Firmware versions across stacked enclosures

[chuckk281]

Question from Ron:

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I know that enclosure firmware for stacked enclosures need to be the same.  What happens if they are not?  Does it generate error messages, cause functionality problems,….? 

This is not for a production environment.  I have a customer who is looking to test stacking in their lab but can’t change the firmware levels on one of the enclosures. 

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Input from Monty:

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Are you asking about c-Class enclosures with Onboard Administrator modules that are linked together or multiple enclosure Virtual Connect stacking?

I can answer for linked OA modules – when the client logs into the OA GUI and selects multiple enclosures – the javascript code run on the client is downloaded from the initial enclosure.  If the OA firmware in that enclosure is older than the other enclosure – you should not encounter any issues as you access all the enclosures, but the functionality of the GUI will be limited to that firmware version and will only be able to support viewing device bays and interconnects supported by that version.

If that initial enclosure is running newer firmware than other linked enclosures – you may get error messages in the OA GUI in accessing those linked enclosures with older OA firmware, since the newer firmware may have newer function calls not supported on the older firmware.

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From Ron:

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Thanks Monty.

I also need to understand the impact of stacking enclosures with different Virtual Connect firmware.  Can somebody speak to how that is handled if the VC firmware of the stacked interconnects are not the same?   Does it generate error messages, cause functionality problems,….? 

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And more help from James:

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It is not supported and can be very problematic.  I would strongly suggest not creating a MES with VC modules at different levels of firmware.  You will see errors in VCM about unsupported modules for firmware mismatches.

Also, if you create a MES, be aware that the enclosure you import into the existing VC domain will need to have a blank VC configuration.  There must not be any existing profiles or networks.  You cannot “merge” 2 enclosures into a single VC domain.

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Other comments or questions?