Comments on: Ethernet Routing Switch 5000 Software Release v6.1.4

By: Wayne

Wayne — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:28:56 +0000

Michael, Nortel were able to replicate the problem we found which is good. Patch may come out with v6.2.1 or a separate release.

By: Ethernet Routing Switch 5000 Software Release v6.2.0.200 | Michael McNamara

Ethernet Routing Switch 5000 Software Release v6.2.0.200 | Michael McNamara — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 23:00:01 +0000

[...] recently had a discussion regarding why Avaya released 6.1.4 software after releasing 6.2.0. This is a perfect example of why [...]

By: svl0r

svl0r — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:21:05 +0000

6.2.1 may fix your issue.

By: Michael McNamara

Michael McNamara — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:11:22 +0000

That’s a highly specific problem but a great example of issues that can sneak into major releases… how long did it take you to track that down? Nice find!

If you have the time and don’t mind, please keep us updated.

Cheers!

By: Michael McNamara

Michael McNamara — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 00:08:50 +0000

Well that knowledge comes from experience… while some vendors are better than others you always need to be cautious of any major release. Look at Microsoft’s Windows Vista for a relevant example. There were quite a few issues with Windows Vista until Service Pack 2 came along.

Also, I’m using the word “stable” to communicate the impression that a specific software release has a significant amount of run-time under it’s belt with very few unknown and/or open issues. I’m sure that many folks will find the 6.2 release to be stable but there are hugely different requirements in say an academic student lab network and a hospital intensive care unit telemetry network. It’s one thing to have an issue in a student lab, it’s a complete different thing to potentially interrupt life-saving patient care.

Cheers!

By: Wayne

Wayne — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 22:06:48 +0000

Thanks guys. We upgraded to 6.2 to take advantage of the increased amount of multicast groups supported for the 5520-24T-PWR to 492.
So far we have only found 1 issue in v6.2 which is allowing mutlicast packets to ingress through a blocked RSTP port causing a broadcast loop

By: svl0r

svl0r — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:56:01 +0000

It still would be nice to have a clear note saying this is unstable and this is a stable release. No point to have us guess what’s good and what’s not. I’m lucky to have a test system to mess around with code. But for others they don’t have that.

By: Michael McNamara

Michael McNamara — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:49:16 +0000

I would welcome a standardized release cycle/schedule but as this point I’m happy (delighted) to see that Avaya is continuing to improve the product and issues are being resolved even if the schedule is somewhat erratic.

By: Michael McNamara

Michael McNamara — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:46:19 +0000

Hi Wayne,

Nortel/Avaya maintains multiple code branches/trees for good reason. This is done to help maintain a stable software code base while still allowing the developers to release new features which can be worked into the stable software code base over time.

I’m very happy with the approach that Nortel/Avaya has taken with respect to their software releases. It allows users to test out new software releases (if those features are needed) yet they continue to maintain the older stable release with patches and fixes.

Why did you upgrade? Hopefully you’re not just upgrading for the sake of upgrading.

The vast majority of my network is still running 5.1.x software on the ERS 5000 series switches. I’ve only recently started deploying 6.1.x in new installations and really only to take advantage of some new features and fixes (Jumbo Frames, LLDP-MED, ADAC, etc)

You might not realize that 6.0 software was released in December 2008, almost 2 years ago, so the code has had a lot of time to mature. The 6.1 software was released in June 2009, more than a year ago now.

It may also be that the fixes introduced in 6.1.4 were already a part of 6.2 or might be coming down the road in the form of 6.2.1. So I don’t believe there’s any real reason to be concerned or alarmed.

I wouldn’t advise you to blast out 6.2 within your organization unless you’ve done a serious amount of testing, even if you need some of the new features you should still be prepared to suffer being on the bleeding edge.

Cheers!

By: svl0r

svl0r — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:59:15 +0000

Wayne,

6.2 is a new folk of code that adds a web-based device manager instead of java device manager. This would make this folk an unstable release.

6.1 is still supporting java device manager and is stable code.

Nortel has weird release cycles. Hopefully Avaya will fix this and standardize the release cycle.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 08:27:21 +0000

Micheal, why does Nortel/Avaya release a v6.2, then weeks later release a v6.1.4??
Makes customers think whether or not they shouldve upgraded in the first place.