11.5 Stability ?

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PeterP - 10 Jun 2008 07:25 GMT

So when is 11.5 Stable enough to use?

Perhaps that should read - When is 11.5 stable enough to feel safe to
use.
Knowing a bit about the bugs in early versions, I'm wondering how 11.5
is shaping up? Normally I'd say something like XC3 or greater - Maybe
IBM should release 3 fp's in the first month so people take it up,
similar to how they confuse you with DB2 fp/version numbering.

I guess you could go down the path of install on a dev system and see
if anything breaks badly. Just wondered thoughts & experiences of
peoples here.
i.e. if your not a 24x7 mission critical bank using strange datatypes
and new features then it's fine to try at FC1.

TIA.

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Fernando Nunes - 10 Jun 2008 10:48 GMT

> So when is 11.5 Stable enough to use?
>
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> TIA.

I will not talk specifically about 11.50.FC1. But as a general rule, I would
avoid using an early version in a production mission critical system... Not
only Informix, but any other software in the world. Specially when it contains
new features.
In any case, there were good FC1 versions and bad FC1 versions... There were
historically bad FC* versions also... The main principle should be the same for
any version: Test it as much as you can in your environment... All versions
have bugs. Some of them are nasty, others are "cosmetic", and many of them are
transparent if you're lucky enough to not use the feature or not hit the
conditions that make them visible...

That said, I have no knowledge of any nasty bug with 11.50, but this may be
just because not many people are using it... It was launched just a month ago,
so possibly nobody is using it in critical systems...
One good point that may not be obvious for the customers: When IBM finds a bug
in one of the families (9.x, 10.x, 11.10, 11.5) the bug is tested against the
other versions. So, it's correct to assume that 11.5 includes fixes done in
late 11.1 and 10 for example. Obviously, due to product launch and code
freezing, possibly not all of them were applied.

My advice: Test it, check the bug alerts and other IBM notes. Besides, there
are a number of new features that should keep you busy for some weeks in order
to get used to them.

Regards

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Jim Tranny - 10 Jun 2008 13:12 GMT

>> So when is 11.5 Stable enough to use?
>>
[quoted text clipped - 42 lines]
> Informix-list@iiug.org
> http://www.iiug.org/mailman/listinfo/informix-list

It is increasingly difficult to use the methodology of waiting for a
couple of fixpacks before adopting a new release. For instance there
was not a lot of time from when version 10 that version 11.1 was
released (at least when you look back at Informix' history). And now
version 11.5 comes out when version 11.1 was barely out of the door
and it is my understanding that the 11.1 line will not continue, so
anyone looking to upgrade to version 11 should be testing 11.5
instead.

As for myself, I'll be following Fernando's advice.

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Fernando Nunes - 10 Jun 2008 14:33 GMT

>>> So when is 11.5 Stable enough to use?
>>>
[quoted text clipped - 52 lines]
>
> As for myself, I'll be following Fernando's advice.

Well, that was true for 11.10. Not so for 10. 10 is currently at FC8 which is a
reasonable number of fixpacks. The 11.10 -> 11.50 cycle was in fact very short
(only one year). The fact is that there were features too important to appear
in a 11.10 FC3/FC4... Let's wait and see, but it's possible tat newer versions
take a little longer. Meanwhile for customers using the main platforms, don't
forget the PID (Post Interim Drops), identifiable by major.minor.F*W*... These
Ws include *cumulative* fixes. I personally think think brings great value for
customers. And this decreases the need to build specific patches
(major.minor.F*X*), so it's also good for IBM.
So, it's possible we see a 11.50.FC1W1 before a 11.50.FC2. Keep an eye on
FixCentral.

Regards

Reply to this Message

PeterP - 11 Jun 2008 03:38 GMT

> >>> So when is 11.5 Stable enough to use?
>
[quoted text clipped - 68 lines]
>
> - Show quoted text -

Fernando, that is excellent advice in your first post.

Jim, where did you get V11.1 will not be around much longer? IBM seems
to be saying it's the one that'll be around the longest

Looking at the PLC page - http://www-306.ibm.com/software/data/support/lifecycle/
And policy type (Standard and Extended) -
http://www-306.ibm.com/software/support/lifecycle/lc-policy.html

V9.40 - 30.04.2008
V10.0 - 30.09.2010
V11.1 - 30.09.2012 - Due to extended policy 5yrs
V11.5 - 30.09.2011 - Assuming the 3 yr policy rule

So if you don't need the 11.5 features, at the moment, 11.1 is going
to be around longer? Very strange but an assumption based on a policy.

Does anyone know how the code is branched for 11.5? Is it 11.1 + the
new features or are there major re-writes in all areas of the code.
And how is 11.1 Different from 10 which is fairly stable. I'm sorry if
thats not very clear I'm after more of an engineering answer.
Is 11.5 really 11.1.FC4 but had new features so it got called Cheetah
2. If thats not the case, then how come IBM is maintaining so many
code lines particularly by including V11.1 in the extended policy?

Seemingly (and this is not necessarily a bad thing), the model for
running Informix is following DB2 in that you get the latest version
and apply the fixpack and if you hit a bug, and if it was a bad one
it'll be coded soon and you just have to wear it. This is helpful I
suppose by forcing people off of old versions so that you don't end up
on 9.4 trying to compete against SQL server 2008 (new vs old products).

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Fernando Nunes - 11 Jun 2008 11:23 GMT

>>>>> So when is 11.5 Stable enough to use?
>>>>> Perhaps that should read - When is 11.5 stable enough to feel safe to
[quoted text clipped - 76 lines]
> So if you don't need the 11.5 features, at the moment, 11.1 is going
> to be around longer? Very strange but an assumption based on a policy.

I think that what Jim was saying is that we won't see much more 11.10.FC*
versions... Not that it will be unsupported.

> Does anyone know how the code is branched for 11.5? Is it 11.1 + the
> new features or are there major re-writes in all areas of the code.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> 2. If thats not the case, then how come IBM is maintaining so many
> code lines particularly by including V11.1 in the extended policy?

I can't speak for the development/IBM, but AFAIK, IDS 11.5 is not a code
re-write. It's based on 11.10 with new features.
This is not an Engineering answer of course. But what I mean is that 11.10 and
11.50 share most of the code as far as I can tell and with all the disclaimers
applied...

Regards.

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PeterP - 26 Jun 2008 01:24 GMT

> >>>>> So when is 11.5 Stable enough to use?
> >>>>> Perhaps that should read - When is 11.5 stable enough to feel safe to
[quoted text clipped - 97 lines]
>
> - Show quoted text -

IDS 11.50 lives on a bit longer.

It seems the IBM PLC page was incorrect, do IBM really want people to
use Informix?
Apart from the PLC mistake (I wonder if 4GL will also be fixed
tomorrow), It's now 33% more expensive than DB2 I'm told - that said,
IBM would need to be together enough to actually invoice you.

From IBM:
"I have verified IDS 11.10 and 11.50 support policy with Engineering.
They confirmed that the information on the PLC website was incorrect.
Both IDS 11.10 and 11.50 for both Enterprise and Express Edition both
have support policy of 'E'. That means they are all guaranteed to be
supported for 5 years plus 3 years Service Extension. The information
in PLC website will reflect changes in 24 hours."

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