (system is running smoothly)
my question is it necessary and if yes what's the advantage of that

Thanks,

Kamal

[John Waller]

Kamal,

You will find everybody has their own views on this one. I personally don't install the latest patch bundle each time a new one is released (about every 3 months).

Some people may say that in the event of a problem HP will always check what patches you have installed. I again personally find that even if you have installed the latest bundle in some cases their is even a later one available on the Web. HP's official line would be to always install the latest bundle, I personally install about 1 per year plus any individual ones "if" a problem occures. ( I ca't remember the last time I have had to do this now)

[Bill McNAMARA_1]

If it's working fine don't bother.
More often than not patches will correct wierd command line use, minor performance improvements and new functionality.
This is not critical.

What could be is security patches and potential data corruption patches depending on your configuration.

You should install patches at same time as installation and then during scheduled downtime. If you're not 24/7/365 then you can afford to update patches more often... but don't bother unless it's going to fix something..

Later,
Bill

[KapilRaj]

Hi,

In very simple words patches are add-ons / updates / fixes to the Core Os. So it is always better to have the latest patch bundle installed in your machine. It keeps your system uptodate.

Yes you need to be care full also. Once i hv faced a prblem after loading a patch . which updates a library file & my oracle stopped working , i could re-link oracle and get it recovered.

kaps

[Magdi KAMAL]

Hi Kamal,

I agree with John, the question is :

If you try to install the latest patches each time they will be notified( it is a 24 hours job ) you are not beside that these patches are containg bugs( ie. it is not exerienced for a lot of times ). In another hand you can not ignore new patches which they are fixing problems.

I would recommand, that you just keep in mind thoses patches that you are really needing them ( which solves your actual problems ).

Patches installation frequency could be between 2 to 3 times a year.