Let me preface this that we are not one of those shops who stay on a level until it hits End of Service (or worse).  This week I upgraded our file transfer site from a.b.1 to a.c.1 the day after the .1 version came out for level c.

Fiber channel switch support has come under my responsibility now.  Changed when we upgraded switches.  Either I will upgrade our 8969-F24 switches or I'll have our BP do it.  I am trying to get recommendations outside of our BP as they tend to stay more on the 1 level above EOS mentality.

Our 8969-F24 switches are currently at 9.0.1c.  We use them to interface between two Power 10's, a DD6900 VTL, and a FS7300 SAN at one site.  The other site is a Power 9 and a DD6900 VTL with a FS7300 planned for later.  The Power 9 is currently using internal disks.

I am looking at this site:  IBM SAN b-type Firmware Version 9.x Qualification

The link for "* FICON qualified release." doesn't work but I've submitted feedback for that.  Well, it doesn't work for me as it tells me I'm not authorized.  Having done a few sites served up by Domino I can tell that link is relying upon that.  Honestly IDK what level to choose by the following:

The recommended version for open systems 9.2.1a

The recommended version for FICON environments is 9.2.0b

What level is recommended for my setup?

Got any good links on how to upgrade?

These switches are supposed to be redundant.  We have two 8969-F24 at each location and, in theory, if I unplug one the other should continue on uninterrupted.  I am hoping this means that I can upgrade one and then the other when the first one completes.  Does the redundancy get negatively impacted due to the different release levels?

9.1.1d is the recommended version by brocade for your "open system" setup. you can check brocade's official target path documentation at brocade.com.  And no, there will be no negative impact during upgrade. 9.1.1d upgrades non-disruptively from 9.0.x

Let me preface this that we are not one of those shops who stay on a level until it hits End of Service (or worse).  This week I upgraded our file transfer site from a.b.1 to a.c.1 the day after the .1 version came out for level c.

Fiber channel switch support has come under my responsibility now.  Changed when we upgraded switches.  Either I will upgrade our 8969-F24 switches or I'll have our BP do it.  I am trying to get recommendations outside of our BP as they tend to stay more on the 1 level above EOS mentality.

Our 8969-F24 switches are currently at 9.0.1c.  We use them to interface between two Power 10's, a DD6900 VTL, and a FS7300 SAN at one site.  The other site is a Power 9 and a DD6900 VTL with a FS7300 planned for later.  The Power 9 is currently using internal disks.

I am looking at this site:  IBM SAN b-type Firmware Version 9.x Qualification

The link for "* FICON qualified release." doesn't work but I've submitted feedback for that.  Well, it doesn't work for me as it tells me I'm not authorized.  Having done a few sites served up by Domino I can tell that link is relying upon that.  Honestly IDK what level to choose by the following:

The recommended version for open systems 9.2.1a

The recommended version for FICON environments is 9.2.0b

What level is recommended for my setup?

Got any good links on how to upgrade?

These switches are supposed to be redundant.  We have two 8969-F24 at each location and, in theory, if I unplug one the other should continue on uninterrupted.  I am hoping this means that I can upgrade one and then the other when the first one completes.  Does the redundancy get negatively impacted due to the different release levels?

9.1.1d is the recommended version by brocade for your "open system" setup. you can check brocade's official target path documentation at brocade.com.  And no, there will be no negative impact during upgrade. 9.1.1d upgrades non-disruptively from 9.0.x

Let me preface this that we are not one of those shops who stay on a level until it hits End of Service (or worse).  This week I upgraded our file transfer site from a.b.1 to a.c.1 the day after the .1 version came out for level c.

Fiber channel switch support has come under my responsibility now.  Changed when we upgraded switches.  Either I will upgrade our 8969-F24 switches or I'll have our BP do it.  I am trying to get recommendations outside of our BP as they tend to stay more on the 1 level above EOS mentality.

Our 8969-F24 switches are currently at 9.0.1c.  We use them to interface between two Power 10's, a DD6900 VTL, and a FS7300 SAN at one site.  The other site is a Power 9 and a DD6900 VTL with a FS7300 planned for later.  The Power 9 is currently using internal disks.

I am looking at this site:  IBM SAN b-type Firmware Version 9.x Qualification

The link for "* FICON qualified release." doesn't work but I've submitted feedback for that.  Well, it doesn't work for me as it tells me I'm not authorized.  Having done a few sites served up by Domino I can tell that link is relying upon that.  Honestly IDK what level to choose by the following:

The recommended version for open systems 9.2.1a

The recommended version for FICON environments is 9.2.0b

What level is recommended for my setup?

Got any good links on how to upgrade?

These switches are supposed to be redundant.  We have two 8969-F24 at each location and, in theory, if I unplug one the other should continue on uninterrupted.  I am hoping this means that I can upgrade one and then the other when the first one completes.  Does the redundancy get negatively impacted due to the different release levels?

My boss is asking what is the definition of "non disruptively"?  He's been burned on some other switches where they were supposed to be redundant.  Apparently the person who installed them thought a 12 minute outage while the other takes over was tolerable.  My boss felt otherwise.

Does a non disruptively upgrade mean that if even it was a single switch we could upgrade the OS on it while still serving up IBM Power Systems from SAN routed through that switch and not experience any disconnection or delay?

9.1.1d is the recommended version by brocade for your "open system" setup. you can check brocade's official target path documentation at brocade.com.  And no, there will be no negative impact during upgrade. 9.1.1d upgrades non-disruptively from 9.0.x

Let me preface this that we are not one of those shops who stay on a level until it hits End of Service (or worse).  This week I upgraded our file transfer site from a.b.1 to a.c.1 the day after the .1 version came out for level c.

Fiber channel switch support has come under my responsibility now.  Changed when we upgraded switches.  Either I will upgrade our 8969-F24 switches or I'll have our BP do it.  I am trying to get recommendations outside of our BP as they tend to stay more on the 1 level above EOS mentality.

Our 8969-F24 switches are currently at 9.0.1c.  We use them to interface between two Power 10's, a DD6900 VTL, and a FS7300 SAN at one site.  The other site is a Power 9 and a DD6900 VTL with a FS7300 planned for later.  The Power 9 is currently using internal disks.

I am looking at this site:  IBM SAN b-type Firmware Version 9.x Qualification

The link for "* FICON qualified release." doesn't work but I've submitted feedback for that.  Well, it doesn't work for me as it tells me I'm not authorized.  Having done a few sites served up by Domino I can tell that link is relying upon that.  Honestly IDK what level to choose by the following:

The recommended version for open systems 9.2.1a

The recommended version for FICON environments is 9.2.0b

What level is recommended for my setup?

Got any good links on how to upgrade?

These switches are supposed to be redundant.  We have two 8969-F24 at each location and, in theory, if I unplug one the other should continue on uninterrupted.  I am hoping this means that I can upgrade one and then the other when the first one completes.  Does the redundancy get negatively impacted due to the different release levels?

Each 8969-F24 SAN switch has 2 redundant management partitions behind the FC ports. During upgrade, first management partition is upgraded and continues to the 2nd partition without interruption to the FC ports. 

FC ports are not negatively affected by this upgrade procedure, they do not experience downtime or go offline. 

My boss is asking what is the definition of "non disruptively"?  He's been burned on some other switches where they were supposed to be redundant.  Apparently the person who installed them thought a 12 minute outage while the other takes over was tolerable.  My boss felt otherwise.

Does a non disruptively upgrade mean that if even it was a single switch we could upgrade the OS on it while still serving up IBM Power Systems from SAN routed through that switch and not experience any disconnection or delay?

9.1.1d is the recommended version by brocade for your "open system" setup. you can check brocade's official target path documentation at brocade.com.  And no, there will be no negative impact during upgrade. 9.1.1d upgrades non-disruptively from 9.0.x

Let me preface this that we are not one of those shops who stay on a level until it hits End of Service (or worse).  This week I upgraded our file transfer site from a.b.1 to a.c.1 the day after the .1 version came out for level c.

Fiber channel switch support has come under my responsibility now.  Changed when we upgraded switches.  Either I will upgrade our 8969-F24 switches or I'll have our BP do it.  I am trying to get recommendations outside of our BP as they tend to stay more on the 1 level above EOS mentality.

Our 8969-F24 switches are currently at 9.0.1c.  We use them to interface between two Power 10's, a DD6900 VTL, and a FS7300 SAN at one site.  The other site is a Power 9 and a DD6900 VTL with a FS7300 planned for later.  The Power 9 is currently using internal disks.

I am looking at this site:  IBM SAN b-type Firmware Version 9.x Qualification

The link for "* FICON qualified release." doesn't work but I've submitted feedback for that.  Well, it doesn't work for me as it tells me I'm not authorized.  Having done a few sites served up by Domino I can tell that link is relying upon that.  Honestly IDK what level to choose by the following:

The recommended version for open systems 9.2.1a

The recommended version for FICON environments is 9.2.0b

What level is recommended for my setup?

Got any good links on how to upgrade?

These switches are supposed to be redundant.  We have two 8969-F24 at each location and, in theory, if I unplug one the other should continue on uninterrupted.  I am hoping this means that I can upgrade one and then the other when the first one completes.  Does the redundancy get negatively impacted due to the different release levels?

Let me preface this that we are not one of those shops who stay on a level until it hits End of Service (or worse).  This week I upgraded our file transfer site from a.b.1 to a.c.1 the day after the .1 version came out for level c.

Fiber channel switch support has come under my responsibility now.  Changed when we upgraded switches.  Either I will upgrade our 8969-F24 switches or I'll have our BP do it.  I am trying to get recommendations outside of our BP as they tend to stay more on the 1 level above EOS mentality.

Our 8969-F24 switches are currently at 9.0.1c.  We use them to interface between two Power 10's, a DD6900 VTL, and a FS7300 SAN at one site.  The other site is a Power 9 and a DD6900 VTL with a FS7300 planned for later.  The Power 9 is currently using internal disks.

I am looking at this site:  IBM SAN b-type Firmware Version 9.x Qualification

The link for "* FICON qualified release." doesn't work but I've submitted feedback for that.  Well, it doesn't work for me as it tells me I'm not authorized.  Having done a few sites served up by Domino I can tell that link is relying upon that.  Honestly IDK what level to choose by the following:

The recommended version for open systems 9.2.1a

The recommended version for FICON environments is 9.2.0b

What level is recommended for my setup?

Got any good links on how to upgrade?

These switches are supposed to be redundant.  We have two 8969-F24 at each location and, in theory, if I unplug one the other should continue on uninterrupted.  I am hoping this means that I can upgrade one and then the other when the first one completes.  Does the redundancy get negatively impacted due to the different release levels?

I just want to confirm one thing, just because the "Type" and "Model" show the IBM values of 008969 and F24 doesn't mean that the fos has been customized by IBM, does it?  I just use the fos for Brocade G610 as per https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/fibre-channel-networking/fabric-os/fabric-os-software-upgrade/9-1-x/Introduction_91x/Supported-Hardware-and-Software-SW-UPG.html    right?

Let me preface this that we are not one of those shops who stay on a level until it hits End of Service (or worse).  This week I upgraded our file transfer site from a.b.1 to a.c.1 the day after the .1 version came out for level c.

Fiber channel switch support has come under my responsibility now.  Changed when we upgraded switches.  Either I will upgrade our 8969-F24 switches or I'll have our BP do it.  I am trying to get recommendations outside of our BP as they tend to stay more on the 1 level above EOS mentality.

Our 8969-F24 switches are currently at 9.0.1c.  We use them to interface between two Power 10's, a DD6900 VTL, and a FS7300 SAN at one site.  The other site is a Power 9 and a DD6900 VTL with a FS7300 planned for later.  The Power 9 is currently using internal disks.

I am looking at this site:  IBM SAN b-type Firmware Version 9.x Qualification

The link for "* FICON qualified release." doesn't work but I've submitted feedback for that.  Well, it doesn't work for me as it tells me I'm not authorized.  Having done a few sites served up by Domino I can tell that link is relying upon that.  Honestly IDK what level to choose by the following:

The recommended version for open systems 9.2.1a

The recommended version for FICON environments is 9.2.0b

What level is recommended for my setup?

Got any good links on how to upgrade?

These switches are supposed to be redundant.  We have two 8969-F24 at each location and, in theory, if I unplug one the other should continue on uninterrupted.  I am hoping this means that I can upgrade one and then the other when the first one completes.  Does the redundancy get negatively impacted due to the different release levels?

Yes, but you need to follow the Fix Central path to download the required FoS

I just want to confirm one thing, just because the "Type" and "Model" show the IBM values of 008969 and F24 doesn't mean that the fos has been customized by IBM, does it?  I just use the fos for Brocade G610 as per https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/fibre-channel-networking/fabric-os/fabric-os-software-upgrade/9-1-x/Introduction_91x/Supported-Hardware-and-Software-SW-UPG.html    right?

Let me preface this that we are not one of those shops who stay on a level until it hits End of Service (or worse).  This week I upgraded our file transfer site from a.b.1 to a.c.1 the day after the .1 version came out for level c.

Fiber channel switch support has come under my responsibility now.  Changed when we upgraded switches.  Either I will upgrade our 8969-F24 switches or I'll have our BP do it.  I am trying to get recommendations outside of our BP as they tend to stay more on the 1 level above EOS mentality.

Our 8969-F24 switches are currently at 9.0.1c.  We use them to interface between two Power 10's, a DD6900 VTL, and a FS7300 SAN at one site.  The other site is a Power 9 and a DD6900 VTL with a FS7300 planned for later.  The Power 9 is currently using internal disks.

I am looking at this site:  IBM SAN b-type Firmware Version 9.x Qualification

The link for "* FICON qualified release." doesn't work but I've submitted feedback for that.  Well, it doesn't work for me as it tells me I'm not authorized.  Having done a few sites served up by Domino I can tell that link is relying upon that.  Honestly IDK what level to choose by the following:

The recommended version for open systems 9.2.1a

The recommended version for FICON environments is 9.2.0b

What level is recommended for my setup?

Got any good links on how to upgrade?

These switches are supposed to be redundant.  We have two 8969-F24 at each location and, in theory, if I unplug one the other should continue on uninterrupted.  I am hoping this means that I can upgrade one and then the other when the first one completes.  Does the redundancy get negatively impacted due to the different release levels?

What path?  Select product, Product Group = System Storage, Select from System Storage = Storage area network (SAN), Select from Storage area network (SAN) = SAN b-type, SAN24B-6 Switch (8960-F24, 8969-F24), 

"Abstract:  Links to firmware, software and release notes on the Broadcom Portal"

Yes, but you need to follow the Fix Central path to download the required FoS

I just want to confirm one thing, just because the "Type" and "Model" show the IBM values of 008969 and F24 doesn't mean that the fos has been customized by IBM, does it?  I just use the fos for Brocade G610 as per https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/fibre-channel-networking/fabric-os/fabric-os-software-upgrade/9-1-x/Introduction_91x/Supported-Hardware-and-Software-SW-UPG.html    right?

Let me preface this that we are not one of those shops who stay on a level until it hits End of Service (or worse).  This week I upgraded our file transfer site from a.b.1 to a.c.1 the day after the .1 version came out for level c.

Fiber channel switch support has come under my responsibility now.  Changed when we upgraded switches.  Either I will upgrade our 8969-F24 switches or I'll have our BP do it.  I am trying to get recommendations outside of our BP as they tend to stay more on the 1 level above EOS mentality.

Our 8969-F24 switches are currently at 9.0.1c.  We use them to interface between two Power 10's, a DD6900 VTL, and a FS7300 SAN at one site.  The other site is a Power 9 and a DD6900 VTL with a FS7300 planned for later.  The Power 9 is currently using internal disks.

I am looking at this site:  IBM SAN b-type Firmware Version 9.x Qualification

The link for "* FICON qualified release." doesn't work but I've submitted feedback for that.  Well, it doesn't work for me as it tells me I'm not authorized.  Having done a few sites served up by Domino I can tell that link is relying upon that.  Honestly IDK what level to choose by the following:

The recommended version for open systems 9.2.1a

The recommended version for FICON environments is 9.2.0b

What level is recommended for my setup?

Got any good links on how to upgrade?

These switches are supposed to be redundant.  We have two 8969-F24 at each location and, in theory, if I unplug one the other should continue on uninterrupted.  I am hoping this means that I can upgrade one and then the other when the first one completes.  Does the redundancy get negatively impacted due to the different release levels?

Tried that and got:

An error occurred

SAN b-type, SAN24B-6 Switch (8960-F24, 8969-F24) (All.Releases)

Fix Central was unable to complete your request. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Please use the feedback option to report the problem, and include the following details:

What path?  Select product, Product Group = System Storage, Select from System Storage = Storage area network (SAN), Select from Storage area network (SAN) = SAN b-type, SAN24B-6 Switch (8960-F24, 8969-F24), 

"Abstract:  Links to firmware, software and release notes on the Broadcom Portal"

Yes, but you need to follow the Fix Central path to download the required FoS

I just want to confirm one thing, just because the "Type" and "Model" show the IBM values of 008969 and F24 doesn't mean that the fos has been customized by IBM, does it?  I just use the fos for Brocade G610 as per https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/fibre-channel-networking/fabric-os/fabric-os-software-upgrade/9-1-x/Introduction_91x/Supported-Hardware-and-Software-SW-UPG.html    right?

Let me preface this that we are not one of those shops who stay on a level until it hits End of Service (or worse).  This week I upgraded our file transfer site from a.b.1 to a.c.1 the day after the .1 version came out for level c.

Fiber channel switch support has come under my responsibility now.  Changed when we upgraded switches.  Either I will upgrade our 8969-F24 switches or I'll have our BP do it.  I am trying to get recommendations outside of our BP as they tend to stay more on the 1 level above EOS mentality.

Our 8969-F24 switches are currently at 9.0.1c.  We use them to interface between two Power 10's, a DD6900 VTL, and a FS7300 SAN at one site.  The other site is a Power 9 and a DD6900 VTL with a FS7300 planned for later.  The Power 9 is currently using internal disks.

I am looking at this site:  IBM SAN b-type Firmware Version 9.x Qualification

The link for "* FICON qualified release." doesn't work but I've submitted feedback for that.  Well, it doesn't work for me as it tells me I'm not authorized.  Having done a few sites served up by Domino I can tell that link is relying upon that.  Honestly IDK what level to choose by the following:

The recommended version for open systems 9.2.1a

The recommended version for FICON environments is 9.2.0b

What level is recommended for my setup?

Got any good links on how to upgrade?

These switches are supposed to be redundant.  We have two 8969-F24 at each location and, in theory, if I unplug one the other should continue on uninterrupted.  I am hoping this means that I can upgrade one and then the other when the first one completes.  Does the redundancy get negatively impacted due to the different release levels?

I changed my FixCentral download type from ftps to https.  That got me further.  However, after filling out the info there it kept getting stuck on telling me to log out of broadcomm and then to continue.  Tried 3 different browsers.

Tried that and got:

An error occurred

SAN b-type, SAN24B-6 Switch (8960-F24, 8969-F24) (All.Releases)

Fix Central was unable to complete your request. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Please use the feedback option to report the problem, and include the following details:

What path?  Select product, Product Group = System Storage, Select from System Storage = Storage area network (SAN), Select from Storage area network (SAN) = SAN b-type, SAN24B-6 Switch (8960-F24, 8969-F24), 

"Abstract:  Links to firmware, software and release notes on the Broadcom Portal"

Yes, but you need to follow the Fix Central path to download the required FoS

I just want to confirm one thing, just because the "Type" and "Model" show the IBM values of 008969 and F24 doesn't mean that the fos has been customized by IBM, does it?  I just use the fos for Brocade G610 as per https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/fibre-channel-networking/fabric-os/fabric-os-software-upgrade/9-1-x/Introduction_91x/Supported-Hardware-and-Software-SW-UPG.html    right?

Let me preface this that we are not one of those shops who stay on a level until it hits End of Service (or worse).  This week I upgraded our file transfer site from a.b.1 to a.c.1 the day after the .1 version came out for level c.

Fiber channel switch support has come under my responsibility now.  Changed when we upgraded switches.  Either I will upgrade our 8969-F24 switches or I'll have our BP do it.  I am trying to get recommendations outside of our BP as they tend to stay more on the 1 level above EOS mentality.

Our 8969-F24 switches are currently at 9.0.1c.  We use them to interface between two Power 10's, a DD6900 VTL, and a FS7300 SAN at one site.  The other site is a Power 9 and a DD6900 VTL with a FS7300 planned for later.  The Power 9 is currently using internal disks.

I am looking at this site:  IBM SAN b-type Firmware Version 9.x Qualification

The link for "* FICON qualified release." doesn't work but I've submitted feedback for that.  Well, it doesn't work for me as it tells me I'm not authorized.  Having done a few sites served up by Domino I can tell that link is relying upon that.  Honestly IDK what level to choose by the following:

The recommended version for open systems 9.2.1a

The recommended version for FICON environments is 9.2.0b

What level is recommended for my setup?

Got any good links on how to upgrade?

These switches are supposed to be redundant.  We have two 8969-F24 at each location and, in theory, if I unplug one the other should continue on uninterrupted.  I am hoping this means that I can upgrade one and then the other when the first one completes.  Does the redundancy get negatively impacted due to the different release levels?

Finally hit the right phase of the moon and got the activation code.  This started the broadcom part.  Then it tells me to wait (you'll get an email later).  Once you get that email you go back into Fix Central and start kind of over again but this time you can actually download the software.

Followed the manual and now I'm upgraded.  Didn't see any disruption between our Power system and it's vtl.  This site doesn't have SAN disk (yet).

I had a looping ping going to the management port.  There is a time in firmwaredownload where it restarts some stuff and during that time I got 8 consecutive "Request timed out." messages.

Time to complete:

firmwaredownloadstatus

[1]: Mon Apr 29 18:04:05 2024

Firmware is being downloaded to the switch. This step may take up to 30 minutes.

[2]: Mon Apr 29 18:13:37 2024

The internal firmware image is relocated successfully.

[3]: Mon Apr 29 18:13:37 2024

Firmware has been downloaded to the secondary partition of the switch.

[4]: Mon Apr 29 18:14:45 2024

The firmware commit operation has started. This may take up to 10 minutes.

[5]: Mon Apr 29 18:17:54 2024

The commit operation has completed successfully.

[6]: Mon Apr 29 18:17:54 2024

Firmwaredownload command has completed successfully. Use firmwareshow to verify the firmware versions.

USSG8969F24-2:rob> firmwareshow

Appl     Primary/Secondary Versions

------------------------------------------

FOS      v9.1.1d_lw

         v9.1.1d_lw

I changed my FixCentral download type from ftps to https.  That got me further.  However, after filling out the info there it kept getting stuck on telling me to log out of broadcomm and then to continue.  Tried 3 different browsers.

Tried that and got:

An error occurred

SAN b-type, SAN24B-6 Switch (8960-F24, 8969-F24) (All.Releases)

Fix Central was unable to complete your request. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Please use the feedback option to report the problem, and include the following details:

What path?  Select product, Product Group = System Storage, Select from System Storage = Storage area network (SAN), Select from Storage area network (SAN) = SAN b-type, SAN24B-6 Switch (8960-F24, 8969-F24), 

"Abstract:  Links to firmware, software and release notes on the Broadcom Portal"

Yes, but you need to follow the Fix Central path to download the required FoS

I just want to confirm one thing, just because the "Type" and "Model" show the IBM values of 008969 and F24 doesn't mean that the fos has been customized by IBM, does it?  I just use the fos for Brocade G610 as per https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/fibre-channel-networking/fabric-os/fabric-os-software-upgrade/9-1-x/Introduction_91x/Supported-Hardware-and-Software-SW-UPG.html    right?

Let me preface this that we are not one of those shops who stay on a level until it hits End of Service (or worse).  This week I upgraded our file transfer site from a.b.1 to a.c.1 the day after the .1 version came out for level c.

Fiber channel switch support has come under my responsibility now.  Changed when we upgraded switches.  Either I will upgrade our 8969-F24 switches or I'll have our BP do it.  I am trying to get recommendations outside of our BP as they tend to stay more on the 1 level above EOS mentality.

Our 8969-F24 switches are currently at 9.0.1c.  We use them to interface between two Power 10's, a DD6900 VTL, and a FS7300 SAN at one site.  The other site is a Power 9 and a DD6900 VTL with a FS7300 planned for later.  The Power 9 is currently using internal disks.

I am looking at this site:  IBM SAN b-type Firmware Version 9.x Qualification

The link for "* FICON qualified release." doesn't work but I've submitted feedback for that.  Well, it doesn't work for me as it tells me I'm not authorized.  Having done a few sites served up by Domino I can tell that link is relying upon that.  Honestly IDK what level to choose by the following:

The recommended version for open systems 9.2.1a

The recommended version for FICON environments is 9.2.0b

What level is recommended for my setup?

Got any good links on how to upgrade?

These switches are supposed to be redundant.  We have two 8969-F24 at each location and, in theory, if I unplug one the other should continue on uninterrupted.  I am hoping this means that I can upgrade one and then the other when the first one completes.  Does the redundancy get negatively impacted due to the different release levels?