IBM is enhancing the AIX® operating system (AIX OS) release and service strategy in 2007 as part of the ongoing effort to improve the manageability and stability of the AIX operating system for our clients. The enhanced strategy will provide clients with:
- Longer support for each AIX OS Technology Level update (formerly known as Recommended Maintenance Levels)
- Improved serviceability for AIX OS throughout the life of each Technology Level
- Support for some new hardware on previous Technology Levels
These changes were made in response to requests to lengthen the amount of time each Technology Level is supported and to reduce the impact of adding new IBM hardware to the I/T environment.
All statements regarding IBM's future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only.
Longer support for each Technology Level
The 2007 release strategy will extend the support for each Technology Level update for up to two years from the introduction of the update. This means that clients with a Software Maintenance Agreement for the AIX OS will be able to contact IBM support for defect support during that two year period without having to move up to the latest Technology Level update.
For example, a Technology Level introduced in the first half of 2007 will be supported into the first half of 2009. Since each Technology Level will be supported for up to two years and IBM plans to release two Technology Level updates for each AIX release per year, there will eventually be four supported Technology Levels per AIX release.
There are always variations in the release dates of Technology Level updates from year to year, so some Technology Levels will be supported for slightly more than two years and some will be supported for slightly less than two years. A two year service life for each Technology Level is an objective, not an absolute limit.
The service life of Technology Levels will also be limited by the end of service life for the underlying AIX release.
The intent of this strategy is to provide clients running the AIX OS with support for software problems without requiring an upgrade to the latest Technology Level. However, there may be cases where, due to architectural changes or the pervasive nature of a particular fix, you must upgrade to a later Technology Level update or to a later AIX release to resolve a software issue.
Improved AIX serviceability
One of the principal changes in the AIX OS service and release strategy is the manner in which you may obtain fixes for the AIX OS. Now, you will be able to use the same methodology and fix packages throughout the entire release.
You can maintain your AIX operating system by installing Service Packs (SP), Program Temporary Fixes (PTF) or Interim Fixes for the entire support life of the Technology Level update. This will improve the manageability of the AIX OS software by reducing complexity and providing more consistency.
In the past, the Concluding Service Pack was used to provide a baseline for support for the second phase of support. Since the updated strategy uses a consistent service methodology throughout the entire service life of a Technology Level update, the Concluding Service Pack is no longer needed or supplied by IBM.
Support for some hardware on previous Technology Levels
Throughout the history of the AIX operating system, support for new hardware was only included in the latest Technology Level (or Recommended Maintenance Level). This required an upgrade to the latest service level if you wished to integrate new systems into your computing environment. This requirement often caused difficulty in rolling out new hardware into a client's existing environment.
The new release and service strategy will allow easier integration of new hardware into your environment by supporting most new hardware on previous Technology Levels.
AIX OS support for new hardware is typically broken into two categories: support and exploitation.
- To support new hardware, the AIX OS has to undergo relatively minor changes to recognize the new hardware at boot time. If the AIX OS does not recognize the new hardware, it may fail to boot or only run in a degraded mode. The changes to support new hardware typically include updating a table that is referenced at boot time to determine the processor type and to create new boot media to recognize new I/O.
- To exploit new hardware, the AIX OS may have to undergo more pervasive changes to take full advantage of the new hardware. This could result in changes to kernel components such as the Virtual Memory Manager (VMM) to exploit the new page sizes supported by a new processor. Exploitation of new hardware offerings will require installing the latest Technology Level update or moving up to the latest AIX OS release.
Transition to the new strategy
The AIX OS release and service strategy was implemented in 2007 for AIX Version 5.3 starting with the Technology Level 6 update. Technology Level 6 will be the first Technology Level update to be supported for up to two years. This new release and service strategy will not apply to previous versions of AIX such as AIX Version 5.2, or to Licensed Program Products.
Planned updates for AIX Version 6.1 will be included under the 2007 AIX release and service strategy and are planned to be supported for approximately two years.
Previous Technology Level updates for AIX 5.3 such as Technology Level 4 (released April 2006) and Technology Level 5 (released August 2006) will be supported for at least one year under the previous release and service strategy. A Concluding Service Pack has already been released for Technology Level 4 (in August, 2006) and a Concluding Service Pack for Technology Level 5 is planned in the first half of 2007.
Additional information
The IBM service and support best practices for UNIX® servers Web page at https://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/set2/sas/f/best/home.html includes white papers that provide additional information on the AIX release and service strategy and best practices for managing AIX and System p™ servers.
All statements regarding IBM's future direction and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice, and represent goals and objectives only.