Websense URL Filtering and IOS upgrades

[glenthms]

Got a little bit of a quandry here. My 3725 only has 32MB of flash and 256MB of Memory. I'm being told by individuals within my company that upgrading from c3725-advipservicesk9-mz.123-18.bin to c3725-advsecurity-mz.124-7b.bin or 124.7b advanced ip services is a must with urlfiltering enabled.

One bug is CSCsc79700 which will prevent users from accesing the internet when the websense filter is down at times when connectivity to the websense server is lost.

Apparenlty there are quite a few issues with the older 12.3 train and urlfiltering.

Here is my quandry, I cannot upgrade to advanced security as it does not support my ATM-DS3 card in Slot 0. I found that out the hardway, and yes now I know how to use software advisor. :D

So my only choice would be to upgrade to advanced ip services, which requires 64MB of flash.

Now comes the question, should I upgrade?

Should I incur the cost to upgrade the flash memory due to a Cisco software problem?

Am I missing other options here?

[ajagadee]

Glen,

CSCsc79700 is fixed in 12.3(20).

Since you are running 12.3(18), you can upgrade the IOS Version to 12.3(20) and this should fix the issue that you are running through BUG ID CSCsc79700.

Please refer the below URL for details:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps5187/prod_release_note09186a008037050b.html#wp1883404

BTW, 12.3(18) and higher in 12.3 Mainline are GD Codes. I always prefer to stay on GD Code and go to a Non-GD Version only when there is a compelling reason to do so or for specific bug fixes.

Can you provide more details on ATM-DS3 in 3725, so I can assist you on that topic. What version of code did you use in "Advanced Security" Feature set.

Regards,

Arul

[glenthms]

Attached is the show diag and show ver

The code in advanced security that I tried was 12.4(7b). This code apparently does not work with ATM cards and router combination.

I guess I want to make sure the code 12.3(20) like your mentioning is good code for urlfiltering. I ran a search for any bugs

[ajagadee]

Glen,

For the NM-1A-T3 Network Module on the 3725, you need to have:

Cisco IOS 12.2(8)T and above "Plus" feature sets

All 12.3(1) Mainline and 12.3(2)T and above "SP Services" feature sets

Please refer the below URL for details:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/routers/ps274/products_data_sheet09186a0080091b9e.html

Based upon your "Show Version", you are running "ADVIPSERVICESK9" which includes the "SP Features" and thats the reason the card is supported.

r1.router1# sho ver

Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software

IOS (tm) 3700 Software (C3725-ADVIPSERVICESK9-M), Version 12.3(18)

If you are planning to upgrade the 3725 with NM-1A-T3 module to any 12.3 Mainline or 12.4 Mainline, you always have to stay on one of the below feature sets:

1. Advanced IP Services

2. Enterprise services

3. SP Services

4. Advanced Enterprise Services

Based on the above facts, when you tried "Advanced Security" Feature Set in 12.4(7b), the 3725 did not recognize the card since it does not inlude "IP Plus" or "SP Services".

Since, you do not have 64MB Flash on the 3725 to support Advanced IP Services, Enterprise services, SP Services or Advanced Enterprise Services in 12.4 Mainine, you have two choices:

1. Load 12.3(20) - AdvancedIP Services, which has the fix for the bug that you mentioned and see how things work with the features that you are running on the router.

2. Upgrade Flash to 64 MB and then load one of the 12.4 Mainline.

Keep in mind, there are lots of features that went into 12.3T Train and eventually into 12.4 Mainline. 12.4 Mainline was pulled off of 12.3T.

So, I "THINK" you are better off staying on 12.3(20) at this point of time and based on the stability of the code in your environment, stay with 12.3(20) or upgrade the flash to 64MB and go with 12.4 Mainline.

Regards

Arul

[glenthms]

Very thorough. Thank you for your time. Gave you a good rating for all your help. Much apprecieated. One last question. How do you know that Advanced Security does not contain IP Plus or SP Services? Do you have reference for that information?

[ajagadee]

Glen,

You are very welcome.

Please refer the below URL for information on IOS packaging. This should answer most of your questions.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps5460/prod_bulletins_list.html

And one more thing, I want you to go over the below URL which lists Cisco IOS Software Product Lifecycle Dates & Milestones. This will help you to better position IOS/Flash/Memory Upgrades in the future and also justify the cost associated with the same.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/iosswrel/ps5187/prod_bulletin0900aecd801eda8a.html

I hope it helps.

Regards,

Arul