production server upkeep question

[goku]

Hi all,
I have a question on production server upkeep.
In my supfile I am tracking freebsd 7 stable
*default tag=RELENG_7

Now here is my question. I’ve read that a safe method of updating the system’s binaries is using a utility called freebsd-update. I have read that it does not update –STABLE . It only tracks the release tag. So do I change the RELENG_7 to RELENG_7_0_0_RELEASE ? also when freebsd 7.1R becomes available and I decide not to upgrade. Will the freebsd-update still update the system’s binaries? Or do I have to upgrade to freebsd 7.1R and change the RELENG_7_0_0_RELEASE to RELENG_7_1_0_RELEASE

Another question. Since the server that I am learning on will become a production server. Is there a way to upgrade from freebsd 7 to 7.1(when it come available) without having the server go offline.

Thanks
goku