P2V physical server and re-provision as ESXi

[mille535]

Hello all I have a question on what the best way to P2V a physical server and reuse it as an ESXi host. Right now my client has one ML350 G6 hosting Windows Small Business Server 2003. Due to the increasing amount of spam they are receiving I plan on deploying Symantec Bightmail but they do not want to purchase a new server system with their current server being underutilized. I have deployed ESX and ESXi in the past and have done many P2V's but never with just 1 server.

Ultimately my plan (if it will work) would be to use the VMware Converter tool to convert the physical box to a VMware workstation image then reload the server with ESXi--does this sound like it will work or will I need to temporarily provide a 2nd server to P2V then move the converted machine back to the other server after it has been re-provisioned as an ESXi host?

thanks in advance,

Kirk

[FranckRookie]

Hi Kirk,

Your process sounds OK: physical -> P2V to workstation VM -> back to original server under ESXi. This way, you are sure that your converted server works before you scrap the physical one.

Just check that you have a powerful enough PC to host your temporary workstation VM. You can also verify that you keep a functional backup of your original server, in case...

Good luck.

Regards

Franck

[jesse_gardner]

I agree, this sounds like a fine solution. And you don't necessarily need a powerful PC, as you don't necessarily need to run it in VMware Workstation (or Player - free) if you can afford the downtime. You just need a big enough hard drive to hold the server's disks while you do the rebuild to ESXi.

[mille535]

Thanks guys I appreciate your input! I actually got my hands on a second server the use for the conversion so should be pretty straight forward. I think i may try this method anyway just to see if it works with my desktop. I also read converter will accept Acronis and Ghost images but I'll just take everyone at their word on that for the time being.

anyway thanks for the quick responses!