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vSphere 4.1 (ESX) to 5.1 (ESXi) using New Hardware

After reading lots of documentation via the Update Center site and some other posts on this community I wanted to see if the plan I have is ok or is there a better way?  I've upgraded 3.5 to 4.1 before but it was using the same hardware...this time around...I'm using new hardware for the new vSphere ESXi & vCenter 5.1 infrastructure.


So, this is what I want to do and hopefully the community's input would help guide me to use the best approach for my needs.


Existing environment consists of:


vCenter 4.1 on a physical Windows Server 2008 R2 server with databases running on a separate physical SQL 2008 R2 cluster.  7 ESX 4.1 host servers.  4 of these hosts are in an EVC compatible cluster, 1 is in a DMZ EVC cluster with another host that will be moved into that cluster after upgrade is completed.  1 is a stand alone ESX 4.1 server that will be decommissioned.  VM's on this server are from our TEST/DEV environment and will be cold migrated over to new 5.1 cluster.  All shared storage (i.e. - datastores running VMFS-3) for existing environment is running on our SAN.


New environment will consist of:


4 new ESXi 5.1 host servers running in a cluster.  2 existing DMZ host servers (old current hardware) **These will be replaced later with 2 new servers identical to the existing new hardware being used.  Migrating vCenter Server to a different host machine following KB 5850444.  vCenter 5.1 on a VM running Windows Server 2012 with databases on a separate physical SQL 2008 R2 cluster.  All shared storage (i.e. - datastores running VMFS-5) for new environment is running on our SAN. 


Here is a summary of my plan:


1 - Install ESXi 5.1 on one of the new host servers

2 - Connect to SAN and Create new VMFS-5 datastores

3 - Create a new vCenter 5.1 VM running on new VMFS-5 using Windows Server 2012 OS pointing to existing databases on my physical SQL 2008 R2 cluster.  Use the temporary Eval license option for new vCenter 5.1.  **Follow KB article 5850444 instructions minus database movement since databases will stay in its existing location

4 - Remove existing ESX 4 host servers from original vCenter 4.1 into new vCenter 5.1 inventory **Not sure about this one since my new vCenter 5.1 will be pointing at the existing database, so wouldn't the ESX 4.1 host automatically show up?

5 - VM's will be moved using Enhanced vMotion to new ESXi 5.1 hosts & VMFS-5 datastores on SAN

6 - ESX 4.1 host will then be removed/retired from vCenter 5.1

7 - Upgrade all licensing to new 5.1 and apply to vCenter 5.1 & ESXi 5.1 hosts

8 - Upgrade VM's (VMware Tools then Hardware to 9) using Update Manager


That's it, any input would be greatly appreciated...thanks.


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