Cluster upgrade from 2003 to 2003 R2

[Jody Gillit]

Have a current environment of a 4 node 2003 cluster. I'm replacing 2 of the nodes and adding 2 more. I am planning to upgrade to R2 but not sure when I should do this.

Has anyone done this and what have you learned?

Option 1) Do I need to join the 4 new boxes to the cluster as 2003 then upgrade one node to R2 to upgrade the cluster then go back up upgrade all the nodes?

Option 2) Can I bring up the 4 new boxes as R2 and add them to the 2003 cluster as if they were no different then upgrade the remaining two after that?

Any links to documentation would be great also!
Thanks!

[Rune J. Winje]

I think option 2 would work just fine.

If the cluster allows you to join a R2-node to the cluster - it implies it is OK.


* Windows 2003 R2 = Windows 2003 SP1 + New Features

* SP2 for Windows 2003 is common for both 2003 and 2003 R2

* Licensing-wise R2 is a new major version of the OS, but that's another story.

You should also install the SP2 recommended hotfixes for clusters
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/935640


Cheers,
Rune