Multisite questions

Question

I've got several questions regarding WP multisite, hoping someone who's used it extensively can help:

1. Is it possible to manage several WP sites over several different domains?
2. How can plugins be managed, some I'd like to use across all the sites but others I'd only like to use on certain sites. Also what happens to each of the plugin settings, are they rolled out across the board?
3. Updating - how can this be managed per site for both the plugins and WP itself.

Answer 1

1. Yes. Use the Domain Mapping Plugin.
2. Plugins can be enabled network-wide, or on a per-site basis. You can choose whether or not to give site admins the capability to activate/deactivate Plugins. Plugin settings are on a per-site basis.
3. The Network Administration handles updates to core, Plugins, and Themes, and automates updating the database tables for each network site, when applicable.