I've been researching this to no avail, I have a T5220 running firmware 7.2.2.e (139442-06)
However, the issue I have is that I want to update the firmware yet Oracle maintains 3 different sets of firmware for the T5220:
7.2.x = (139442-14) Being the latest at 7.2.11.a; Released 12/13/2011
7.3.x = (145675-06) Being the latest at 7.3.3; Released 11/17/2011
7.4.x = (147309-04) Being the latest at 7.4.2.a; Released 12/13/2011
Why would Oracle maintain 3 sets, and if anyone knows why I should or should not update to the 7.4.x line when I'm presently running a 7.2.x
If anyone knows anything more about this than I do, I would appreciate any insight.
Hello, think of it as different versions of kernel releases. Each release has its own patches that fix issues for that release. You should pay attention to features offered in higher revisions from one you are currently on. Unless I hit bug in release I am on currently, and / or do not care about newer features, I tend to stay where things are stable for me.
RE: why I should or should not update to the 7.4.x line when I'm presently running a 7.2.x
Only if you care about ILOM 3.x, as 7.2.x is support for ILOM 2.x. 7.4.x and 7.3.x are for ILOM 3.x.
Thanks for the quick response; however I'm a bit confused with the 7.2 only being for ILOM 2.
Oracle shows 7.2.x and up are ILOM 3.x, only 7.0.x and 7.1.x were ILOM 2.x
I cant link the oracle site since I dont have 5 posts quiet yet.
The differences from what I've researched are:
7.2.11.a has ILOM 3.0.10.4
7.3.3 has ILOM 3.0.12.4.s
7.4.2.a has ILOM 3.0.12.4.u
Either way, I think its pretty confusing to maintain 3 firmware lines without a clear difference between them. I have an excel I used to break down the ILOM, Hypervisor, OBP, POST, VBSC versions with no clear distinction. Just different versions.
Agree with you, my data was little old. Bottom line is that firmware "families" are for different customers needing to be on same level of FW "family" regardless of purchase date. There are many custom installations for T5xxx, and I as a customer may have requirement for specific family of FW. Sun has tried to be accommodating to all, and now they need to support it going forward.
From my experience it comes down to features and need for them. Assuming no bug forces you to upgrade.
Ok, that makes sense. I've got CP3260's that only get updated from the R3U3Px series now but at least with those its a little more intuitive to update them.
My thoughts with all the bug fixes for the 7.2.x line, It makes sense to just keep updating to the latest 7.2.x and not update to 7.4.x line.