...or [sometimes both][1]!

http://serverfault.com/questions/582088/esxi-5-1-crashing/582092#582092 (bug fixed by updates)

http://serverfault.com/questions/581064/installing-xenserver-6-2-on-proliant-dl160g6-freezes-during-installing-from-bas/581287#581287 (firmware)

http://serverfault.com/questions/475827/disconnected-network-adapter-on-vmware-only-power-cycle-solve-this/475982#475982 (firmware)

http://serverfault.com/questions/533283/unable-to-view-sensor-data-in-esxi-5-x-on-dl380-g7?lq=1 (bug fixed by updates)

http://serverfault.com/questions/570996/esxi-host-losing-connection-to-vcenter/571028#571028 (bug fixed by updates)

http://serverfault.com/questions/583584/hp-proliant-with-sata-sas-drives (firmware)

Is this a basic troubleshooting step that posters are missing? Maybe it's that VMware and HP solutions need more massaging and care than others, but my impression is that people aren't making the effort to keep their environments updated and run into bugs as a result. 

In a time where software updates are mandatory for general purpose operating systems, our phones, televisions, bathroom scales and even [*my bicycle*][2], why is it missed so often in the server hardware and virtualization space?

Is there a cleaner way to answer these questions or suggest, *"are you on a recent revision of software|firmware|BIOS?"* at post time?


  [1]: http://serverfault.com/questions/582914/hp-proliant-dl380e-gen8-has-high-fan-speed-after-installing-second-cpu/582959#582959
  [2]: http://www.tuneyourdi2.com/files/etube01.jpg