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    ESXi 5.1 vs 5.5

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    • nadnerBN
      nadnerB
      last edited by

      G'Day all,

      The time has come to replace one of my ESXi hosts.
      Currently, I'm using ESXi 5.1 (with vSphere 5.1) and since I have to install a new host from scratch, would it be worth upgrading everything to 5.5?
      Ā 

      1. Are there any major benefits to the upgrade?
      2. I read somewhere about vCenter as an Appliance being available.
        2.a Thoughts?
        2.b Any extras required? e.g. a separate SQL box
      3. How difficult is it to upgrade?
        3.a Can it be done inplace with out dataloss?
        The last time I upgraded, I moved all VMs off the host, upgraded and returned the VMs which I feel may have been unnecessary.

      I'm using Essentials Plus licensing.

      ? 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • ?
        A Former User @nadnerB
        last edited by

        @nadnerB

        1. No
        2. I always use it as a appliance. No extras required, except for a Windows VM to run the patching on.
        3. Not hard, and Yes, you can do it without data loss.

        P.S. ALWAYS HAVE A BACKUP!

        C 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • C
          Carnival Boy @A Former User
          last edited by

          @Aaron-Studer said:

          No extras required, except for a Windows VM to run the patching on.

          What do you mean by this?

          I've always run vCenter as an appliance and it's generally been fine, although it has hung a couple of times which forced me to log in directly to the host in order to reboot it.

          I presume from a security and reliability perspective, it's best practice to always upgrade to the latest version of ESXi, although I can't really be bothered. I upgraded from 5.0 to 5.1 to benefit from better HP iLO integration and it was very painless.

          I always find upgrades pretty scary though!

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          • ?
            A Former User
            last edited by

            @Carnival-Boy said:

            What do you mean by this?

            VMware Update Manager isn't available as part of the appliance, you have to run it on a windows server (hopefuly I VM)

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            • scottalanmillerS
              scottalanmiller
              last edited by

              Definitely go with the appliance. Runs on Suse using fewer resources and no Windows license. Huge win.

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              • scottalanmillerS
                scottalanmiller
                last edited by

                I also agree that you really want the latest ESXi code. It has the latest patches, features and longer support.

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                • ?
                  A Former User
                  last edited by

                  Make sure your hardware is supported from Wmware before upgrading. Else you may be in a world of trouble.

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                  • nadnerBN
                    nadnerB
                    last edited by

                    Thanks everyone for your input.

                    I'll grab the the appliance and have a good look at it.
                    Now I can get on to planning the upgrade šŸ™‚

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