Will data loss as no synchronize during P2V ?

[Legacy User]

Hi,

We are using Converter Standalone 5.5.2 and running a P2V for a Physical Machine.  And we are shrinking the size of a HD (running SQL Server Database) as our SAN is running out of space and thus synchronization cannot be enabled.

We would like to seek your advice

1) The state of HD on the Virtual Machine is the one when we start the P2V process ?

2) All changes to SQL Server database between the P2V process will be lost ?

Would it be better if perform a Cold Clone in this situation ?

Thanks

[Praveenmna]

HI,

Hot migration (Physical machine is running) is not recommended if your source machine is  Domain controller, Microsoft Exchange, SQL, or other database server . It removes any chance of corrupted database tables or stale data in the destination virtual machine.

[patanassov]

Hello

This is correct, the volume's data will be as from the beginning of the conversion.

Cold cloning is not supported for a long time and the old Converter is not available for download either. Besides cold clone requires the machine to be shut down. You can shut down the SQL server only during conversion.

Alternatively you could eventually keep the volume size and use thin provisioning. This would work if the volume size is not bigger than the datastore size (only bigger than its free space) and the volume is not too fragmented, i.e. it is empty after a certain point.

Regards

Plamen

[Legacy User]

Thanks for your advice.

My understanding is there are 3 suggestions

1) Use Hot Clone (As Cold Clone is not supported any more)

2) We should stop the SQL Server Service during conversion if shrink HD during P2V OR

3) No need to stop SQL Server Service if we use Thin Provision as synchronization can be enabled as we don't shrink the HD

Is my understanding correct ?

[Praveenmna]

You can use HOT clonning and you should stop database services (SQL) , before you migrate.

[patanassov]

Basically yes, with the disclaimer that thin provisioning may not succeed (see my above post)

If you decide to go that way, it is worth taking more details into consideration - like what is the expected increase in data on that volume compared to the free space on the datastore along with the expected increase in other overcommited VMs. If, for example your database grows automatically and there is very little free space on the datastore, you might have an unpleasant experience at a point in time after a successful conversion.

[patanassov]

One more tip - if you manage to do synchronization, set the database services on the source to stop (in the wizard). This will happen before the final synchronization thus minimizing the downtime while keeping consistency.

[Legacy User]

Does it mean that I don't need to stop the SQL Server service manually before P2V & the Standalone Converter will stop it just before final synchronization ?

If yes, it will be great !!!

Thanks again

[patanassov]

Yes. If you check it to stop on 'source services' tab in 'options->services' page in wizard. That's the purpose of this feature. If it is MS SQL Service, there are several services to stop.

Regards