Converting P2V on same box?

[RCISS]

I've been looking through posts all morning and haven't come across this specific situation.

I have 4 servers that I want to virtualize onto 1 server. But my problem is with converting the first server. The ESXi 4 will be running on one of the servers I need to convert. I know the converter will "convert running local machine", but the ESXi 4 has to be running too. They can't both run together.. lol..

So.. I was thinking.. install ESXi on my laptop as a temporary server using a flash boot drive. Convert my server to it (files will be stored on an NFS). Then install ESXi on the server, create a new VM and attach the files that were created during the conversion.

Is this the optimal way to do this? Or would it be better to image the server using Acronis True Image, then convert the image directly to ESXi running on the server.

I was trying a test run of the first method above, and was able to convert the server to a virtual machine on my laptop, then tried to boot the server with the ESXi flash drive. It booted, but wouldn't connect to the network. I'm assuming because the network card was different from my laptop.

Please let me know your thoughts on the best way to proceed.

Thanks,

James

[RCISS]

No one has an opinion on this?

[asatoran]

Instead of going "directly" to and ESX VM, converter to a Server or Workstation VM as an intermediary step first. Basically, the same thing you're thinking about, but use Workstation to run the virtual machine. instead of ESX. Then you can install ESX to the physical machine (not your laptop.)

I'm recommending this because you're likely not to find a supported NIC for your laptop. My recommendation, you'd just be doing one additional step of converting to a Workstation-type VM first. Your only other alternatives are to find a compatible NIC (not likely) or use another physical machine as a host, something with a supported NIC.

[RCISS]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm trying it. Quick question though.. The source server has 4 CPU's (2 dual cores). When trying to convert it to VM Workstation, it says the target host doesn't support 4 CPU's and set's it to the maximum 2 CPU's. Is that going to cause a problem for the conversion? Will I be able to change it back to 4 virtual CPU's when converting to ESXi?

Thanks,

James

[asatoran]

THe usual recommendation is to allocate only one CPU to the virtual machine, as much as possible. This is because the hypervisor or host OS may have a harder time scheduling the CPUs if you're running multiple virtual machines. If you have more physical CPU cores than you've allocated to the VMs, then this may not be much of an issue. (e.g.: 2 virtual machine, each allocated 2 vCPU, but your host is a dual quadcore, so only 4 of the 8 cores used by virtual machines.)

Realize also that the application must be able to actually use the extra vCPUs. So if your virtual machine is just a file server, the extra vCPUs are likely a waste. But if you do need the extra CPUs, then you can change the VM settings easily. You can search the forums for more info on running multi-CPU virtual machines, if you decide that you need the extra vCPUs.

For your conversion, you can change the amount of vCPUs allocated just before the Converter wizard completes. Or you can change the VM settings afterward, just before you power on the VM.

[RCISS]

Thanks asatoran. I'll come back and post my results..