Before starting down the path to <a title="VMware vSphere 4" href="http://www.eGroup-us.com/Default.aspx?TabId=85&amp;svpage=product_vsphere4" target="_blank">VMware vSphere</a>, it is worth taking some time to determine what your current VMware Infrastructure deployment scenario looks like with respect to the setup of VMware vCenter and how it is configured to support VI3 Clusters with Resource Pools, VMware HA and VMware DRS. An <a title="eGroup Virtualization Healthcheck" href="http://localhost/eGroup/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/egroup-server-virtualization-health-check.pdf" target="_blank">eGroup Virtualization Healthcheck</a> will help identify the state of your VI3 environment.

<strong><a title="Upgrade to VMware vSphere 4" href="http://egroup.jasonmangone.com/Default.aspx?TabId=85&amp;svpage=product_vsphere4" target="_blank">How Do I Upgrade?</a></strong>
Phase 1: Complete the upgrade of the VMware vCenter Server along with VMware Update Manager. VMware Converter Enterprise and VMware Guided Consolidation are two additional components that can be installed along with their respective VMware vCenter Client plug-in.

Phase 2: Choose from three VMware ESX migration methods. The three options are: VMware Update Manager, Host Update Utility or Clean Install of VMware ESX 4.

Phase 3: Complete the upgrade of your Virtual Machines by first upgrading VMware Tools, followed by the upgrade of the Virtual Hardware from version 4 to version 7.

Click here to access <a title="eGroup VMware vSphere Upgrade Center" href="http://vmware.sharedvue.net/sharedvue/popup.asp?strPage=vsphere-upgrade_center&amp;pid=106" target="_blank">eGroup's VMware vSphere 4 Upgrade Center</a> and to access step-by-step migration videos