IBM System Storage N series Data ONTAP Release Model

Content

IBM provides N series storage solutions which utilize the Data ONTAP operating system. This document is an overview of the release model for this operating system. It is intended to provide an understanding of the Data ONTAP release process so that customers can choose the releases that best fit their needs and particular environments. Customers should review the N series Interoperability Matrices and each Data ONTAP release's Filer and Gateway publication matrices as part of the criteria in determining the Data ONTAP release which best meets their interoperability and environmental requirements for using their N series storage systems.

Most Data ONTAP releases are electronically distributed as explained in the “Best Practices for Using the N series Support Website” document. For those releases that are not electronically distributed, the customer must contact IBM Support to obtain them.

The release model describes the types of releases used in the software lifecycle as various milestones associated with each release family.

The lifecycle milestones of releases are:

• Release Candidate (RC)
• General Availability (GA)
• Recommended Release

The types of releases are:

• Major Feature Releases
• Maintenance Releases
• Point Releases
• Patch (P) Releases
• Debug (D) Releases
• Revision (R) Releases
• Limited (L) Releases

General information

• A release identifier is used to identify the various types of releases. Each release is uniquely identified with a numeric scheme delimited by period (“.”) characters and qualified by special alphabetic characters which are defined for each type of release.

Examples of release identifiers:
7.1.2.1R1, 7.1.3, 7.2RC1, 7.2.6.1P1, 7.2.7, 7.3, 7.3.6, 8.0, 8.0.1, 8.0.2RC1, 8.0.2

• A release family is the set of releases that share the same Major Feature release identifier. As an example, the 7.3.6 release belongs to the 7.3 release family because it shares the same first two digits of the release identifier for the Major Feature release.

• The 7-Mode qualifier is included in the release identifier of the 8.x release families of Data ONTAP to indicate that they have the same features and functionality found in the prior Data ONTAP 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3 release families. For example: 8.0.2 7-Mode

• As a best practice, IBM recommends that customers qualify Major Feature releases in their test environments prior to rollout in their mission-critical environments.

The following sections contain detailed information on the lifecycle milestones and types of Data ONTAP releases.

Lifecycle Milestones of Data ONTAP Releases

Release Candidate (RC) milestone

Major Feature or Maintenance releases of Data ONTAP may be introduced as one or more release candidates (RC). RC releases are ready for customers to use in a production environment. A release provided as an RC milestone is:

• A release that has been fully tested and considered suitable for production usage.
• Used by customers to start exploring new features and/or bug fixes before it achieves the General Availability (GA) milestone.
• Supported by IBM.
• One of several possible release candidates deployed, as necessary, to address any specific issues found prior to the release achieving the GA milestone.
• Described by its Release Notes and will sometimes include updated product publications when available.
• Included in a customer notification which will be received by all customers who have subscribed to the Data ONTAP product offering using IBM’s “My notifications” tool.

General Availability (GA) milestone

A Major Feature or Maintenance release of Data ONTAP will become generally available (GA) when it has completed all certifications and has caused no significant problems with customer usage. A release achieving the GA milestone is:

• Indicating that key qualifications have been completed with regard to certification for use with the appropriate N series storage systems and client applications as identified in the N series Interoperability Matrices. Some certifications will be provided within 90 days after the deployment of the GA release.
• Without critical product defects or other serious defects with a broad impact.
• Used as the base for all subsequent Maintenance, Point, and Patch releases.
• Included in a customer notification which will be received by all customers who have subscribed to the Data ONTAP product offering using IBM’s “My notifications” tool.

Recommended Release milestone

Customers may choose to remain on particular releases of Data ONTAP for various reasons. Customers should use their own criteria in conjunction with the information in his release model, the interoperability matrices, and the publication matrices for each Data ONTAP release to determine if a recommended release should be installed in their storage environment. IBM will recommend a specific release within a release family for most customers after that release has demonstrated availability and reliability across a significant number of customer sites. Data ONTAP releases that achieve the "recommended release" milestone in a release family may not be the latest releases available. Not all releases will achieve this designation.

Approximately 3 months after a release has achieved the GA milestone, IBM may recommend the release to customers based on the following criteria:

• No significant problems have been reported by customers using it.
• A large number and variety of deployments have been running it in production environments.
• All qualifications have been completed with regard to certification for use with the appropriate N series storage systems and configurations.

Subsequent maintenance or point releases may achieve the “recommended release” milestone after they meet the aforementioned criteria for this designation.

Types of Data ONTAP Releases

Major Feature Releases

These releases deliver major features and changes. Major feature releases typically include:

• New features.
• Key infrastructure changes, such as fundamental changes to WAFL® operation or RAID operation.
• The version number for RAID, WAFL, NVLOG, or Java changes; requiring a file system upgrade process to upgrade to the release, and a “revert_to” process to move back to a prior release that contains an earlier version of RAID, WAFL, NVLOG, or Java.

Examples of the release candidates (RC) for a major feature release:
7.3RC1, 7.3RC2, 8.0RC1, 8.1RC1
Examples of the general availability (GA) for a major feature release:
7.3, 8.0, 8.1

A major feature release starts a new release family.

Each Data ONTAP major feature release will generally have a number of different types of additional releases after its initial general availability (GA) date. These may include maintenance releases, point releases, patch releases, debug releases, revision releases, and limited releases. Each release family may not have all of these types of releases; they are described here to provide a complete explanation of the release process. Note that different releases may support specific N series products. Refer to the “N series Data ONTAP Matrix” for a listing of the available releases and the products supported. Some releases, such as debug, limited, and patch releases, may be available only through IBM Support, rather than electronically distributed from the N series Support Web Site.

Maintenance Releases

These releases are part of the maintenance stream for each release family; designed to assist customers in validating and gaining stability in a specific release family. They may have any of the following characteristics:

• Possible choice for the introduction of new product support.
• Support for replacement hardware (for example, newer NICs, HBAs).
• Recommended bug fixes based on customer impact.
• No fundamental system change - no version number change to RAID, WAFL, NVLOG, Java.
• Addition of select, minor features.

Examples of the release candidates (RC) for a maintenance release:
7.3.6RC1, 8.0.1RC1, 8.0.2RC1
Examples of the general availability (GA) for a maintenance release:
7.1.3, 7.3.6, 8.0.1, 8.0.2

Maintenance releases will be provided periodically within each major feature release. A maintenance release will only be designated as a "recommended release" after it achieves the criteria for this designation.

Point Releases

These releases are based upon a GA maintenance release. A point release includes a small number of significant bug fixes that should be made available to all customers.

A point release will:

• Replace the previously available GA release.
• Be tested to the same level as the GA release that it replaces.
• Not necessarily include all fixes from previous patch releases.
• Be included as fixes in the subsequent maintenance release for that release family.

Examples of point releases:
7.2.6.1, 7.3.1.1, 7.3.5.1

Customers need not replace the version they are currently using unless they are affected by the specific bug(s) being fixed. New installations should use the latest point release. A point release will only be classified as a “recommended release” after it achieves the key metrics for this designation.

Patch (P) Releases

These releases are based upon a major feature, maintenance, or point releases that have achieved the GA milestone. “P” releases are used to deliver bug fixes to customer-encountered bugs in a timely manner. Depending upon the particular bug fixes, ”P” releases may be available for all customers to download, or they may be made available only through IBM Support.

A patch release:

• Provides fixes for customer-encountered bugs.
• Should only be applied to the specific storage system where the bug was encountered.
• Has undergone Quality Assurance (QA) regression testing.
• That includes significant fixes will be incorporated into all subsequent maintenance releases for the affected release family.
• Will not be designated as a GA or “recommended release.”

Examples of patch releases on maintenance releases:
7.1.3P1, 7.3.3P1
Examples of patch releases on point releases:
7.2.6.1P1, 7.2.6.1P2

In the rare event of a Revision (R) or Limited (L) release, the Patch (P) release numbering is based on the R or L release.

Examples of patch releases on revision releases:
7.0.1R1P1, 7.0.1R1P2
Examples of patch releases on limited releases:
7.2.4L1P1, 7.2.4L1P2

Debug (D) Releases

These releases are used to deliver exception hot-fixes on an urgent, as-needed basis. They are not normally planned, and they are delivered only under extraordinary need. They will only be made available through IBM Support.

A debug release:

• Provides a specific change to a specific customer.
• Does not automatically roll into the next maintenance release.
• May be partial fixes, debug assistance, etc.
• May be deployed for a customer who cannot wait for a patch release or the next maintenance release.
• Will not be designated as a GA or “recommended release.”

Examples of debug releases:
7.1.3D1, 7.2.6.1D1, 7.2.6.1D2

Revision (R) Releases

These are emergency releases that may be created in cases where a critical fix needs to be deployed to all customers. It is recommended that all customers running the prior release upgrade to the R release immediately. These releases are created only if IBM assesses that there is no alternative vehicle to provide the fix in the short term to a wide range of customers. For instance, an R release may not be provided if there is a maintenance release coming out in a short period of time.

A revision release:

• Is generally triggered by a severe bug that impacts a significant number of customers.
• Has undergone Quality Assurance (QA) regression testing and explicit testing of the fixes.
• Will have its fixes included in the next patch release and maintenance release for the affected release family.
• Will not be designated as a GA or “recommended release.”

Examples of revision releases:
7.0.1R1, 7.0.1R2

Limited (L) Releases

These are small, self-contained releases that deliver one or more of the following:

• Separately licensed features that might be of interest to specific early adopters.
• Support for new hardware or products that have not yet been supported by a major feature release or maintenance release.

Examples of limited releases:
7.2.4L1, 7.2.4L2

The features or hardware support contained in an “L“ release will be targeted to an appropriate major feature release or maintenance release as soon as possible. After it is included in a major feature release or maintenance release, the “L“ release is no longer supported. “L“ releases are supported releases, and patches will be issued on an "as needed" basis as determined by IBM. At the time of the “L“ release, the official patches to the code line upon which the “L“ release is based are included in the “L“ release. An “L“ release will generally not be designated as a “recommended release.”