Problem starting up Postgres from pulse

Hi all, inching ever closer to being able to deploy AS, however a number
of issues have come up. I need to resolve these before plunking down
$1500 for the full version. 

1.) If both servers start up at approximately the same time, both
attempt to start the database. This is not good since they share the
same directory for data. Is there a way to prevent this from happening?
I know that this would be a rare instance, but they want no loopholes. 

2.) Updates? I had to patch the kernel in order for FOS to be able to
run scripts. Will this patch be included in future versions? Is the RH
Enterprise Linux AS the same version as the Developer Edition? Or will I
have to restart all my patching/testing/et al from scratch?

3.) I had used up2date to attempt to update a freshly installed copy of
RHAS Dev and it said that it was up to date. What about all the kernel
patches? Security releases, notably the sendmail and bind issues. 

I am trying to move ahead with this, but these issues have come up and
caused alarms with my QA department. 

Any help would be appreciated,
Ed Croft, RHCE