I’d like to announce a staged upgrade of IOS on all FroDos. This blog post aims to answer some of the questions this work will raise. Feel free to contact the Networks team with any questions at networks@it.ox.ac.uk.
Why?
We currently run 19 different versions of IOS across FroDos. Some of the switches haven’t been upgraded since the original installation (the longest running FroDo had an uptime of over 7 years). Whereas it may be advantageous to stick to a version that works fine on the switch, we decided to roll out updates on all FroDo switches in production. There are 3 main reasons for the mass-upgrade:
– bug fixes
– unification of versions and consistency
– new features
Our intention is to run a single IOS version per platform (3750[G], 3750-X, 3560[CG], 3850, 4900M, 4948E). I’m sure the question will spring to mind – why commit to this work when TONE is under way? Despite work progressing on the new backbone, it’s still quite a long time away and regardless of the fine details of its delivery, we will retain the concept of Point-of-Presence in the future design and thus keep existing switches in production for a considerable length of time. It therefore makes sense to consolidate the IOS versions at this point.
Timescale
We plan to upgrade on a per C-router basis. The schedule we devised is to upgrade and reload roughly 10 FroDos every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday until all switches are up to date. The following table details the process:
| Date | Device | VLANs affected | Notes |
| 8 April | Frodo-110 (acland) Frodo-113 (edstud) Frodo-116 (38-40-woodstock-rd) Frodo-120 (maison-francaise) Frodo-149 (physics-dwb) Frodo-150 (eng-ieb) Frodo-151 (maths) Frodo-152 (wolfson-building) Frodo-154 (lady-margaret-hall) Frodo-155 (mdx-eng) |
102, 104, 113, 118, 120, 125, 150, 151, 182, 183, 187, 189, 190, 191, 199, 397, 598, 691, 720, 994 | Affects ResNet |
| 9 April | Frodo-156 (materials-hume-rothery) Frodo-157 (e-science) Frodo-161 (eng-thom) Frodo-162 (eng-jenkin) Frodo-163 (eng-holder) Frodo-164 (eng-etb) Frodo-165 (14-15-parks-rd) Frodo-167 (radcliffe-infirmary) Frodo-168 (new-maths) Frodo-169 (wolfson) |
101, 102, 105, 106, 109, 111, 115, 121, 127, 151, 156, 163, 167, 186, 189, 193, 195, 196, 199, 288, 397, 398, 517, 694, 787, 788, 792, 904, 954, 967, 985 | Affects Engineering WLC |
| 10 April | Frodo-202 (careers) Frodo-204 (voltaire) Frodo-208 (12-bevington) Frodo-212 (belsyre-court) Frodo-217 (nissan-institute) Frodo-219 (wolsey-hall) Frodo-249 (begbroke) Frodo-250 (kellogg) Frodo-251 (ewert-house) Frodo-282 (williams) Frodo-293 (summertown-house) Frodo-296 (st-annes-robert-saunders) Frodo-297 (merrifield) |
202, 204, 208, 220, 222, 249, 252, 282, 283, 285, 286, 289, 290, 292, 296, 297, 298, 299, 397, 675, 678, 717, 720, 722, 794, 977, 989 | |
| 15 April | Frodo-253 (mdx-sthughs) Frodo-255 (begbroke-iat) Frodo-257 (st-hughs) Frodo-258 (st-antonys) Frodo-260 (univstavertonrd) Frodo-262 (st-annes-frodo) Frodo-263 (green-college) Frodo-264 (wuhmo) Frodo-203 (13-bradmore-road) Frodo-281 (vc101br) Frodo-283 (areastud) Frodo-292 (trinity-staverton-rd) Frodo-569 (saville-house) Frodo-662 (new-college) |
121, 187, 188, 196, 203, 205, 206, 209, 214, 257, 279, 280, 281, 284, 284, 293, 295, 295, 296, 297, 329, 608, 673, 677, 679, 680, 681, 681, 682, 720, 796, 856, 989 | |
| 16 April | Frodo-306 (safety) Frodo-308 (rh) Frodo-309 (linc-mus-rd) Frodo-310 (security-services) Frodo-313 (rai) Frodo-316 (physics-aopp) Frodo-324 (dlo) Frodo-351 (rex-richards) Frodo-352 (rodney-porter) Frodo-353 (dyson-perrins) Frodo-354 (stats) Frodo-355 (ocgf) |
112, 202, 305, 306, 308, 309, 310, 314, 319, 320, 351, 355, 372, 377, 388, 391, 397, 398, 399, 526, 595, 717 | |
| 17 April | Frodo-356 (mdx-mus) Frodo-358 (chem-physical) Frodo-359 (beach) Frodo-360 (rsl) Frodo-361 (mansfield) Frodo-362 (bioch) Frodo-363 (physiology) Frodo-366 (inorganic-chemistry) Frodo-367 (keble) Frodo-368 (earth-sciences) Frodo-369 (9-parks-rd) Frodo-370 (museum) Frodo-625 (exam-schools) |
191, 301, 314, 315, 320, 323, 328, 329, 351, 361, 367, 368, 369, 370, 373, 375, 378, 379, 389, 391, 393, 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 595, 625, 902, 906, 968, 970, 972, 997 | Affects Museum Lodge WLC |
| 22 April | Frodo-513 (stx-bnc-annexe) Frodo-515 (merton-annexe) Frodo-517 (english) Frodo-518 (law-library) Frodo-523 (zoo) Frodo-524 (mrc) Frodo-527 (mstc) Frodo-531 (club) Frodo-549 (balliol-holywell) Frodo-550 (mdx-zoo) Frodo-552 (social-sciences) Frodo-553 (stcatz) |
397, 510, 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 523, 524, 527, 531, 552, 589, 594, 596, 597, 598, 687, 797, 977, 997 | |
| 23 April | Frodo-554 (qeh) Frodo-555 (plants) Frodo-559 (chemistry-research-laboratory) Frodo-561 (path) Frodo-562 (tinsley) Frodo-563 (islamic-studies) Frodo-564 (mdx-ompi) Frodo-566 (pharm) Frodo-568 (psy) |
74, 182, 183, 214, 288, 301, 351, 360, 378, 388, 389, 391, 397, 398, 501, 507, 522, 553, 559, 561, 562, 580, 588, 590, 591, 592, 593, 595, 596, 597, 599, 678, 683, 694, 719, 727, 810, 860, 893, 893, 902, 948, 955, 956, 968, 976, 977 | |
| 24 April | Frodo-602 (bod-old) Frodo-604 (music) Frodo-606 (sheldonian) Frodo-607 (bod-camera) Frodo-609 (ruskin-sch) Frodo-615 (bod-clarendon) Frodo-619 (all-souls) Frodo-627 (mhs) Frodo-628 (jesus) |
360, 397, 602, 604, 607, 609, 611, 615, 617, 619, 672, 682, 683, 683, 686, 697, 782, 997 | |
| 29 April | Frodo-629 (exeter) Frodo-630 (queens) Frodo-631 (st-edmund-hall) Frodo-632 (10-merton-street) Frodo-634 (pembroke-college) Frodo-635 (chch) Frodo-639 (albion) Frodo-640 (hmc) Frodo-641 (old-indian-institute) Frodo-645 (campion) |
553, 610, 612, 620, 621, 631, 634, 640, 645, 662, 680, 684, 686, 688, 695, 919, 962 | |
| 30 April | Frodo-649 (oii) Frodo-650 (trinity) Frodo-651 (sers) Frodo-652 (magd) Frodo-653 (littlegate) Frodo-654 (oriel) Frodo-655 (balliol) Frodo-656 (blue-boar-st) Frodo-657 (mdx-ind) Frodo-660 (mdx-chch) Frodo-689 (botanic-garden) Frodo-692 (stanford-house) Frodo-698 (chaplaincy) Frodo-699 (shop) |
15, 197, 378, 389, 397, 398, 601, 603, 614, 626, 627, 638, 639, 650, 654, 656, 676, 677, 678, 689, 690, 692, 694, 696, 698, 699, 722, 749, 787, 902, 905, 967, 981, 989, 997 | Affects Indian Institute WLC |
| 1 May | Frodo-661 (mdx-daubeny) Frodo-663 (axis-point) Frodo-664 (corpus-christi) Frodo-665 (pembroke) Frodo-666 (merton) Frodo-667 (univcoll) Frodo-669 (hertford) Frodo-671 (wadham) Frodo-76 (harkness) Frodo-77 (gibson) |
199, 214, 285, 297, 397, 398, 515, 605, 613, 634, 662, 663, 664, 669, 671, 673, 691, 792, 794 | |
| 6 May | Frodo-702 (taylorian) Frodo-703 (old-boys-high-school) Frodo-707 (9-stjohnsst) Frodo-708 (bnc-frewin) Frodo-711 (arch) Frodo-713 (classics) Frodo-716 (clarendon-press) Frodo-717 (survey) Frodo-721 (barnett-house) Frodo-725 (some) |
397, 687, 702, 703, 707, 711, 713, 717, 721, 725, 749, 781, 787, 788, 796, 799, 954, 959, 977, 985, 997 | |
| 7 May | Frodo-726 (25-wellington-square) Frodo-728 (sbs) Frodo-729 (sackler) Frodo-730 (lincoln-clarendon-st) Frodo-732 (oxford-union) Frodo-734 (castle-mill) Frodo-749 (orient) Frodo-750 (worcester-st) Frodo-751 (dartington) Frodo-754 (mdx-ash) |
284, 309, 397, 398, 675, 716, 720, 728, 729, 732, 749, 761, 783, 789, 790, 797, 906, 959, 975, 977, 997 | Affects Ashmolean WLC and ResNet |
| 8 May | Frodo-755 (mdx-socstud) Frodo-756 (ashmolean) Frodo-757 (stx) Frodo-759 (regents-park) Frodo-761 (rewley-house) Frodo-762 (sjc) Frodo-764 (st-peters-frodo) Frodo-765 (castle-mill-2) Frodo-766 (worcester) Frodo-767 (nuffield) Frodo-792 (worcester-street) Frodo-794 (hayes-house) |
320, 330, 370, 374, 375, 397, 398, 611, 675, 680, 691, 697, 701, 705, 709, 710, 715, 718, 720, 722, 733, 734, 756, 757, 781, 782, 784, 786, 793, 794, 795, 797, 977, 989 | |
| 13 May | Frodo-809 (ocdem) Frodo-821 (fmrib) Frodo-851 (sports-distributor) Frodo-855 (well) Frodo-862 (mdx-ihs) Frodo-863 (iffley-rd) Frodo-864 (st-hildas) Frodo-865 (ndm) Frodo-867 (kennedy) Frodo-869 (ccmp) Frodo-890 (ssho) Frodo-899 (imm) Frodo-881 (alan-bullock) |
15, 214, 395, 397, 398, 398, 515, 682, 684, 691, 695, 698, 720, 805, 806, 807, 808, 809, 812, 851, 852, 854, 855, 856, 864, 880, 881, 882, 883, 887, 890, 892, 893, 894, 902, 962, 968, 975 | Affects IHS WLC |
To find out the number of your backbone VLAN and annexe connections, use Looking Glass.
If your FroDo isn’t listed above, it most likely has been upgraded already. The following switches run current IOS as a result of other maintenance work:
Frodo-101 (physics-theory); Frodo-102 (materials-21-banbury); Frodo-104 (materials-12-13-parks-rd); Frodo-159 (mdx-edstud); Frodo-207 (43-banbury-rd); Frodo-213 (anthropology-58a-br); Frodo-215 (anthropology-64-br); Frodo-218 (anthropology-51-br); Frodo-220 (anthropology-61-br); Frodo-301 (physics-clarendon); Frodo-323 (robert-hooke); Frodo-349 (prm); Frodo-357 (mdx-plants); Frodo-551 (life-sciences); Frodo-557 (medawar); Frodo-560 (pathology); Frodo-567 (linacre); Frodo-623 (linc); Frodo-633 (sbs-phase-2); Frodo-648 (mdx-ind2); Frodo-658 (mdx-all-souls); Frodo-659 (mdx-merton); Frodo-670 (brasenose); Frodo-712 (eng-osney); Frodo-752 (beaver-house); Frodo-801 (botnar); Frodo-802 (psych); Frodo-849 (jr2); Frodo-853 (rob); Frodo-856 (richard-doll); Frodo-857 (psych-meg); Frodo-858 (rosemary-rue); Frodo-859 (orcrb); Frodo-905 (16-wellington-square); Frodo-908 (phonetics); Frodo-909 (theology-34a-st-giles); Frodo-910 (counselling); Frodo-914 (new-barnet-house); Frodo-916 (37a-st-giles); Frodo-962 (egrove); Frodo-963 (offices); Frodo-964 (ertegun); Frodo-969 (mdx-oucs); Frodo-972 (oucs)
Impact
Depending on hardware platform, the expected downtime is about 8 to 30 minutes. Catalyst 3750 – the dominant platform – takes only a few minutes to reload to new IOS, but others may include a microcode upgrade, which takes up to half hour. We intend to upgrade and reload the switches on early mornings (7:30-9am) to minimise impact on backbone connections. In the event of a hardware failure, a replacement FroDo will be installed. In reading the above table and assessing disruption to your connectivity, keep in mind annexe connections.