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• Recommended Releases for Cisco MDS 9000 Series Switches

Recommended Releases for Cisco MDS 9000 Series Switches

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Obtaining Documentation and Submitting a Service Request

This document lists the minimum recommended Cisco NX-OS software release for use with Cisco MDS 9000 Series switches for both new deployments and existing deployments. Because these are minimum release recommendations, more recent software releases can be used to take advantage of newer hardware and software capabilities. These recommendations are general and should not replace environment-specific design review efforts.

General Recommendation for New Deployments

We recommend that customers with new Cisco MDS 9000 Series deployments choose from the following minimum recommended releases:

Chassis or Fabric Switch	Supervisor Module	Supported Modules	Minimum Recommended Software Release
9506, 9509, and 9513	Supervisor 2 or Supervisor 2a	Generation 4 modules supported: DS-X9708-K9, Cisco MDS 9000 8-port 10-Gbps Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Module DS-X9232-256K9, Cisco MDS 9000 32-port 8-Gbps Advanced Fibre Channel Switching Module DS-X9248-256K9, Cisco MDS 9000 48-port 8-Gbps Advanced Fibre Channel Switching Module	5.2(6b)
9506, 9509, and 9513	Supervisor 2 or Supervisor 2a	Generation 3 modules supported: DS-X9224-96K9, Cisco MDS 9000 24-Port 8-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module DS-X9248-96K9, Cisco MDS 9000 48-Port 8-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module DS-X9248-48K9, Cisco MDS 9000 4/44-Port Host-Optimized 8-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module	5.0(7)
9506, 9509, and 9513	Supervisor 2 or Supervisor 2a	Generation 2 modules supported: DS-X9112, Cisco MDS 9000 12-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module DS-X9124, Cisco 24-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module DS-X9148, Cisco MDS 9000 48-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Modules DS-X9704, Cisco MDS 9000 Family 4-Port 10-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module	5.0(7)
9506, 9509, and 9513	Supervisor 2 or Supervisor 2a	Generation 1 modules supported: DS-X9016, 16-port 1-, 2-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module DS-X9032, 32-port 1-, 2-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module	4.2(7e)
9506, 9509, and 9513	Supervisor 1	Generation 1 modules supported: DS-X9016, 16-port 1-, 2-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module DS-X9032, 32-port 1-, 2-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module Generation 2 modules supported: DS-X9112, Cisco MDS 9000 12-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module DS-X9124, Cisco 24-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module DS-X9148, Cisco MDS 9000 48-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Modules DS-X9704, Cisco MDS 9000 Family 4-Port 10-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module	3.3(5b)
9222i	-	Generation 2 modules supported: DS-X9112, Cisco MDS 9000 12-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module DS-X9124, Cisco 24-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module DS-X9148, Cisco MDS 9000 48-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Modules DS-X9704, Cisco MDS 9000 Family 4-Port 10-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module Generation 3 modules supported: DS-X9248-48K9, Cisco MDS 9000 4/44-Port Host-Optimized 8-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module	5.0(7)
9222i	-	Generation 1 modules supported: DS-X9016, 16-port 1-, 2-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module DS-X9032, 32-port 1-, 2-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module	4.2(7e)
9216i	-	Generation 1 modules supported: DS-X9016, 16-port 1-, 2-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module DS-X9032, 32-port 1-, 2-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module Generation 2 modules supported: DS-X9112, Cisco MDS 9000 12-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module DS-X9124, Cisco 24-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module DS-X9148, Cisco MDS 9000 48-port 4-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Modules DS-X9704, Cisco MDS 9000 Family 4-Port 10-Gbps Fibre Channel Switching Module	4.2(7e)
MDS 9148 switch and Cisco MDS 8-Gb Fabric Switch for HP c-Class Blade System	-	-	5.0(7)
MDS 9124 switch, MDS 9134 switch, Cisco MDS 4-Gbps Fabric Switch for HP c-Class BladeSystem, and Cisco MDS 4-Gbps Fabric Switch for IBM BladeCenter	-	-	5.0(7)
9120, 9140, and 9216A switches	-	-	3.3(5b)

We recommend that customers choose from the following FICON recommended releases:

Supervisor or Switch	Supported Modules	Minimum Recommended Software Release
Supervisor 2 or Supervisor 2a	Generation 4	5.2(2)
Supervisor 2 or Supervisor 2a	Generation 3	5.2(2)
Supervisor 2 or Supervisor 2a	Generation 2	5.2(2)
Supervisor 2 or Supervisor 2a	Generation 1	4.2(7b)
MDS 9134 switch	-	5.2(2)

We recommend that customers choose from the following Cisco MDS 9000 Series Intelligent Applications recommended releases:

Intelligent Application	Recommended Software Release
I/O Accelerator (IOA)	5.2(2d)
Data Mobility Manager (DMM)	5.2(2d)
Storage Media Encrytpion (SME) - Disk	5.2(2)
Storage Media Encrytpion (SME) - Tape	5.2(2)
RecoverPoint and SANTap	Cisco NX -OS 5.0(7) and SSI 5.0(4m)

We recommend that customer choose Cisco DCNM-SAN Release 5.2(2) for Cisco DCNM-SAN software.

General Recommendation for Existing Deployments

We recommend that customers with existing Cisco MDS 9000 Series deployments upgrade to the following minimum recommended releases:

• For Cisco NX-OS Release 4.x:
  • Cisco NX-OS Release 4.2(7e) is the recommended release for general features and functions.
• For Cisco NX-OS Release 5.x:
  • Cisco NX-OS Release 5.2(6b) is the recommended release for general features and functions.

Existing Deployments That Use Software Earlier Than One of the Recommended Releases

To the extent possible, we recommend upgrading to one of the NX-OS releases listed previously. If that is not possible, we recommend that you review the Cisco MDS NX-OS Release Notes for the earlier release and the Bug Tool Kit to determine the impact of any open caveats.

Documentation and Software

For additional information, see the Cisco MDS 9000 Series Switches product documentation page.

For software, see the Download Software page.

For information on obtaining documentation, submitting a service request, and gathering additional information, see the monthly What's New in Cisco Product Documentation, which also lists all new and revised Cisco technical documentation, at:

http:/​/​www.cisco.com/​en/​US/​docs/​general/​whatsnew/​whatsnew.html

Subscribe to the What's New in Cisco Product Documentation as a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed and set content to be delivered directly to your desktop using a reader application. The RSS feeds are a free service and Cisco currently supports RSS version 2.0.

 

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