VMware vSphere

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  • 1.  vCenter P to V

    Posted Jun 30, 2015 01:46 PM

    I'm new to VMware and have inherited a VMware environment with a physical vCenter server.  I've read the Pros and Cons of physical vs. virtual in the forums ad nauseam.  What I would like is to hear from someone with practical experience.  Which approach is best and if the answer is virtual, is doing a P to V a safe method to get there?  Any help would be appreciated.



  • 2.  RE: vCenter P to V

    Posted Jun 30, 2015 01:57 PM

    Here are some Pros and Cons and best practice for vCenter Deployment method.

    Pros and Cons : https://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-11197

    Best Practices  : http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2009/10/09/best-practices-running-vcenter-virtual-vsphere/

    I always suggest you to go with the virtual vcenter. as you can get the redundancy of your vcenter in case of Host failure via HA. Which is not possible in physical server.

    is doing a P to V a safe method to get there?

    Yes, You can follow the best practice for p2v and virtualize the vcenter in your environment.

    Note:If SQL or SQL Express are co-located with vCenter Server, its services will need to be shut down before the process begins

    • Take a full backup of your vCenter Server database before beginning any steps below
    • The steps below assume:
    • SQL is not co-located with vCenter Server
    • The network vCenter Server sits on pre-migration is available on your ESXi hosts

    Here is a quite good blog for migrating the vcenter https://blog.shiplett.org/performing-a-p2v-on-a-physical-vcenter-server/

    Follow it and go ahead with the p2v. Best of luck :smileyhappy:



  • 3.  RE: vCenter P to V

    Posted Jul 10, 2015 08:09 AM

    First of all Welcome to community Daniel :smileyhappy: ,

    Yes if the vCenter is Virtual you have plenty of option to make the vCenter highly available and easy to manage

    Check the link on how to implement ,

    http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/vmware-vcenter-server-availability-guide.pdf

    advantages of running vCenter as virtual machine  http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=10087

    as Anjani_Kumar‌ suggested , follow the best practice and convert  P to V ,

    let us know if you need any help .. :smileyhappy: