Flare Upgrade Question

Question

We have a CX700 running Flare version 19. Based on some logged errors, the recommendation has been made that we upgrade to version 24. We currently have several Windows and AIX hosts connected thru 2 McData Directors, and a Celerra at 5.5.28.1. During the planning phase we were first told that the Flare upgrade could be done hot with no SAN or NAS interruptions; then we were told the Data Movers had to be taken off-line during the upgrade; then the Data Movers could stay on-line but the AIX hosts had to be taken off-line.

Now I'm confused. I've asked my CE to put a plan together that outlines the upgrade, but I would like to get your combined wisdom. What has to go off-line; what can be done hot; and what exposure do we have during the upgrade?

I'm not trying to second guess my CE, I have complete trust in him. I just want to get a better understanding of what's involved.

bodnarg · Answer

For the AIX hosts as long as you are running PowerPath AIX of at least version 4.5.1 and have the falover mode set to 3 on your Clariion you should be able to keep these online for the migration.

I think you are "out-of-luck" on the Celerra unless they make an exception for you - I am not aware of a standard setup where the Celerra can remain active during a Flare code upgrade. Maybe there is something in a newer release of DART that has altered this stance, but it must be a very recent change.

There are some required patches for AIX you also need to investigate including a minimum version of ODM and some IBM APARs that are required to remain active during a non-disruptive upgrade. These are some notes I had researched for an upgrade we just did a few months ago on a CX500 to version 24 from 19:

Requires Minimum EMC ODM fileset support 5.2.0.1.

CLARiiON−licensed (Flare) upgrade support requires minimum AIX ML 5300−02.

Required AIX APARS include IY71303, IY71653 and IY73637 .

Requires minimum AIX 5.3 APAR−IY58143 and APAR−IY62221.

dynamox · Answer

I am glad Harold asked this question ...i am getting ready to upgrade my CX700 to flare 24, right now my AIX boxes are set to failover mode 1 ...when did you set failover mode 3 ? before the upgrade ?

Thanks

bodnarg · Answer

Yes I set this mode to failover mode 3 per some information - this support was added in Flare version 19 to fix some issues with AIX and NDU in the past.

Not sure on any technical details, I just know the setting was designed to work with a specific fix.

I found these 2 KB articles which may help: emc157830 and emc67186 which goes into specific detail on the AIX settings.

Hope this helps.

FresnoRed · Answer

Thanks for all the replys. Yeah, looks like it's more of a problem than originally outlined. I will have to wait for a maintenance window to do the upgrade.Harold

nandas · Answer

Does your array have any ATA Drive?I assume you are not planning for any NAS code upgrade on the Celerra. Also I assume, this is on a SAN Fabric since you have other hosts connected as well.So, as per my understanding the Data Movers can definitely stay online - the backend Flare code upgrade will not affect the data mover. However, during the Flare upgrade it will be advisable to have the lowest IO possible on the data movers.All the very best for your upgrade activity.Thanks,Sandip

FresnoRed · Answer

Sandip,Yes we have one tray of ATA drives that have LUNs going to Celerra pool and also to FC connected Win & AIX boxes.Thanks,Harold

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