IBM Power 710 Technical Overview And Introduction page 152

models. Upgrading to a higher Release Level is disruptive to customer operations. IBM
intends to introduce no more than two new Release Levels per year. These Release Levels
will be supported by Service Packs. Service Packs are intended to contain only firmware fixes
and not to introduce new function. A Service Pack is an update to an existing Release Level.
If a system is HMC managed you will use the HMC for firmware updates. Using the HMC
allows you to take advantage of the Concurrent Firmware Maintenance (CFM) option when
concurrent service packs are available. CFM is the IBM term used to describe the IBM Power
Systems firmware updates that can be partially or wholly concurrent or non-disruptive. With
the introduction of CFM, IBM is significantly increasing a client's opportunity to stay on a given
release level for longer periods of time. Clients wanting maximum stability can defer until
there is a compelling reason to upgrade such as:
A Release Level is approaching its end-of-service date (that is, it has been available for
about a year and hence will go out of service support soon).
When moving a system to a more standardized Release Level when there are multiple
systems in an environment with similar hardware.
A new release has new functionality that is needed in the environment.
A scheduled maintenance action will cause a platform reboot. This provides an
opportunity to also upgrade to a new firmware release.
The update and upgrade of system firmware is dependant on several factors such as whether
the system is standalone or managed by a HMC, the current firmware installed, and what
operating systems are running on the system. These scenarios and the associated
installation instructions are comprehensively outlined in the firmware section of Fix Central,
which can be found here:
http://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/
You may also wish to review the best practice white papers which can be found here:
http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/best/home.html
Repairing and verifying
Repair and verify (R&V) is a system used to guide a service provider step-by-step through the
process of repairing a system and verifying that the problem has been repaired. The steps
are customized in the appropriate sequence for the particular repair for the specific system
being repaired. Repair scenarios covered by repair and verify include:
Replacing a defective field-replaceable unit (FRU)
Reattaching a loose or disconnected component
Correcting a configuration error
Removing or replacing an incompatible FRU
Updating firmware, device drivers, operating systems, middleware components, and IBM
applications after replacing a part
Repair and verify procedures can be used by both service representative providers who are
familiar with the task and those who are not. Education On Demand content is placed in the
procedure at the appropriate locations. Throughout the repair and verify procedure, repair
history is collected and provided to the Service and Support Problem Management Database
for storage with the serviceable event to ensure that the guided maintenance procedures are
operating correctly.
If a server is managed by a HMC, then many of the R&V procedures are performed from
the HMC. If the FRU to be replaced is a PCI adaptor or an internal storage device, then the
138
IBM Power 710 and 730 Technical Overview and Introduction