We are creating new VM servers and installing the latest and greatest 10.5.1. We are currently on version 10.4.1 with our physical servers. So could it be as simple as fresh install and restore from back up or would it be better to install 10.4.1 then utilize the backup and then upgrade?
Did you use the WebGIS DR Tool to take the backup? If so, the DR tool can only be used to restore a backup created using the same version as the deployment you're restoring to. So if you took the backup with 10.4.1, you have to restore it to a deployment at 10.4.1. There are a number of things to think about, though, before the restore: