Wordpress 3.3 Upgrades

We've started rolling-out Wordpress 3.3 to our sites, starting with the less mission-critical.
Site#1 went almost smoothly (timed-out), but resumed ok.
Site#2 went smoothly.
Site#3 timed-out in the middle of something crucial and broke the site..
The solution was to delete the ".maintenance" file in the root directory, download Wordpress 3.3, and then FTP the files up, and then run the upgrade procedure manually (just access site.com/wp-admin).
Site#4 was even worse - caused by SEO Ultimate plugin. Solved that by renaming the plugin folder, and ftping the files up, and running the upgrade manually.
Can't wait to start with the three mission-critical sites. That'll have to wait until we complete the office move. Did I mention that?
Sorted.

Backup Problems at Jab Web Solutions

Prior to upgrading Wordpress, I always back-up my files and databases.
My last backup was Monday, so I thought I'd take a backup before the upgrade.

However, the backup at Jab Web ran extremely slowly, and then stalled at 85%.

So I made the decision to just "go for it", knowing that I had a complete backup from Monday, and could easily restore anything posted since then.

Fortunately, all went well. No Thanks to Jab Web Solutions (again)..