EdVassie (11/25/2013)
If you are doing an in-place upgrade your planning should include the scenario of the upgrade failing part-way through - these things can happen.
I thought I'd pretty much said this
MysteryJimbo (11/22/2013)
Can you afford for the server to be rebuilt if the installation goes badly? This could take a couple of days.
Oh yes... 😀
EdVassie (11/25/2013)
IMHO the risks and work needed to do an in-place upgrade are not worth it for a production machine. You should always aim to do a side-by-side upgrade for production, and anything else that your organisation relies on.
The point being, performing a side by side upgrade is not always possible and within everyone's budget so this. Sometimes the risks are acceptable. If the in place upgrade works, great. If not, the business owners were made aware this could happen and the time to rebuild the server can be absorbed providing precautions are taken in advance.