Anyone install 6.0 out there?

[curtismo]

I'm looking for any gotchas, etc., on 6.0, as we are preparing to upgrade several systems from 4.5 to 6.0 in the next few weeks. We're already getting hardware, etc., in, but would like to hear experiences from anyone out there.

We are complicating things a bit by combining a three-cabinet system with a single cabinet system a few blocks away across a Gigabit fiber link, and changing the system to an HA system. We're already doing ITG traffic across this link and latency is not a problem.

 

[yalcinataseverr]

good luck...

 

[biv343]

Best I can offer is read up on the UCM piece of the upgrade. The call server upgrades aren't any different than before. Deploying the apps to the Linux COTS servers takes some getting used to, but isn't a big deal. The worst part is getting all the devices registered to the UCM security domain. Make sure you build all your user accounts in UCM before you join the call server to the security domain. Also, load all the Linux service packs on the COTS servers as well.

 

[curtismo]

I have a vendor who has done my past few upgrades doing this one. I know that a lot of people have done 5.0 and 5.5 but haven't heard much about 6.0 issues or installations.

 

[biv343]

It doesn't seem that people are in a rush to go to release 6.0. I'm sure Nortels current situation doesn't help things any. From what I have seen, there don't seem to be many compelling reasons to go to R6, especially if you're already on 5.0 or 5.5.

 

[gwebster]

All you can order now is 6 so definitely new systems are using it.

 

[dgrizzard]

On 5.5 here and plan on staying there, at least until Avaya is able to make it clear how long they plan on selling Nortel software/licenses. I can buy refurb hardware all day long, but not license keys. Plus the fact that we have a ton of phase 1 phones does not help

 

[gwebster]

nikeair - Avaya FAQ at

http://www.avaya.com/usa/resource/c.../featured/faq_avaya_aquisition_of_nortel.pdf.

"Currrently, Avaya expects to:.. honor product life cycle support as set forth in customer contracts acquired in the transaction". An interpretation is that you will be able to buy additional licences for as long as Nortel would have provided them.

 

[kcfonman]

We have it running on 6 of our systems and the best part is we are using the AD (Active Directory) login ID's as our login accounts. When you go from one element to another, you will be logged in.

The UCM is biggest issues you and your distributor are going to have. The security domain will need to be setup and joining it to you corporate AD or LDAP is not hard once UCM has the right account from the AD admin.

The LINUX Redhat interface is a big change. You don't get to see the alarms on the signaling server or NRS in real time. You have to pull the logs to view the errors. Deployment of features and patching is different. Some Linux patches could require a reboot and if you have a CoRes (CallServer, SigServer, and UCM on the same CPPM) will cause a cold start of the call server and the system will be down for 8 to 12 minutes.

The software seems to be very stable, so far and admins love the UCM. Also, you don't need OTM/TM if you don't collect CDR's. Element Manager has a new station manager that works like TM. It also updates the SM if a user makes a change to station via CLI.

 

[gwebster]

nikeair - What is the problem with Phase 1 phones. CS 1000 6.0 Product Bulletins shows both Phase0/1 2004 as "Supported As Is".

 

[M1north]

What type of router/switch can be used for migrating up to 6.0? Do I have to purchase the Nortel or can I use a Cisco 3400-24.

Thx

 

[kcfonman]

Your exsisting network hardware should do. We have one system on a CISCO 4506 and some running on a Nortel 5520-48.

 

[one234]

Hi,

If you are upgrading a release 4.5 system, you should get a new dongle.

With the new dongle you can install the complete release 6 system and have it, in theory because of the amount of hardware required, running parallel to the existing system.

This was also possible with upgrades to CPPM release 5.x systems.

I upgraded a release 4.5 multi site networked customer to release 5.5 2 months ago and the new 5.5 system was running parallel to the old system. Except for the line cards etc. Also make sure that you keep the IP addresses in mind. This customer also changed its IP subnets so that was a real plus. But if you get an extra switch that problem is also solved.

We upgrade all the sites in 1 evening with a downtime of less than 1 hour.

So you could build the complete new release 6.0 system, play with it and when it's the way you want it replace the core hardware and you are done.

The only thing you need to remember: if you are going to play around with the database make a good backup of the upgraded database. You can only upgrade a small system database during the installation of the call server.

Best regards,



Marc D.

If Bill Gates had a nickel for every time Windows crashed... Oh wait, he does...