also... something you may want to consider:
rather than testing on another server, have you considered setting up a virtual environment? this is how i test service packs & patches for sharepoint: i use virtual PC, install windows server 2003 and sharepoint, and then copy my content over to the virtual environment using a backup from my production sharepoint site.
this gives me a pretty good idea on how things will go.
another way to do this, if you have imaging software, is to take an image of your production server, and use it in a virtual environment.
as far as recommendations: a complete farm backup at the minimum. you can do a more thorough backup if you want:
http://blog.tomaselfving.c
Main Topics
Browse All Topics
by: liebrandPosted on 2009-08-25 at 13:47:40ID: 25182084
Having a backup is the main thing to do to prepare. The only thing you want to do PRIOR to pulling the trigger is restoring you backup in another environment to test your recovery process.
No point having a backup if you cannot recover from it.
If you successfully recover from your backup, then pull the trigger on the update.