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Novell recently released Platespin Migrate 9, which should address some Linux P2V issues we’ve been running into. Namely, that you can only migrate a Linux server in offline or “TakeControl” mode. We’ve been running into issues where network speed settings have prevented us from moving data from source to target – for example, if you’ve got a Linux physical server with a 1Gb/s adapter connecting to a 100Mb/s switch you’ll end up with horrendously slow data transfer speeds. With Windows you can specify that setting (100 vs. 1000) but with pre-v9 Migrate Linux migrations you can’t. We’re hoping that Migrate 9 will beef up this support, but as it turns out there is a somewhat significant architecture change with Platespin products this time around.

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So, on the heels of my post pointing out some tips on ways to increase the chances of successful physical-to-virtual conversions using VMWare’s Converter, you’ve decided to take the plunge and get rid of all those PowerEdge 2600′s you’ve got lying around.

Good for you! You’ve successfully finished a clone of your server’s physical hard drive(s), and the conversion process is almost done. BUT: At anywhere between 94% and 99%, the VMWare Converter console shows a failed conversion at reconfiguring your target virtual machine. So you switch to your VM and try to just power it on: BSOD. What now?

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One of the tasks I’ve been working on for the past two months has been the conversion of a large number of physical servers to virtual machines using VMWare’s Converter 4.0. Once again, VMWare offers up a free product to get you sucked into it’s technology. I’ve used other P2V tools in the past, some paid for, and the technology has come a mighty long way.

For a free product, I’ve got to say this is an amazing piece of software and pretty bombproof if some basic steps are taken to maximize the chances of success with using it.¬† I hope to outline some basic steps you can take in order to up those chances, focusing on Windows 2000 and 2003. I can tell you I wish I had known a lot of this info previously when having performed some other clones… continue reading…