Changes to Safe Harbor program! From Post-FCS testing to Pre-FCS
Over the past 8 years, Safe Harbor has provided software recommendations on the Catalyst 6500 and other products (ACE, FWSM, WiSM, CSM, CSS, etc.) working to improve product quality and to provide quality assurance for the field, by focusing on the features most in use by customers. Since our initial testing on 12.1(8b)E, each major software release has seen improvements in quality as evidenced by increased upstream test coverage and successful test runs within the Safe Harbor process.
Starting with 12.2(33)SXI3 and 12.2(33)SXH6, SH test execution will be performed pre-FCS, significantly reducing the delay in software recommendations and improving Time-to-Adoption (TTA). To accomplish this goal, we are working with upstream test teams (regression, development, system's, etc.) to ensure that each feature tested in SH is thoroughly covered and documented.
Safe Harbor will continue to provide release recommendations and documentation (test plans, defect reports, status updates) and will continue with the TTA/OIB efforts to facilitate continued improvement in test coverage through close engagement with field teams. The documentation will be modified to provide a more succinct report of testing that can be used in your planning.
With this next step in the evolution of Safe Harbor, we have significantly increased testing efficiency while reducing the overhead and cost, increasing opportunities for its adoption by other products/platforms.
Safe Harbor focuses on satisfying customer quality requirements in key vertical markets. This program links and expands on several Cisco testing projects, including development, regression testing, and systems testing, that are critical to the success of enterprise-service organizations. Safe Harbor certification marks the successful completion of extensive integrity testing that validates each release.
To ask specific questions or participate in ongoing discussions subscribe to the Public Safe Harbor Alias.
To request access to the Safe Harbor Workroom 
containing more detailed documentation, contact safeharbor-external-info@external.cisco.com.
Catalyst 6500 Software
Service Modules for the Catalyst 6500 Series
*If a newer version has been recommended but is not on this table, contact your Cisco Account Manager or Systems Engineer.
