Upgrade SnapDrive or ESX first?

[griffo007]

Hi

We are currently running ESX 3.5 Update 1 and we're looking to upgrade to ESXi 4.1.

Currently our SQL servers are running SnapDrive 6 or 6.2 with SnapManager for SQL version 2.1.2 or 5 and Exchange running SnapDrive 5 and SnapManager 4.

Do we have to upgrade SnapDrive to version 6.2/6.3 and SnapManager to version 6 first then the ESX hosts or do we upgrade the ESX hosts first then SnapDrive and SnapManager?

Thanks

[martin_fisher]

In this scenario its personal preference regarding which updates you perform first.

TBH, I would work out and document my update process for SnapDrive and SnapManager first and complete this work first.

I'm presuming your Exchange and SQL environment is all VM's and the environment is quite important.

Once the upgrades are complete, i would allow the enviroment to settle/bed in for a few weeks and make sure there are no underlying issues or niggles.

You will be able to run the same VM's with the same OS, just updated versions of SnapDrive and SnapManager for Exchange/SQL on older version of ESX

After that, I would start planning to update the ESX environment either via update manager, or possibly by reinstalling a new version of ESX and adding the old config back in.

Hope this helps.

[griffo007]

Thanks mate, helps a lot.

Was thinking of upgrading to vCenter 4.1 first, move the ESX hosts onto this, upgrade snapdrive and snapmanager then rebuild the hosts as ESXi.

I better get documenting,

Thanks again