Dear all,

I have existing 2x ESX 3.0.2 Update 1 with Virtual Center 2.0.1 installed (MSDE) The VM Datacenter has been setup with VMwareHA and VMotion. Now I would like to upgrade ESX 3.5 and Virtual Center 2.5 and I have the problem and question as the following. Please kindly to give me the advice. Thanks!

1) When setup Virtual Center 2.5 on a computer which is already running Virtual Center 2.0.1, I found it need to setup MS SQL 05 Express instead of MSDE. After the SQL05Express set up, I found the database is empty. How can I upgrade the existing datacenter from VC 2.0.1 to VC 2.5?

2) Currently I have Datacenter setup with capability on VMotion and VMwareHA. If I demote (just delete the existing Datacenter) to become two standalone ESX. What happen of the Virtual Machine will shutdown while demote? or still running while I am demoting?

3) The pair of ESX 3.0.2u1 are connecting to the same SAN with the same LUN. I have 5 VM, 3VM in ESX#1, 2VM in ESX#2. Can I stop all VM in ESX#2 and start those on ESX#1 while I am upgrading ESX#2 to ESX 3.5?

4) After ESX#2 has been upgraded, Can I start those 5 VM on ESX#2 and perform upgrade on ESX#1?

Thanks for your kindly help and read my dump questions.

-david