WoodITWork.com

Virtual Connect

HP has released its latest Virtual Connect Firmware which is used in HP c-Class Chassis with Flex-10, FlexFabric, VC Enet and FC Module interconnect modules.

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&swLang=8&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=MTX-d3c2c57d850f4f4bb9af74c2d6

This release adds support for some new hardware:

• HP ProLiant BL660c Gen8 Server series
• HP ProLiant WS460c Gen8 Workstation series
• HP Virtual Connect Flex-10/10D Module
• HP 7m C-series Active Copper SFP+ cables (QK701A)
• HP 10m C-series Active Copper SFP+ cables (QK702A)
• Cisco 7m copper active Twinax cables (SFP-H10GB-ACU7M)
• Cisco 10m copper active Twinax cables (SFP-H10GB-ACU10M

You can now rollback from a previous firmware upgrade without having to delete the VC domain which is good news.

There are also number of management enhancements such as Advanced telemetry and statistics for Link Aggregation Groups and FlexNICs and Display of factory default MACs and WWNs in server profiles.

There are also security enhancements, SmartLink failover improvements and further browser support (Up to IE 9 and Firefox 11).

This update has fixed quite a number of important bugs, 16 are listed. One of the important issues now fixed was when upgrading VC from 3.18 or earlier to VC 3.51 or later it could fail on a single module so good this has been resolved. There are however 24 “new” or “general” issues reported so make sure you read the release notes carefully before updating.

Also make sure you check through the pre-requisites to ensure you follow some of the advisories or you may lose configuration data and ensure you use the Virtual Connect Support Utility 1.7.0

Onboard Administrator

Version 3.60 of the firmware has been release which is deemed an optional upgrade if you are affected by any of the issues it fixes.

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=3709945&prodSeriesId=1844065&swItem=MTX-1bdf5bc7c8454789b24c2c3b9f&prodNameId=3692952&swEnvOID=54&swLang=8&taskId=135&mode=3

Do not upgrade to OA 3.60 in any enclosures if you have ProLiant BL2x220c server blades and are also using HP Insight Control Server Deployment as there is a bug which will be fixed in a future release.

Of the additions, what does look interesting is Enclosure Firmware Management

Enclosure Firmware Management (EFM) allows administrators to define a single firmware baseline (SPP version) for the G5, G6, G7 and Gen8 Server Blades in a c-Class enclosure.  The administrator can have the firmware updated to the baseline on server insertion, during a pre-defined maintenance window, or manually.  The Onboard Administrator maintains logs of the EFM firmware updates, and reports on compliance with the established baseline.

This allows you to store the Service Pack for Proliant (SPP) .ISO file on a USB key in the OA and create a chassis baseline for all server blades based on the SPP version. When each blade boots it can automatically apply all firmware updates which should be mush faster than manually attaching the DVD/.ISO and updating.

You would need to insert a USB key into each chassis and there isn’t a way to update the .ISO file remotely. For the next update you would manually need to update each USB key. Certainly nothing like Cisco UCSs firmware update system but at least making things a little quicker.