CS1000 - Should I upgrade software version?

[brodden]

Hello,

I have a CS1000 that is currently running version 5.2.1.800-930936-opt of the software.

I have the option to upgrade to any of the following:

• Long Term Support Release 5.2.1.1100-1027043-opt
• General Availability Release 6.0.0.500-1005932-opt
• General Availability Release 6.1.1.300-1028597-opt

Based on the software recommendations in InfoSight, I have a direct upgrade path to any of these versions.

I do not currently have any isses with the Nimble, but I prefer to keep systems updated when possible and recommended. Should I upgrade the software on this system? If yes, should I just stick with the LTS option or go ahead and jump to 6.0 or 6.1?

I appreciate any advice and support from those that may have dealt with this in the past and have more experience!

[Mahesh202]

Hi brodden

For the next two years, the LTSR (Long Term Support Release) version will remain unchanged. It is preferable not to update the arrays frequently. The GA (General Availability Release) versions are the most recent, and you should consider updating whenever a new GA version is released to reap the benefits.

hope this helps.!!

Regards
Mahesh.

[brodden]

@Mahesh202 

Hi Mahesh,

Is there any type of back our plan or recovery process in case something goes wrong with the upgrade? 

I'm not expecting that to happen, just wanting to be prepared.

Thanks,

Ben

[brodden]

Does anyone know what the recovery process would look like if there is an issue with the upgrade?

I'm just wanted to prepared for anything.

[Vipin_S · Accepted solution]

 There are several safeguards and checks that are built in to the upgrade process to mitigate the chances of upgrades failing, and therefore also mitigating the need for rollback.

Firstly - Unlike most other vendors, we use InfoSight to check your configuration and validate that there are no known issues that could cause your upgrade to fail.  Once this has occurred, your array would be whitelisted to receive a new version.  If issues were detected, your array would be blacklisted from downloading that version.

Secondly - After you have downloaded a whitelisted version of Nimble OS, and select to perform the upgrade, we perform a system health check.  This must pass successfully for the upgrade to continue.  This ensures things like the network etc. are in good shape before we move forward to the next stage.

Thirdly - We start the upgrade of the standby controller to the new version, and reboot to this code level to validate that the upgrade on that controller has been successful.  Once that has been completed, we then upgrade the active controller to the new version of code.  On reboot of the active controller, this is when the data path switches to previously standby controller, and it becomes active.

While all this is happening, we are still monitoring the heartbeats of the array, so if the process takes longer than expected or you run into some other problems we know right away.

Lastly, if any issues do arise, we recommend you engage with our 24 hr support team as the first action.  If they cannot resolve the issue, we escalate to engineering for a roll forward plan. This might involve a patch or configuration change to get you back up and running as quickly as possible.

[brodden]

Hi Vipin_S,

Thank you so much for that detailed response! That really put me at ease with proceeding with the update.

Thanks,

Ben

[Sunitha_Mod]

Hello @brodden, 

That's awesome! 

We are extremely glad to know your concern has been addressed.