Comments on: Ethernet Routing Switch 8600 Software Release v5.1.2.0

By: Michael McNamara

Michael McNamara — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:36:12 +0000

Hi Mark,

Well as of right now 5.1.2.0 is not yet available. Here’s my recommendation for folks, depending on hardware and feature sets. If you are just looking to stabilize your ERS8600 IST/SMLT configuration then 4.1.8.3 is a good stop. If you want/need 5.x software then 5.0.5 seems very stable and reliable. If you want to live on the edge 5.1.1.1 has been good for me but there are reported issues with RIP routing and RS modules.

– 4.1.8.3
– 5.0.5.0
– 5.1.1.1

Those are the options today and I would recommend and that I am using in my production network. You MUST read the release notes. It’s highly recommended to read the release notes of all interim versions that you’ll be skipping if you jump from say 4.1.4.0 to 4.1.8.3. There’s a lot of useful information in the release notes that generally doesn’t get captured anywhere else and usually gets lost.

Unless you’re really suffering you might want to hold out for the 5.1.2.0 software release.

If you are using VRRP you MUST have unique VRRP ID throughout each switch… if you don’t your switch will tank once you upgrade.

Hopefully that helps!

By: Mark Starry

Mark Starry — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:29:43 +0000

So, Michael as the ultimate Nortel/Avaya ninja… ;-) Yes or no to 5.1.2.0 We are experiencing many of the annoying bug fixes, but nothing critical. Our network has to be platinum (99.99% availability), but we still have to manage it and the IPFIX bug is huge to us.

Thanks!

Mark

By: Curtis

Curtis — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:15:31 +0000

In reply to Michael McNamara. Found out the same thing yesterday from our Nortel...oops, Avaya SE.

By: Michael McNamara

Michael McNamara — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:54:07 +0000

In reply to Adam Dacosta. Thanks for the kind words Adam!

By: Adam Dacosta

Adam Dacosta — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:58:55 +0000

Great post! I have shared it with our community with a link to your post.

Thanks, great stuff!

By: Michael McNamara

Michael McNamara — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:39:16 +0000

In reply to Curtis.

Hi Curtis,

I found out today that 5.1.2.0 software is in Controlled Availability (CA) meaning that it’s not generally available just yet. I suspect the product management folks are just being careful in vetting the current software release before allowing it into the wild.

I’ve been told that the code should be GA by mid March 2010.

Cheers!

By: Curtis

Curtis — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:51:52 +0000

Did 5.1.2.0 get pulled back off the website? It doesn’t appear in the list of available 8600 software versions and if I go through the Release Notes and select it, I am getting an “Invalid Software Link” message.

By: Michael McNamara

Michael McNamara — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 03:09:42 +0000

In reply to Edson. I'm happy to hear that they were able to resolve the problem.

By: Edson

Edson — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:39:57 +0000

We faced a big problem (broadcast storm/high cpu utilization) that was caused by this issue:

ERS8600 will now properly forward DHCP packets with the DHCP-relay agent configured as the VRRP virtual IP when the DHCP request has the broadcast flag set. Best practice recommendation still continues to be to configure the DHCP-relay agent IP address as the VLAN physical address and not the VRRP IP address. (Q02059607-01)

Can´t believe it was solved!!