IT Server Upgrade Checklist

Introduction..................................................... 5
   In Scope...................................................... 5
   Out of Scope.................................................. 5
   Audience...................................................... 6
   References.................................................... 6
Upgrade Methods.................................................. 7
   Background: Types of / Reason for Server Upgrade 
          or Replacement ........................................ 7
   In-Place Upgrade or Replacement............................... 9
   Feature-Matrix – Advantages / Disadvantages................... 9
   Decision(s)...................................................10
Impact Analysis..................................................11
   Impact on Data Centre and Infrastructure......................11
       Upgrading / Replacing Server Hardware ....................11
       Adding Disk Space.........................................12
   Server Tools, Utilities and other 3rd Party Software..........13
      Compatibility..............................................13
      Digital Certificates.......................................15
      License Impact.............................................16
   Data Migration................................................18
   Other.........................................................18
     Estimated Downtime..........................................19
     High Availability / Disaster Recovery ......................20
   Capacity Review of other potentially affected systems.........21
Planning.........................................................22
   Costs.........................................................22
   Steps / Tasks.................................................24
Preparing the Upgrade............................................25
   Identify configuration parameters where default values changed25
   Document the values of current configuration parameters.......25
      Operating System...........................................25
      Database...................................................26
      Application................................................26
      Add a section for each additional tool / utility installed.26
  User Accounts..................................................27
     Migration Method............................................27
     Operating system User Accounts..............................28
     Database User Accounts......................................28
     Application User Accounts...................................28
Testing..........................................................29
   Testing the application on new server 
           / on upgraded version of operating system............ 29
   Performance Testing on new server 
           / on upgraded version of operating system............ 29
   Testing the upgrade process...................................30
      Scenario: Server will be replaced by a new server......... 30
      Scenario: Operating system on existing server 
            will be upgraded (In-Place upgrade)..................31
Going Live...................................................... 32
   Outage planning – out of scope 
     –> see product "Template for Outage Planning"...............32
   PIR – Post Implementation Review............................. 32