Primera firmware behavior

[CadenLange]

Hi

If an A650 Primera is upgraded to include additional cages (1 cage added behind each controller pair) with a higher firmware version that then existing cages what is the behavior of the array?

Will it maintain different firmware versions until the array OS is updated to a common version that is pushed out to all the cages? Or will the new cages be 'downgraded' to match that of the existing cages?

Are there any technical or support concerns in having cages and\or SSDs at different firmware verions within the same array?

many thanks

[feigenL]

As per the best practices it is recommended the take the array to the latest OS and firmware versions before adding the new hardware.

But if you already connected the new cages, and if the firmware for the cages and/or the disk drives is newer thant the array, it might show the new hardware as "degraded". If the disks came with a newer fw version, the system may also show them as failed or degraded.

You can check the status with this commands:

#checkhealth -svc -full -detail

#showcage -d

#showpd -failed -degraded

There are a couple of other commands that may help you seeing the current version of the array as well as the supported firmware versions for that current OS version.

#showversion -a -b

#showfirmwaredb

Anyway, try to upgrade the array ASAP.

Regards