Planning Your System Upgrade
Available Languages
Table Of Contents
Introduction to System Upgrade
Systems Test Release 4.1 Components
Cisco Unified Communications Release 5.0 Components
Adding New Components and Features in Cisco Unified Communications
Removing Components from Cisco Unified Communications
Single Stage Upgrade Using Existing Hardware
Single Stage Upgrade Using New Hardware
Multi-Staged System Upgrade Using Existing Hardware (Hybrid System)
Planning Your System Upgrade
This topic provides an overview of the upgrade process, the software releases that are involved in the upgrade process, and the different upgrade strategies that can be used based on the size of the customer network.
This topic contains the following sections:
•
Introduction to System Upgrade
Introduction to System Upgrade
Cisco Unified Communications is defined around commonly deployed enterprise topology models in North America and European & Emerging Markets (EUEM) with the goal of growing and evolving over the next 12 to 18 months.
This system is built upon individual IP telephony and contact center products including, but not limited, to the Cisco Unified CallManager (Unified CallManager), Cisco Unified CallManager Express, Cisco Unified Intelligent Contact Management (Unified ICM), Cisco Unified Customer Voice Portal (Unified CVP), Cisco Unity, Cisco Unity Express, Cisco Unified Contact Center Enterprise (Unified CCE), Cisco Customer Response Solutions (CRS), and voice-capable gateways and routers.
Cisco Systems provides an integrated system to meet customer needs. Cisco Unified Communications system testing is a process for specifying (designing) and validating the interoperability of enterprise voice products working together as an integrated system. IP Communications Systems Test Release 4.1 and Cisco Unified Communications System Release 5.0 define a set of software releases for each of the system components.
Targeted Software Releases
A "Release Set" is defined as the combination of products, components, and software versions that were tested to work together as an integrated system. A particular system release is also referred to as a Release Set.
The system that is targeted for the upgrade process and discussed in this document include:
•
–
–
–
•
Note
Upgrade Overview
The upgrade process as discussed in this document addresses different upgrade strategies, preparation for the upgrade operation, order of operations such as the sequence in which the system components should be upgraded, and other dependencies such as backward compatibility of software.
Note
Upgrade Roadmap
Perform the system-level upgrade of IP Communications (IPC) components using the following high-level roadmap:
Step 1
For a list of supported MCS servers for Cisco Unified CallManager 5.0(2) (Unified CallManager), see the Cisco Unified CallManager Server Upgrade Program at:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/voiceapp/ps378/prod_brochure09186a0080174928.html
Note
Step 2
Note
Step 3
Be aware that this document does not provide upgrade and backup procedures for:
•
•
–
–
–
–
•
–
–
–
•
Step 4
Systems Test Release 4.1 Components
The following Cisco Systems enterprise voice products are considered part of the 4.1 release set:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cisco Unified Communications Release 5.0 Components
Adding New Components and Features in Cisco Unified Communications
In addition to the above list of components, the following new components have been added to the Cisco Unified Communications Release 5.0 deployment:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Note
You must install the new components into the network and configure them (rather than upgrade them). See the individual component's installation and configuration documents at the following URLs:
•
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6533/products_installation_guide_book09186a008057b547.html•
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6567/products_installation_guide_book09186a008063d351.html•
http://www.cisco.com/application/pdf/en/us/guest/products/ps1001/c1097/ccmigration_09186a0080626383.pdf•
http://www.cisco.com/application/pdf/en/us/guest/products/ps1844/c1676/ccmigration_09186a00804d8b1c.pdf•
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/phones/ps379/prod_installation_guides_list.html•
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6509/products_installation_guide_book09186a00805201e8.html
Note
•
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6535/products_installation_guide_book09186a008063c22a.html•
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6536/prod_quick_installation_guide09186a0080629079.htmlRemoving Components from Cisco Unified Communications
The following components are not included in the Cisco Unified Communications release set and should be removed from the network:
•
•
System Upgrade Paths
This section provides the general information required to migrate from a common starting point (in IP Communications Systems Test Releases) leading up to the Cisco Unified Communications System release.
If you want to upgrade from an IPC Systems Test Release Set to the Cisco Unified Communications release set, be aware of the possible upgrade paths as listed below. You can access a complete listing of all the IPC Systems Test releases at:
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/voice/ip_tele/gblink/ipcmtrix.htm
•
•
•
•
Note
Figure 1-1 illustrates the recommended upgrade path from:
•
•
Figure 1-1 Upgrade Paths for IPC Systems Test Releases
System Upgrade Strategy
This section discusses the upgrade strategies for all components in the Cisco Unified Communications Release 5.0 deployment scenarios. Details of individual components upgrades are not described unless additional information or clarification is required.
The following upgrade strategies are available with the Cisco Unified Communications Release 5.0:
•
•
All users can then be moved from the existing production network to the new network in one of two ways:
–
- or -
–
The above upgrade strategies involving the Single Stage upgrade approach are appropriate for small sites (less than 300 seats) with a smaller number of components in the network.
•
At the completion of each intermediate stage, the network exists as a "hybrid system" with a mix of the following:
–
–
Note
The Multi-Staged System upgrade approach is recommended for medium-to-large sites (ranging from 301-1499 seats for medium and 1500-4999 seats for large) with a greater number of components in the network.
•
At the completion of each maintenance window, a "hybrid network" exists with a mix of the following:
–
–
–
This model assumes that sites may be upgraded independently. However, with the Multi-Site Migration strategy, you must account for distributed applications with shared components among sites. For example, if you have deployed a distributed ICM system, a Cisco Emergency Responder supporting multiple Cisco CallManager clusters, or a Cisco CallManager cluster using Clustering-over-WAN (CoW), then these sites must be upgraded concurrently.
Users can be moved in stages from the existing production network to the new network operating on Cisco Unified Communications release software.
The Multi-Site Migration strategy is recommended for large multi-site environments (more than 5000 seats) with a large number of components in the network.
Single Stage Upgrade Using Existing Hardware
All components in the network start at the 4.1 release set and all components are upgraded to Cisco Unified Communications release software within a single maintenance window (MW). Since all components are upgraded within a single maintenance window, interoperability is not required between the 4.1 release set and Cisco Unified Communications release set.
The Single Stage upgrade on existing hardware approach is typically not recommended for large customer sites/networks, since it has to be performed within a single maintenance window.
Figure 1-2 shows the single maintenance window that is involved in the Single Stage upgrade on existing hardware approach:
Figure 1-2 Single Stage Upgrade Using Existing Hardware
Single Stage Upgrade Using New Hardware
A parallel Cisco Unified Communications network should be built using new hardware and pre-staged with configuration to support the existing production network. All users can be then moved from the existing production network to the new network operating with Cisco Unified Communications release software either in a single maintenance window (using Flash-Cut) or in several maintenance windows (using Shrink-and-Grow).
The Single Stage upgrade on new hardware approach is not recommended for large customer sites/networks for the following reasons:
•
•
Figure 1-3 shows the maintenance windows that are involved in the Single Stage upgrade on new hardware approach:
Figure 1-3 Single Stage Upgrade Using New Hardware
Multi-Staged System Upgrade Using Existing Hardware (Hybrid System)
Individual components and/or sites can be upgraded in stages, from the 4.1 release set software to Cisco Unified Communications release software, during separate maintenance windows. At the completion of each intermediate stage, the site exists as a "hybrid system" with a mix of the following:
•
•
The Multi-Staged System upgrade on existing hardware is the recommended approach for medium-to-large networks. In this case, individual components within a single site and/or individual sites in a multi-site environment are progressively upgraded over the span of several days or weekends.
This type of staging is required because:
•
•
•
You can view a staged upgrade as a series of maintenance windows separated by inter-maintenance window intervals. During each maintenance window, one or more components of the system or a subset of the components is upgraded.
Customers typically have a maintenance window during which service disruptions are likely to have minimal impact and affect only a limited number of users, for example, during the night or during a weekend.
Before the staged upgrade is completed, the whole network exists in a partially upgraded state where some components have been upgraded to Cisco Unified Communications release software and the remaining components are operating with the 4.1 release set software.
Backward compatibility of the components is critical during the staged upgrade, so that Cisco Unified Communications components are able to interoperate with the 4.1 release set components. If any component is not backward compatible, this can potentially result in prolonged periods of service outage spanning several maintenance windows (possibly several weeks).
Therefore, during multi-stage upgrades, it is mandatory to have interoperability between the 4.1 release set software and Cisco Unified Communications software versions. For more information on software and backward compatibility considerations, see Chapter 2, "System Upgrade Dependencies."
Figure 1-4 shows the maintenance windows that are involved in the Multi-Staged System upgrade on existing hardware approach:
Figure 1-4 Multi-Staged System Upgrade Using Existing Hardware (Hybrid System)
Multi-Site Migration
Components are upgraded from the 4.1 release set to Cisco Unified Communications release set on a site-by-site basis during separate maintenance windows.
At the completion of each maintenance window, a "hybrid network" will exist across multiple sites. Within each site, either a Single Stage or Multi-Stage System Upgrade strategy can be used to upgrade that particular site's components from the 4.1 release set to the Cisco Unified Communications release set.
Interworking can be expected among sites on "pure" 4.1 release set versions and sites on "pure" Cisco Unified Communications release set versions as shown in Figure 1-5. However, interworking will not be possible between these "pure" sites and "hybrid system" sites.
Note
Users can be moved in stages from the existing production network to the new network operating with Cisco Unified Communications release software. The number of users on the existing 4.1 release network will shrink while the number on the Cisco Unified Communications network will grow correspondingly.
This migration process can span several weeks and, sometime months, if necessary. During this upgrade approach, it is essential that the two networks, existing and new, should be able to communicate with each other.
Figure 1-5 shows the maintenance windows that are involved in the Multi-Site Migration approach:
Figure 1-5 Multi-Site Migration
Table 1-1 provides a summary of the preceding upgrade strategies:
FeedbackContact Cisco
- Open a Support Case
- (Requires a Cisco Service Contract)