HP 3PAR Upgrade Pre-Planning Guide

NOTE: This guide is not intended to reproduce any third-party product documentation. For details

about devices such as host servers, HBAs, converged network adapters (CNAs), fabric switches,

and non-HP 3PAR software management tools, consult the appropriate third-party documentation.

Supported Upgrade Types

HP 3PAR OS upgrades are performed either online or offline. Online upgrades allow the hosts

connected to the system to continue I/O activity; for offline upgrades, host I/O activity must be

stopped. The following types of upgrades are supported:

Node-by-Node online upgrade Used for HP 3PAR OS maintenance updates (for example,

HP 3PAR OS 3.1.1 MU1 to 3.1.1 MU2). As of HP 3PAR

OS 3.1.1, all online upgrades are node-by-node. Each array

node is upgraded one at a time. A simple or auto

node-by-node upgrade occurs with each node upgraded in

an HP 3PAR OS predetermined sequence and timing. An

advanced or manual node-by-node upgrade occurs when

the node sequence and timing between individual array

node upgrades are determined by the personnel

administrating the online upgrade.

Offline upgrade Used when the customer requests an offline upgrade, or

when the system is operating several levels below the

upgrade package version. If the system is operating several

levels below the upgrade package version, it may be easier

to perform the upgrade without all the system checks

required for online upgrades. All nodes are upgraded, then

restarted at the same time. The system is unavailable to the

hosts during this operation.

The following table lists the supported HP 3PAR OS-level upgrade types.

Table 1 Upgrade Types

Upgrade TypeUpgrade to New HP 3PAR OS LevelUpgrade from Current HP 3PAR OS Level

Node-by-node online3.1.1 MU23.1.1 GA

Node-by-node online3.1.2 GA3.1.1 MU2

Node-by-node online

3.1.3 MU13.1.2 GA

Node-by-node online3.1.3 MU13.1.2 MUx

When remote-copy groups are started, only online upgrades from HP 3PAR OS 3.1.2.x to HP 3PAR OS 3.1.3 MU1 are

supported.

To upgrade from HP 3PAR OS 3.1.1.x to HP 3PAR OS 3.1.3 MU1, you must perform a multihop upgrade, first to HP

3PAR OS 3.1.2.MUx, and then to HP 3PAR OS 3.1.3 MU1.

WARNING! For an upgrade from HP 3PAR OS 3.1.1 MU1 to HP 3PAR OS 3.1.2 GA or later,

it is no longer necessary to stop HP 3PAR Remote Copy groups when doing an online upgrade.

For an upgrade from HP 3PAR OS 3.1.1GA to a later version Remote Copy groups must be

stopped.

For HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage systems licensed with HP 3PAR Remote Copy software, do not

upgrade directly from HP 3PAR OS 2.2.4 to HP 3PAR OS 3.1.1 or later. These upgrade conditions

are not supported and will fail. See “HP 3PAR Remote Copy Guidelines” (page 14)

Supported Upgrade Types 5