Vmware Upgrade queries...

Need to confirm few things on upgrade to be done from 4.1 to 5.5

Is it require to enabled EVC if all my Esxi host upgraded from 4.1 to 5.5 in new vc and in new cluster.and all are with same model,type and CPU generation.  any  method to check and confirm if evc to be enabled on cluster having such host ?

Upgraded my host from 4.1 to 5.5   Now to upgrade dvSwitch from 4.1.0 to 5.5.0 -any downtime required ?

Can we do roll-back if there is any issue during dvswicth upgrade ?

any limitation/restriction with VMFS upgrade from vmfs 3 [4.1]to vmfs5 [5.5] ?

Can we do vmfs upgrade with no downtime or if any restriction due to some ATS settings disabled due to san dependency
URL for reference :
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2113956
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patronTechnical consultant Asked:
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Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert / EE MVE^2)VMware and Virtualization ConsultantCommented:
Is it require to enabled EVC if all my Esxi host upgraded from 4.1 to 5.5 in new vc and in new cluster.and all are with same model,type and CPU generation.  any  method to check and confirm if evc to be enabled on cluster having such host ?

EVC is ONLY required in your vSphere Cluster (4.x, 5.x or 6.x), if your hosts have mixed CPU generations.

There should be no downtime required, but ensure VMs are migrated to other hosts.

You can upgrade from VMFS 3,0 to VMFS 5.0, there are no actually limitations, but upgraded VMFS5 is different to normal VMFS 5,.0, e.g. block size
patronTechnical consultant Author Commented:
Thanks Andrew ,Block Size,what i can understand..

we should always create new vmfs 5 ?

else if we upgrade existing vmfs 3 to 5,it will be as same as it was earlier, untill we extend size from 2 TB ?
 and for EVC ,i can see same h/w model and type i have. will check for generation if possible through esx host command line and will move vms to other hots in cluster?
patronTechnical consultant Author Commented:
and there is no ATS limitation  during vmfs upgrade as given in above url ?

 for dvswitch upgrade from 4.1 to 5.1 -downtime required ? and can we take any pre backup in case roll back is required ?
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Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert / EE MVE^2)VMware and Virtualization ConsultantCommented:
If this is ESXi you can backup the configuration.
patronTechnical consultant Author Commented:
yes it is esxi 5.5
Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert / EE MVE^2)VMware and Virtualization ConsultantCommented:
So you could backup the configuration, before upgrade to complete a rollback plan if needed.

see here

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2042141
patronTechnical consultant Author Commented:
Thanks  its fine with esxi config backup,but here i need info about dv switch upgrade from 4.1 to 5.1
 will there be any outage if I upgrade  it in live environment or if  any downtime to be planned?
Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert / EE MVE^2)VMware and Virtualization ConsultantCommented:
There will be not outage.

But ensure, you have no Live VMs, on the server.

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patronTechnical consultant Author Commented:
Thanks
patronTechnical consultant Author Commented:
Thanks
Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert / EE MVE^2)VMware and Virtualization ConsultantCommented:
no problems.
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