Windows Server 2008 R2 Migration
Physical-to-Virtual Migration: It`s All in the Prep
Follow these best practices now and save time and resources when migrating physical servers to VMs.
A P2V (physical-to-virtualized) server migration packages an image—which includes the operating system, applications, and settings of a physical server—adds the necessary drivers, and then converts them into a file that can be run as one of several “virtual machines” on a hypervisor-equipped virtualized server. Virtualization providers promote themselves by emphasizing the speed at which they can accomplish all of this.
Experienced systems managers worry less about how fast they can migrate from a standalone physical server to a virtual machine, and worry more about making this conversion successfully and completely. Most find that proper preparation and planning reduces or eliminates the need for costly and repetitive processes.
Gathering Workload Data
Some applications and workloads may still require their own standalone servers, and others may require a single server because of government or other regulations. Failure to ascertain these facts in advance can have far-reaching consequences beyond technical failure.
Having confirmed that a workload can be migrated, it is important to gather trending data to determine whether it is cost-effective and worthwhile to do so. Trending data should include memory utilization, average CPU utilization, disk space utilization, disk input/output statistics, and network utilization. Microsoft recently introduced version 6.5 of its Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) toolkit, which facilitates gathering and analyzing this data.
Sort Out Licensing In Advance
Server Virtualization is still new enough that software licensing policies are often unclear. Some server manufacturers still tie the server OS to their hardware through processor ID or other tagging methodologies. Confirming in advance that your server’s manufacturer has alternative provisions for virtualized server licensing can save embarrassing delay time when deploying. Similarly, explore solution provider-, site-, or consultant-based licensing programs to determine your most cost-efficient path to compliance.
Third-Party P2V Conversion Products
We will report often here at Migration Expert Zone on new, emerging migration utilities and appliances that speed some of the more mundane manual processes—usually through automation—to make the migration task simpler and speedier. Many hypervisors come with their own migration utilities, but these are usually proprietary and often require advanced levels of expertise.
Forget What You Learned in DD
Desktop deployment (DD) methodologies will almost never apply smoothly in server migration scenarios. Forget the cloning and imaging tools and methodologies of the past and focus on finding new, dedicated P2V tools.
Let’s Not Confuse AD
Remember that your Active Directory (AD) will have tremendous problems if it finds both your physical server and your new virtualized server operating the same domains on your network. It will not be able to distinguish the physical from the virtual, and this can bring your network to its knees. Once the conversion is completed, tested, and assured, decommission the physical server immediately.
