Upgrade planning

Remote Control Panel, February 2006

i5/OS V5R3 was the final release to support the parallel connected Remote Control Panel function. The parallel connected Remote Control Panel function is not supported by i5/OS V5R4.

Suggested alternatives:

• The IBM i5/OS virtual control panel is an alternative to the remote control panel on System i5 and eServer i5 models that do not support a directly connected remote control panel and do not have a network adapter. Like the remote control panel, the virtual control panel is a way to use control panel functions through a PC. The graphical user interface for the virtual control panel is identical to the remote control panel and can perform most of the same functions as the remote control panel.
• To control power for System i5 use the Hardware Management Console (HMC) or the Advanced System Management Interface (ASMI).
• Instead of using a cabled remote control panel, an alternative for powering on an eServer i5 system at a later time can be provided by the scheduling function in Operation Assistant. This function is available in i5/OS by pressing the Attention key. You can also use the i5/OS command go power and select the option Change power on and off schedule.
• If your server is an eServer i5 270 or 8xx model, a LAN connected configuration of Operations Console or the virtual control panel connected to a primary partition can be configured to perform functions, including power on, to additional logical partitions as long as the primary partition remains active.

i5/OS support of selected AS/400 models

i5/OS V5R3 was the final release to support AS/400 models 170, 250, 720, 730, and 740. i5/OS V5R4 cannot be installed on these models.

Load source size

i5/OS V5R4 requires a load source of at least 17GB. Note the load source must be able to reside on a disk drive which is 17GB or larger. Prior to upgrading to i5/OS V5R4, ensure your load source for each i5/OS partition is 17GB or larger.

QuickLoop

i5/OS V5R3 was the final release to support the QuickLoop function for Fibre Channel switches. QuickLoop, a V5R1 OS/400 requirement, will no longer be supported beginning with V5R4. Any V5R1 configurations need to be zoned separately.

As a result, the following switch is not supported with V5R4:

• IBM TotalStorage SAN Managed Hub 3534-1RU

The following switches should be used in normal Fabric mode by disabling the QuickLoop function.

• IBM TotalStorage SAN Switch 2109-S08
• IBM TotalStorage SAN Switch 2109-S16
• IBM TotalStorage SAN Switch 3534-F08
• IBM TotalStorage SAN Switch 2109-F16

Support of SPD I/O

i5/OS V5R3 was the final release to support the attachment of SPD towers or SPD Migration Towers. Customers must complete the migration or conversion of I/O attached to their iSeries model 820, 830, or 840 via SPD towers or SPD Migration Towers before upgrading to V5R4. Any SPD I/O cards in these towers or older I/O devices which can only be attached to SPD cards must be replaced by newer I/O. SPD-attached PCI I/O towers #5065 or #5066 must be converted to the HSL-attached #5074 or #5079 PCI Expansion Towers or replaced with newer generation PCI-X towers such as #5094 or #5294. The PCI-X towers offer a higher speed HSL connection and the ability to support 15k rpm disk drives.

Note: The numbers listed below are feature codes. The feature codes do not correspond directly to the CCIN numbers provided via the Work Hardware Products command.

• Entitled Software Support (including License keys)
• IBM Redbooks for System i
• IBM i Storage Solutions
• Printers
• System i and IBM i Information Center
• IBM Systems Information Centers