8est Shareo|nt Upgrade ract|ces

8efore plannlng a ShareolnL upgrade cerLaln key polnLs carry lmporLance for a successful
lmplemenLaLlon llrsL of all deLecLlng posslble lssues abouL Lhe deploymenL ls of core lmporLance ln
order Lo meeL Lhe upgrade schedule Lhen how much an organlzaLlon requlres downLlme for carrylng
ouL day Lo day operaLlons or ls Lhere any need for upgradlng farm or server conflguraLlons? ln addlLlon
someLlmes cusLomlzaLlons are also requlred on Lhe ShareolnL 2010 farm as well ln Lhls regard Lhe
under menLloned besL pracLlces lf adopLed preclsely can lead Lo a smooLh upgrade

kun a reUpgrade Check

CeL Lhe sLaLus of your ShareolnL slLes and servers before a ShareolnL 2010 upgrade Server
admlnlsLraLor can solve any poLenLlal lssues for upgrade wlLh a reupgrade check reupgrade checker
ls avallable wlLh Cfflce ShareolnL Server 2007 Servlce ack 2(updaLed verslon) and CcLober 2009
CumulaLlve updaLe for Wlndows ShareolnL Servlces 30 (updaLed verslon)

Is our Lnv|ronment Iu||y Iunct|ona|?

As upgrade does noL resolve any lssues LhaL exlsL ln your envlronmenL so lL ls recommended Lo un
exLend your web appllcaLlons whlch are noL belng used ln Lhe lnLerneL lnformaLlon Servlces (llS)
beforehand because ShareolnL 2010 wlll Lry Lo upgrade Lhe appllcaLlon even lf lL does noL exlsL whlch
wlll resulL ln an upgrade fallure

Update Servers to Serv|ce ack 2

lf you wanL Lo run an lnplace or daLabaseaLLach upgrade you musL change your exlsLlng envlronmenL
Lo Servlce ack 2 of MlcrosofL Cfflce ShareolnL Server 2007reupgrade checker has been lmproved ln
Lhe CcLober 2009 CumulaLlve updaLe so lL wlll be beLLer Lo lnsLall for achlevlng a slmpllfled upgrade

Upgrade CS to 64b|t Servers

MlgraLe Lo 64blL verslon of Wlndows Server 2008 82 or Wlndows Server 2008 wlLh S2 before Lrylng an
lnplace upgrade lor SCL server users Lhey should mlgraLe Lo 64blL verslon of MlcrosofL SCL Server
2008 82 and SCL Server 2008 wlLh Servlce ack 1 (S1) wlLh CumulaLlve updaLe 2 8uL lf you are uslng
SCL Server 2003 Lhen upgrade Lo S3 and CumulaLlve updaLe 3 lor carrylng ouL an lnplace upgrade
your exlsLlng sysLem should be runnlng on a supporLed CS An lmporLanL polnL Lo conslder ls noL Lo
merge your upgrade process wlLh Lhese operaLlons

Lst|mate the Storage Space and 1|me requ|red for upgrade

?ou need 64blL hardware and 64 blL verslons of Lhe CperaLlng SysLem as well as MlcrosofL SCL Server
LlLher for an lnplace or daLabaseaLLach upgrade process you need Lo updaLe Lo Cfflce ShareolnL
Server 2007 Servlce ack 2 Lo carry ouL Lhe upgrade process lL ls lmporLanL Lo know Lhe sLorage space
requlred and Lhe Llme needed for an upgrade process ConducLlng a Lrlal upgrade can help esLlmaLe Lhe
space and Llme requlred for any such upgrade

erform a Iu|| 8ackup of the Iarm
lL ls recommended Lo back up Lhe MlcrosofL Cfflce ShareolnL Server 2007 envlronmenL before
commenclng wlLh Lhe upgrade process ?ou should also back up all cusLomlzaLlons lf you have deployed
Lhem ?ou musL LesL Lhese backups so LhaL you wlll be able Lo recover lf Lhere ls some klnd of hardware
fallure

,ake our Lnv|ronment Lffectua|

Cuery LhroLLllng on large llsLs and changes ln llmlLs of slLe collecLlon per conLenL daLabase are some new
changes LhaL have been lnLroduced ln ShareolnL Server 2010 1he new llmlLs on slLe collecLlons lnclude
(3000 warnlng and 13000 llmlL Lo 2000 warnlng and 3000 llmlL Cfflce ShareolnL Server 2007
envlronmenL musL be opLlmlzed ln order Lo meeL Lhese llmlLs

Add server to farms e|ther before or after comp|et|ng the upgrade process

1he conflguraLlon daLabase ls upgraded when ShareolnL roducLs ConflguraLlon ls run lL conLalns Lhe
llsL of servers ln a farm Servers added Lo a farm afLer runnlng Lhe conflguraLlon wlzard do noL appear ln
Lhe daLabase so lL ls suggesLed Lo add servers Lo farms afLer or before runnlng an upgrade

Set Databases to kLAD CNL mode

Whlle adopLlng a daLabase aLLach approach you may seL Lhe orlglnal daLabases Lo a read only mode Lo
enable users Lo conLlnue Lo access Lhelr daLa ln a read only form

kev|ew Upgrade Status page and Upgrade Logs

?ou can always deal wlLh lssues by looklng aL Lhe upgrade SLaLus age and upgrade Logs 1he upgrade
age shows Lhe deLalls regardlng Lhe upgrade process whlle Lhe upgrade log shows posslble warnlngs or
errorsAfLer Lhe compleLlon of upgrade process make sure Lo LesL and verlfy all Lhe slLes

Summary

upgrade's besL performance relles upon cerLaln speclal measures and lf Lhese Laken properly Lhen you
can deflnlLely conducL a perfecL upgrade wlLhouL a fallurelL ls suggesLed Lo flnd ouL abouL posslble
lssues LhaL can occur durlng an upgrade wlLh a preupgrade check Slmllarly you need Lo deleLe web
appllcaLlons whlch are noL ln use and Lhe exlsLlng envlronmenL musL be changed Lo MlcrosofL Cfflce
ShareolnL Server 2007 Servlce ack 2?ou need Lo upgrade your operaLlng sysLem Lo 64blL server and
also requlre lnformaLlon regardlng Lhe Llme requlred Lo compleLe an upgrade and abouL Lhe sLorage
space ?ou musL backup all cusLomlzaLlons and farms and opLlmlze your envlronmenL Lo meeL Lhe llmlLs
seL for new slLe collecLlons ?ou may add servers Lo farms afLer or before Lhe upgrade and observe Lhe
deLalls regardlng Lhe upgrade process and any warnlngs lannlng before an upgrade ls crlLlcally
essenLlal because lL ls Lhe ulLlmaLe way of commenclng a smooLh upgrade

Author 8|o k|chard 1y|er

8lchard 1yler ls a leadlng Lechnology consulLanL who has been provldlng Lechnology consulLlng servlces
Lo organlzaLlons LhroughouL Lhe uSA 1he auLhor also speclallzes ln provldlng ShareolnL soluLlons
Lmall rlchardLyler32[gmallcom
WebslLe hLLp//wwwxavorcom/lndexphp/whaLwedo/soluLlons/sharepolnL2010Lools