(FAQ?) 1.2.31 vs 1.4.latest vs 1.6.latest

ok

so I have to build a new server. I have been running 1.2.x for a long time, I am not having any major problems, but the occasional glitch here and there means I have to do a restart every once in a while (less than once a month)

I’ve searched, I’ve read changelogs, but for the life of me, can someone please explain why I should not just get the last 1.2.x with whatever security holes plugged, versus the latest 1.4.x, versus the latest 1.6.x. At least that way I could keep my dialplan ?

I have a few constant uptime sites and they have been running fine for years… and to be honest because of that I haven’t paid attention to the code tree… and I want stability, voice quality and uptime over anything. no GUI needed, no support needed for hardware that I dont have, no support needed for codecs that I cant use, etc. . sites are all gxp2k sip phones and some basic sipura FXOs for the older phones, going to the local server through a firewall to a PSTN voip provider via DSL/cable for incoming and outgoing, with a digium card (with just one line) for backup / 911 access / fax, and they run voicemail, a few queues, but basically are used all day.

the new machines are running RHEL5.2, under a xen PVM (yes I’ve tried it with the zaptel timer issue fix and it seems ok, at least on my old 1.2.x, only thing I haven’t tried under a PVM is hardware reservation for the digium card which I can live without if need be)

is this a FAQ that I just cant find ?

I am sort of in the same boat, except my 1.2.x install runs just fine witha reboot of the server about every 4-6 months sometimes longer.

I do need to switch over to some new hardware and it would be a great time to upgrade so I am evaluating what version to go to. Since almost all the 1.2 bugfixes went into 1.4 and 1.4 has been out for a while IMHO 1.4 should be as stable or more stable than 1.2. Plus for at least a little while they are still going to do bugfixes in 1.4 whereas in 1.2 if you find a bug it will not get fixed unless its a security issue.

My issue is I know I wont do another upgrade for at least another 3 years when I am ready to switch to another server. I am thinking of jumping up to 1.6 but a little scared of that thought.

alright so I’m not the only one… so someone give me some reasons or point me to some things to read (that I cant seem to find…) there have got to be others in the same situation

We ran 1.2 up to release 21 or so and then moved to 1.4.x. The main driver for changing was because of some bugs in the DTMF code that affected our ability to send DTMF to some of our SIP gateway providers. I would stay away from 1.6 until release 2 or 3!

If I were building a new server today, I would go with the latest release of 1.4.

Hi

I have 1.2 sites still out there and proving issue free, all new sites are 1.4 but I have to say read teh change log and test test test. My dialplan is 11 a4 pages long, It took a good while to sort all the bugs out. None now sneak up and bite me, but they did.

Ian