Well, looks like I am up for a new server - as this was located on a remote server, the update didn't go as planned (broken connection during update) and bricked the system.
The positive side of it is though is that the requirement for me to restore my backup showed a flaw in the container software of the server, and I am getting an updated system with newer hardware and OS for no cost! down side is that I have now been down for over a week. Once I have the new server up and running though, I will be much happier.
Thanks for the help - I was sure it was something I had missed, like the fact I had a severely out of date system! at least I had a backup done before I decided to update