Can vCenter 5.1 manage ESX4.x and ESXi 5.1 in different clusters?

[vmorz]

Hi,

Our current environment:

Five ESX 4 Servers and they are all belong to cluster A

one vCenter 4 Server

We plan to buy another five new ESXi 5.1 Servers and upgrade vCenter Server to 5.1

and we plan to create a new cluster to fully utilize the new features that vSphere 5.1 provides,such as VMFS-5, Storage DRS, etc..

so our future environment would be like this:

Five ESX 4 Servers and they are all belong to cluster A

Five ESX 5.1 Servers and they are all belong to cluster B

one vCenter 5.1 Server

My question is can vCenter 5.1 manage ESX4.x and ESXi 5.1 in different clusters? If yes, any limitation or drawbacks?

OR do I need to have two vCenter servers to manage two clusters?

I read the following articles and still struggling to find clues:

KB 2021193 article:

vCenter Server 5.1 can manage ESX/ESXi 4.x and ESXi 5.0.x hosts in the same cluster with ESXi 5.1 hosts.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=202119...

Mixing ESX/ESXi in an HA/DRS cluster:

http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2011/10/mixing-esxesxi-versions-in-an-hadrs-cluster.html

[asrarguna · Accepted solution]

Hi,

It is possible with 1 vCenter only. No need to have 2 different vCenter servers for 2 different cluster.

I did the same thing. I had 2 clusters running esxi 4.1 hosts being managed by 1 vcenter 4.1. I upgraded vCenter to 5.1 and then ist cluster to esxi 5.1. So i i too was managing 2 different clusters 5.1 and 4.1 with single vcenter 5.1.

It is backward compatible.

Thanks,

AG

[William22]

Hi

Welcome to the communities.

yes , you can easily manage this, please let us know if you are facing any challenges while managing or configuring.

"With normal actions you get normal   results."

[a_p_]

As mentioned by the other users, you can have several clusters in a single vCenter Server environment. Just make sure the vCenter Server version you use supports the version/build of your ESX/ESXi hosts (VMware Product Interoperability Matrix)

André

[vmorz]

Hi all,

Now I get it!!

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!!

Thank you again!!

[jdptechnc]

I'm doing the same thing in one envrionment - all clusters moved to a new vCenter 5.1 server, with clusters running hosts at version 5.1, 5.0, and 4.1.  Works fine.