Solved: 4510R+E with Sup8-E VSS support

djstevenson · ‎08-01-2014

I'm sorry if this has been covered elsewhere, but I'm having a bit of trouble understanding my options in terms of VSS support for two 4510R+E chassis switches with the SUP8-E cards.

These two switches are going to serve as a replacement for two 4507 switches. The configuration is very simplistic as these guys will be serving initially as L2 devices with just a handful of VLANs configured.

I understand that IOS XE 3.6.0E is out and it supports VSS for Sup8-E. I have the IP Base license, so if I'm understanding correctly from the release notes, only easy-vss is supported. IF this is the case I have to use L3 links between the switches, so I will need to assign each switch an IP address for easy-vss to function.

Here are my questions:
Would it be a good idea to upgrade to IOS XE 3.6.0E and launch VSS, or would I be better off waiting? If I wait, how should I connect the switches together in preparation to go to VSS once a more stable release is out?

Assuming I go forward with the upgrade, is the upgrade procedure the same as other TFTP based upgrades? My plan is to get both switches on the same rev of code, and then launch the VSS configuration.

I want to make sure I understand, is Easy-VSS my only option with the IP Base license, or can I configure VSS following VSS configuration guides?

Lastly, with redundant supervisor cards, how do I configure the VSL to take into account the two cards. Do I need to configure two VSL trunks, or can I put all 4 10G links into one VSL link on each switch. I assume doing this would only give me 20G of bandwidth since the backup card would be in standby.

Thanks for any clarity!

Leo Laohoo · ‎08-01-2014

Would it be a good idea to upgrade to IOS XE 3.6.0E and launch VSS, or would I be better off waiting?  If I wait, how should I connect the switches together in preparation to go to VSS once a more stable release is out?

You are correct. The newly released 3.6.0E now supports easy-VSS.

However, I must part some caution to say that you'll need to test this IOS in your environment. This is because the Cisco's quality control in IOS publication has taken a significant "hit" in the last 2 or 3 years. IOS bugs which would've been picked up in "Day 1" beta testing were released to the public. 3.6.0E firmware is the same as 15.2(2)E but the former is written for a Linux-based OS used by newer generation of switches and the latter is written for the older Cisco-based OS. With 15.2(2)E, I've tested this version of multiple Catalyst models (2960S, 3560CG and 3750X). Recently, the 3560CG had to be manually rebooted (go to the appliance and pull the power cable) because the @#$%^&*!! CPU-memory-hog demon (nope, I spelled "DEMON" correctly) found in 15.0(2)SE train has resurrected (with friggin' vengence).

If you don't have the luxury of testing 3.6.0E in a sandbox or lab environment, then my recommendation is find the "smallest" set of VSS and try it there. When I say "smallest" I mean the smallest amount of clients and/or the smallest amount of impact if you need to tear VSS apart.

IF you think what I've mentioned is the bad news, it's not. That's only the good news. If you want the bad news, I'd say that it'll take until 3.6.3E or 3.6.4E for the 3.6.0E to become stable. And judging from the track record of releasing maintenance release every 4 to 6 months, then it'll be another 18 to 24 months before a stable release sees the light of day.

Hope this helps.

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Leo Laohoo · ‎08-01-2014

Would it be a good idea to upgrade to IOS XE 3.6.0E and launch VSS, or would I be better off waiting?  If I wait, how should I connect the switches together in preparation to go to VSS once a more stable release is out?

You are correct. The newly released 3.6.0E now supports easy-VSS.

However, I must part some caution to say that you'll need to test this IOS in your environment. This is because the Cisco's quality control in IOS publication has taken a significant "hit" in the last 2 or 3 years. IOS bugs which would've been picked up in "Day 1" beta testing were released to the public. 3.6.0E firmware is the same as 15.2(2)E but the former is written for a Linux-based OS used by newer generation of switches and the latter is written for the older Cisco-based OS. With 15.2(2)E, I've tested this version of multiple Catalyst models (2960S, 3560CG and 3750X). Recently, the 3560CG had to be manually rebooted (go to the appliance and pull the power cable) because the @#$%^&*!! CPU-memory-hog demon (nope, I spelled "DEMON" correctly) found in 15.0(2)SE train has resurrected (with friggin' vengence).

If you don't have the luxury of testing 3.6.0E in a sandbox or lab environment, then my recommendation is find the "smallest" set of VSS and try it there. When I say "smallest" I mean the smallest amount of clients and/or the smallest amount of impact if you need to tear VSS apart.

IF you think what I've mentioned is the bad news, it's not. That's only the good news. If you want the bad news, I'd say that it'll take until 3.6.3E or 3.6.4E for the 3.6.0E to become stable. And judging from the track record of releasing maintenance release every 4 to 6 months, then it'll be another 18 to 24 months before a stable release sees the light of day.

Hope this helps.

Marvin Rhoads · ‎08-01-2014

I'd generally be with Leo's advice on this.

It may be a bit late for advice but, if VSS is important for you, I'd have went with the Sup 7 (with more proven VSS) unless there was a compelling reason to get on the Sup 8 hardware.

The first issue of a major release often has some bugs that can be very significant in a production environment.

djstevenson · ‎08-05-2014

Thanks Marvin,

It is too late. These chassis are going to be in service for a number of years and I assumed something that was supported on an older model sup would be supported on the new one, but we all know what assuming does.