I recently did a webcast for searchvmware.com on upgrading to vSphere that covers everything you need to know when upgrading from VI3 to vSphere. Below is the abstract of it along with the links for the webcast with slides/audio and the podcast audio only.
Webcast: Upgrading to vSphere: What you need to know
http://www.bitpipe.com/detail/RES/1282585373_290.html
Podcast: Upgrading to vSphere: What you need to know
http://www.bitpipe.com/detail/RES/1282585786_96.html
ABSTRACT:
If you have an existing VMware Infrastructure 3 environment, upgrading to vSphere — also known as ESX and ESXi 4 — will probably be on the agenda at some point if it hasn’t already. But before jumping into an upgrade of this caliber there are many considerations and requirements that you should be aware of, including hardware, software and database requirements, third-party software compatibility considerations and compatibility with other VMware products. Then, you’ll need to devise an upgrade plan for your existing environment. Upgrading to vSphere is fairly straightforward, but there are many gotchas that can make it more difficult than necessary. To avoid surprises during the upgrade you should properly prepare and know all the steps involved in your upgrade so that it is trouble-free. In this webcast we will cover considerations and steps for upgrading your existing virtual environment to vSphere.
Compatibility & requirement considerations:
* Hardware requirements
* Software & database requirements
* Third-party product compatibility
* VMware product compatibility
Planning an upgrade:
* Upgrade phases
* Upgrade methods
Performing an upgrade:
* Rolling back to a previous version
* Pre-upgrade checklist
* Upgrading vCenter Server
* Upgrading ESX and ESXi hosts
* Upgrading virtual machines
