Convertiing Intel to AMD, multiprocessor to Uni - Windows

[gpark3_cs]

Hello all,

I'm looking for the "definitive guide" on what happens converting a physical \[Windows] box to a VM given the following:

1. Intel (physical proc) to AMD (ESX procs) and vice versa - as well as between different versions of Intel processors (Pentium to Xeon, etc.)

2. Uniprocessor (physical) to Multiprocessor (ESX) and vice versa

3. VMWare Server or ESX as the destination (from physical) and if there are any difference from a Converter perspective.

For instance if I P2V an Intel Windows server - single or multi processor - to a multiprocessor ESX box will the converter handle the change from single to multiprocessor, changing the Windows HAL, etc. automatically or will there be a manual process?

If moving a physical windows system running on a multiprocessor AMD box will the converter handle moving the VM to an Intel-based ESX system?

Are there any issues moving from an older Intel chip on the physical box to a newer Intel processor on ESX?

Sorry for the rambling message but the docs are not clear on what the rules are (or I completely missed them) and could really use some clarity.

Regards,

gp

[admin]

Conversion for Windows machines are as follows:

1. Windows VMs should be able to handle different processor types. This is transparent to a VM and independent of the Converter process. You can always migrate a powered off VM from one VMware platform to another VMware platform with a different x86 processor brand.

2. Converter can support UP to SMP and SMP to UP, as long as the destination platform can support SMP. You will need to go inside the Guest OS and set the HAL accordingly.

3. VMware Server vs. ESX Server have slightly different formats for the virtual disks. Converter will make the conversion for you. VMware Server VMs also support USB.