vSphere 5: Cluster with mixed ESX/ESXi version

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Many have asked me whether if a cluster can be mixed with different versions of ESX/ESXi servers.  The answer is yes even down to ESX/ESXi 3.5, however for version 3.5, you would need to cater the legacy license server.  Please refer to the documentation here.

Here is a demo of a setup I did with ESX 4.1 and ESXi 5.0 in the same cluster with HA and DRS enabled managed using a vCenter 5.0.

Please note that upgrading VMware Tools to the latest version will still be supported on lower version of ESX/ESXi servers as it only update the OS drivers.  However, upgrading the virtual hardware will only allow it to be supported on the latest ESXi server.

In such, that in consideration when doing your migration and upgrading of your vSphere environment and perform the virtual hardware upgrade last if possible unless you have enough resources to cater for your HA.

Update 19th Apr 2013
Refresh the video as first half has missing audio.

Comments

Unknown said…
Hello,
Can you please provide me details of your Home LAB. I am planning to build one and has limited budget currently. So your inputs will be valuable to me as you already have one.
December 20, 2011 at 3:30 PM
Wee Kiong Tan said…
Please look for my post on whitebox. I have included all details of my latest build.
December 20, 2011 at 4:15 PM
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