Migration will be very straightforward, but will require downtime on the guests since you are changing Hardware in the Hosts and ESX Versions, as long as the cluster's share the same storage do the following at a high level.
1) Load up the new hardware with ESX, Create your new cluster "B" , make sure all your networks look the same config wise 2) Shutdown a Guest, Move from Cluster A to Cluster B (migrate option in VC) 3) Turn on, upgrade VM Tools to latest 4) Shutdown, upgrade virtual hardware 5) Turn on, run windows update in case you need Stuff like "AMD Opteron" / "Intel" updates 6) Rinse and Repeat for all guests I've done migrations / upgrades countless of time, this is the safest, you can also do a massive Unregister / Register VM's into a new cluster etc... Replication DR gets a little more complex since it's dependent on quite a few things, you can use SRM, but to do so you need to be able to do storage replication 1st with your SAN's. there's other backups / restore product's out there like Vizioncore and PHDvirtual Cheers! Carlos -----Original Message----- From: John Cook [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 11:37 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Some VMware questions - upgrading ESX, and failover clustering (OT) VMWare has a product called site recovery manager IIRC just for that express purpose. Not free, you can ping me offlist if you need details. John W. Cook Systems Administrator Partnership For Strong Families 315 SE 2nd Ave Gainesville, Fl 32601 Office (352) 393-2741 x320 Cell (352) 215-6944 Fax (352) 393-2746 MCSE, MCTS, MCP+I, A+, N+, VSP4, VTSP4 -----Original Message----- From: Mike Leone [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 11:33 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Some VMware questions - upgrading ESX, and failover clustering (OT) Sorry for the OT. I have a call into my vendor about this, but thought I'd ask here, as some of you probably have experience at this. I have a VMware ESX 3.5 cluster, 10 hosts, 20 CPUs, with HA and DRS. What I want to do: Migrate my existing cluster to new hardware, in the process upgrading from ESX 3.5 to vSphere v4. That would be first - a set of directions for that. THEN, I want to physically move the old ESX 3.5 servers to my D/R hot site, set it up as a 2nd VMware cluster (I would be wiping these clean, and then installing vSphere v4). And then keep the two in sync, and be able to fail over from here to there, and back again, as needed. I haven't been able to determine if the syncing and failing over is a feature of vSphere 4; an add-on for it; or needs a 3rd party tool (something by the FalconStor folks was mentioned to me, but I don't know any more about that [yet]). So any advice, pointers, links, horror stories, etc would be greatly appreciated. Especially since they just told me today that we will definitely be doing this. In the next 6 weeks. D'OH! Up to this point, it was more of a "Know what would be nice to have?" sort of discussion ... Thanks, and sorry for the OT. ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT: The information transmitted, or contained or attached to or with this Notice is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain Protected Health Information (PHI), confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, transmission, dissemination, or other use of, and taking any action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient without the express written consent of the sender are prohibited. This information may be protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), and other Federal and Florida laws. Improper or unauthorized use or disclosure of this information could result in civil and/or criminal penalties. Consider the environment. Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to. ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ _________________________________________________________ This e-mail, including attachments, contains information that is confidential and may be protected by attorney/client or other privileges. This e-mail, including attachments, constitutes non-public information intended to be conveyed only to the designated recipient(s). If you are not an intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized use, dissemination, distribution or reproduction of this e-mail, including attachments, is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify me by e-mail reply and delete the original message and any attachments from your system. _________________________________________________________ ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
