We're in the initial phase of moving our sharepoint application from server A to
server B. I've read many different "How To" publications, all with various
approaches. Could someone shed a little knowledge on a simple and correct
approach based on lesson learned?

Our source sharepoint 2.0 system has a web from-end on server A with a SQL200
back-end on a separate server. The target system will basically be the same
structure, except that our back-end database server will be SQL2005. It's my
understanding that we must upgrade to SP2 and then the to v3.0 on the source
server A prior to migrating to server B. Documentation indicates both servers
must have the EXCAT same sharepoint software versions installed, prior to
migration/moving. Both environments are running Windows Server 2000 SE as their
operating system.

Proposed Path:
Server A (source v2.0)
Run fidelity Backups (stsadm)
Upgrade In-place from v2.0 to SP2
Run fidelity Backups (stsadm)
Test
Upgrade In-place from v2.0 SP2 to v3.0
Test
Run fidelity Backups (stsadm)

Server B (target v3.0)
Download and install v3.0
Create empty site
Restore sites from Backups
Test

Issues:
Should stsadm be used for fidelity backups (security, permissions, etc) and SQL
tools to backup/restore the databases?
Target server B must have a different service account that source server A.
Are the web parts included in the backups using stsadm?

Am I on the correct upgrade path or am I missing something that can cause the
upgrade to fail? Any assistance and/or direction would greatly be appreciated?