AIX 5.1 vs AIX 5.3

[SLG]

I have an application running on an old 7043-140 with AIX 5.1 installed. I would like to upgrade it to AIX 5.3 but the 43p does not support higher than AIX 5.1. I am having a hard time convincing management to shell out the money for an entirely new server since this application is really only used by 3 people.
My question is; Do I even need to worry about it? AIX 5.1 is out of support but how long will IBM continue to release patches for it? Also, the enhancements to AIX 5.3 seem to be around virtualization which I clearly do not need in this case, so what would the real benefit be?
Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Gloups]

Be sure your 43p doesn't support aix 5.3. I had two 43p 170 witch are 5.3 aware with a firmware update.

 

[Gloups]

For information:

AIX 5.1 arrived at end of support 01 apr 2006
AIX 5.2 will arrive at end of support 30 sep 2008

Effectivly AIX 5.3 may give you new functionality you wonty need but if you want to be supported by IBM you'll have to use AIX 5.2 or 5.3.

When i upgraded my 43p i used 5.2 just because i only had two integrated 36Go disks.


The better way for your looks to upgrade you microcode to be at the latest level and go to 5.2.

 

[DukeSSD]

I have an application running on an old 7043-140 with AIX 5.1 installed. I would like to upgrade it to AIX 5.3 but the 43p does not support higher than AIX 5.1."
Correct.

"Do I even need to worry about it?"
No, unless you have a real performance problem.

"AIX 5.1 is out of support but how long will IBM continue to release patches for it?"
Security patches for a while yet, but just about all the problems have been fixed, so nothing to worry about there.

"Also, the enhancements to AIX 5.3 seem to be around virtualization which I clearly do not need in this case, so what would the real benefit be?"
Probably nothing. Does youe application even run on AIX 5.3?

The only reason I can think of to upgrade would be if performance was bad. IBM still support the hardware and AIX 5.1 is very stable if you have all the latest fixes installed. Unless you have other AIX machines there does not seem to be any point in upgrading. If you have other AIX machines you could put your application on an LPAR of a newer machine and not only use a supported OS but also save on hardware maintenance.

 

[Gloups]

43p are compatible with AIX 5.3:

Seen it 43p firmware update on IBM pages:

TCP04195 Added support for AIX 5.3.
Corrected problem with auto negotiation at 10/100 speeds for 10/100/1000 Base-T Ethernet PCI Adapter (FC 2975).
GUI SMS menus replaced with text based menus.
Enhancements to SMS network adapter menus to resolve various configuration issues and ping test failures.
Added support to provide response to APR requests for Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) or other network processes that generate ARP requests during NIM operations.

 

[DukeSSD]

Wake up Gloups:
"I have an application running on an old 7043-140 "
The 140 is rspc not chrp, only chrp support 5.2 and higher.
Some 43p systems are chrp, the 140 firmware is TIG not TCP firmware and obviously there is no mention of 5.3 support because it is not a chrp platform...

 

[SLG]

Thanks to all that replied!
Good question DukeSSD "Does your application even run on AIX 5.3?" I have no idea?!? It was written in-house about 10yrs ago and I came on board a few months ago.

Yes, the 7043-140 is a rspc box so no go on 5.2 or 5.3. FYI, the 7043-150 is chrp box; Maybe that is what you were thinking of Gloups?

I agree, AIX 5.1 is very stable so I guess I'll stick with it for now. At least until the box has a mysterious permanent failure!!! ;-)

Thanks again all!

 

[khalidaaa]

I would like to cross my finger before saying that!

But we still have an SP2 running the most important material application Production system on 4.3

That's because the application is not certified to run on 5L for now!

But it is running like a charm we are still testing it on a 5.2 for future migration though!

Regads,
Khalid

 

[Gloups]

Effectivly SLG i looked for 7043-150

Good luck