460 Code differences - 3.1 vs 3.5 vs 3.6

[telecom116]

Can anyone explain what the differences between the 3.1, 3.5 and 3.6 code trains for the 460-PWR switches are? Nowhere can I find any documentation that compares the three versions and what criteria I should use for choosing what I should upgrade to.

I upgraded a 460 stack last night from 3.0.x code. I planned to go to 3.1.8 but after reading the release notes, there was a NVRAM corruption issue resolved with the 3.1.9 release (and I don't want to forget about it later). I usually wait for 30-60 days after release before putting code into production.

 

[dane775]

Usually you have to read the release notes and figure things out for yourself. They never put the information together in an easily readable format that says: we changed this, we added that, we fixed all of this.

Sometimes you can find the info in a reader-friendly format, but usually not.

Here's something to consider - Nortel has restrictions on support for older code. They give full support to the latest rev of code, plus 2 revs back.

So upgrading code, becomes essential at some point (although, like you, I'm hesitant to try code when it first becomes GA.) - Good Luck

 

[HungryHouse]

The main difference/reason for the Boss 3.5 code appears to be
802.1w Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP)
and
802.1s Multiple Spanning Trees Protocol (MSTP)

Boss 3.6 has a great deal of new features. Too many to list here...the big one that jumped out at me was no longer support for 450s in the stack. All the new features and fixes however can be found here:

http://www116.nortelnetworks.com/docs/bvdoc/baystack/doc_pdf/3.6/217103-A.pdf

I hope this is helpful
-HH