Michael McNamara

technology, networking, virtualization and IP telephony

Ethernet Routing Switch 4500 Software Release v5.4

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Avaya has released software 5.4 for the Ethernet Routing Switch 4500 series switch.

New features;

  • 802.1AB (LLDP) MED Network Policy CLI
  • 802.1D Compliancy Support
  • ADAC and Auto QoS Interoperability
  • ADAC Enhancements
  • Additional SFP Support
  • Automatic QoS and 802.1AB MED Interoperability
  • DHCP Client
  • DHCP Option 82 Support
  • DHCP Snooping Improvements
  • Dual Syslog Server Support
  • Dynamic Route Table Allocation
  • EAP and non-EAP MultiVLAN capability
  • Energy Saver
  • Erasable NNCLI Audit Log
  • IPFIX
  • MLT and LAG Scaling
  • Non-Local Static Routes
  • Open Shortest Path First
  • QoS Agent Operational Mode
  • QoS DSCP Mutation
  • QoS Egress Queue Shaping
  • QoS IP/L2 Filter Options
  • QoS Queue Set Support
  • RADIUS Accounting Enhancements (RFC2866)
  • RADIUS Server Reachability
  • Routing Information Protocol
  • Routing Policies
  • Running Configuration NNCLI Display Commands
  • Show Software Status
  • Software Licensing
  • Sticky MAC Address
  • Time Delay Reflectometer
  • Traffic Profile Filter Set Support

There are a large number of resolved and known issues, too many to post here, so I would advise anyone interested to review the release notes.

I will point out a few items that stand out… thissoftware release marks the introduction of Enterprise Device Manager for the Ethernet Routing Switch 4500 replacing the legacy Java Device Manager.

Enterprise Device Manager (EDM) replaces both the integrated Web-based Management and separate Device Manager applications previously used to manage and configure the Ethernet Routing Switch 4500 Series switches.
EDM is a fully integrated graphical user interface delivered as a Web-based application that runs in a Web browser. To enhance ease of use, the EDM application has the look and feel of Device Manager (previously known as JDM).
EDM navigation has been enhanced. To access command tabs from the EDM navigation tree, the documented procedures specify using a double-click to open the tab in the work area. With the enhancement, you can access all objects in the navigation tree with a single click.

ATTENTION
With the introduction of Enterprise Device Manager (EDM) the use of Device Manager (sometimes referred to as JDM) is no longer supported because the use of JDM to control the switch could lead to potential corruption of the switch configuration.
ATTENTION
If you upgrade the software on your switch, and if you are managing the switch with EDM, then you should refresh the browser cache on your end device to ensure that EDM loads the latest tabs for all respective features.

I believe that the Java Device Manager was one of Nortel/Avaya’s greatest assets and a great selling point to customers. JDM was a single tool capable of managing almost every Nortel/Avaya switch, from the legacy BayStack 350 to the enterprise leading Ethernet Routing Switch 8600. I’m not too excited about the introduction of Enterprise Device Manager, I’ll need to kick the tires before I make up my mind.

Has anyone else tried the new Enterprise Device Manager? Comments? Thoughts?

I also noticed that Nortel/Avaya are now supporting a 1000BaseXD DDI SFP (1550 nm). This is a great option for customers looking to operate a fiber metro area network (up to 40km) before jumping to the 1000BaseZX which covers ~ 70km. I’ve successfully used the 1000BaseCWDM DDI SFP (1470 nm) to cover up to 40km. It’s great to finally have all the optical transceivers available in an SFP form factor as opposed to the large GBIC form factor.

This software release also adds OSPF on the ERS 4500 although the Advanced License is required to enable OSPF. You should take care to note that the maximum number of routes is capped at 512 IPv4 routes. As a comparison the ERS 5500 series allows you 2000 IPv4 routes.

Cheers!

Update: Thursday May 20, 2010 @ 2:50 PM EDT
I’ve update the article to reflect the correct software version… Thanks Jeremy.

You might also want to read these other posts...

  1. Ethernet Routing Switch 4500 Software Release v5.5
  2. Ethernet Routing Switch 5500 Software Release 6.0
  3. Ethernet Routing Switch 1600 Software Release v2.1.8.0

Comments

  1. Just as a quick note, the release is actually 5.4, not 4.5. Just don’t want anyone confused by the numbering.

    ESM is interesting. It still uses SNMP underneath, just that all interaction is through the new web interface instead of java. Some things are annoying, such as not being able to select multiple ports on the graphical view anymore. However, they did add “batch” mode processing to things like Spanning Tree and the like. So instead of clicking through several drop down boxes, it will let you select the ports to apply specific settings to.

    The biggest thing is that ESM is S-L-O-W when using the on-box web server. We were able to get a trial version of the new COM software that will replace EDM and using it to communicate with ESM was much better. JDM is still faster yet, but it wasn’t as bad.

    • Thanks for pointing out my mistake Jeremy. I’ve updated the article.

      Hopefully Enterprise Device Manager will be better than the web interfaces from Cisco and faster than the web interfaces from Juniper.

    • I missed your comment Bill… I know a few people have asked me about that, I’ll make some inquiries at Avaya and see if they are working on anything like that.

  3. sir can u just tell me how to get switch mac address and port number to which my client is connected ……i m looking for it from days to identify switches…….code should be in java or c# or c++ or vb please ..i m in very need of that …….plz as soon as possible………

  4. Alguien me podria colaborar enviandome el Software Release v5.4 para poder actualizar mis switches, o indicarme donde lo puede obtener

    • Puede ser posible que alguien me lo done, necesito asegurar mis switches Nortel 4526T PWR con protocolo SSH y HTTPS y con la version de firmware que tengo no es posible . El problema es que la empresa que no los vendio no nos ha respondido la solicitud. Si alguien me puede colaborar mil gracias.

      • In case anyone else is trying to follow the conversation I’m using Google to translate.

        Here’s the translation: “It may be possible for someone to donate it to me , I need to secure my 4526T PWR Nortel switches with SSH and HTTPS protocol and the firmware version I have is not possible. The problem is that the company not sold we have not answered the request. If anyone can help me many thanks.”

        Unfortunately Jorge I can’t really help you. I would suggest that you contact Avaya directly or another Avaya reseller that might be able to provide you pricing for maintenance contract.

        Good Luck!

  6. Por favor algien me puede decir desde que release de Nortel se puede utilizar ssh tengo un switch v5.1 pero no habilita los comandos???

    • Hola Ana,

      Necesita instalar la versión segura del software para permitir a SSH/SNMPv3 funcionalidad. ¿Cuál es la versión exacta del software que ha instalado en el switch?

      ¡Salud!

  7. Hola muy buenas tardes alguien me puede indicar los comandos para habilitar Radius en un Switch 4526… ya coloque las tres lineas de radius radius-server host, radius-radius key, radius-server port. pero no aparece como habilidado…

  8. Hola muy buenas tardes alguien me puede indicar los comandos para habilitar Radius en un Switch 4526… ya coloque las tres lineas de radius radius-server host, radius-radius key, radius-server port. pero no aparece como habilidado…

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