ESXi Datastore migration

[VirtualNewbie1]

Hello Experts,

We have purchased a new Network Storage for our department. We are now in the process of migrating the data from Old to new. This includes migration of Datastores to another Storage(Netapp). Ofcourse we have running VMs in these Datastores. That is the internal disk of VMs reside in these datastores. The datastores are connected to VM-Hosts via NFS. The name of the remote datastore is Netapp and Netapp1. And internal Datastore is datastore1. Netapp-Datastore's size is 3.25 TB. And total no. of VMs are around 20. We have NFS connectivity to this storage from VM-Hosts. This can be seen in the attachment. One the new storage is available over network, we should be starting the process of data migration. Once data migration from one storage to another is complete, we should migrate the VMs. We would like to know if the following plan will work or needs modifications. (We have a free copy of VSphere 5.5. No Vcenter or any other license. We aint lucky enough to purchase them )

1. Migrate (copy) the data from 1 storage to another. This includes the datastores as well.

2. Once the data migration is complete, then we bring down all the clients as well as VMs and their respective VM-Hosts. Before bringing down the VM-Hosts, we will have to add the new Datastores under Storage using VSphere.

Question1: Should the existing storages be deleted at this stage? We think yes, because we have to add the new datastores with exact same name as the old datastores. In this case Netapp and Netapp1. Only then the VMs will be able to start. As for a particular VM, the VM-Disk is accessed via Datastore name. E.g. In the second attachment, we can see the VM-Properties show, the internal disk is represented as [Netapp]/Name of the Folder. So we delete the 2 Datastores entries and add them again with new IPAdress but the same old Name Netapp and Netapp1.

3. Bring down the ESXi Hosts.

4. Re-start the Hosts. This will now include only the new Datastores. Make sure that these are now accessible.

5. Start the VMs

Question2: Will these start without any adjustment or modifications? Or we should be doing something extra for it to work? Will VM detect that the hosts are now accessible from the datastores running on a new Storage?

Though we are using a free version of VSphere, please note that we are in the process of finalising a purchase of VSphere licenses.  As said earlier we have VMWare Vsphere 5.5 Version installed on 3 ESXi-Hardware. What will be the required licenses to purchase? Is VCenter a must? Is the upgrade to newest version prior to purchase licenses a must? Only Essential kit (cost: 576$ for 1 Year) is sufficient or Essential Plus kit is required?  Does it as well include support from VMWare? 

Please suggest. Kindly share your expert comments or any modifications. Your comments will be highly appreciated.

Thanx.

[pdirmann01]

There's a lot of information here so let me work though the licensing questions first.

vCenter is not a requirement, but it does provide additional functionality and centralized management. This depends on what capabilities your environment requires.

If you're running 5.5 now, then there's a decent chance that your hardware is not on the hardware compatibility list for say 7.x, so I would check there first to see what version you are able to go to before buying licenses (VMware - HCL). Doesn't make sense to buy 7.x licensing if you're hardware limits you to 5.5.

If you can upgrade with existing hardware, then the type of license really depends on what you need for your operations. Each edition of vSphere has different features available for use. You can review them here (https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/products/vsphere/vmware-vsphere-pr...)

Support for the mentioned editions can also be found in the link above, but here's an excerpt:

"vSphere Essentials Kit is an all-in-one solution ideal for small offices. It enables
consolidation and management of applications to reduce hardware and operating costs,
all with a low upfront investment. This kit must be purchased along with a one-year
subscription to software patches and updates. Support is optional and available on a per incident basis.

vSphere Essentials Plus Kit adds features such as vSphere vMotion, vSphere HA and
vSphere Data Protection™ to vSphere Essentials to enable always-on IT for the small
environment. This kit is ideal for small businesses that, in addition to hardware and
operational cost savings, are looking for maximization of application availability and
business continuity with a low upfront investment. SnS for vSphere Essentials Plus is sold
separately. A minimum of one year of SnS is required."

[e_espinel]

Hello.
First, if your servers are running version 5.5 it is very likely that your hardware is old. So you need to check if it will be supported in the new versions of VMware vSphere such as 6 or 7.
This can be verified in the following link, if the equipment is branded (HP, IBM, Lenovo and others) it is much easier to verify it.

https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php

If you are going to buy licenses what are your future plans, are you going to have more ESxi servers ?

I suggest you review the following document on the ling about licenses and benefits of them
https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/products/vsphere/vmware-vsphere-pr...

If your budget is small I suggest going for Essentials Plus Kit which includes:
6 vSphere Essentials CPU licenses (for 3 servers, max 2 processors each) and 1 vCenter Server Essentials license.
Feactures: ESXi, vMotion, High Availability, vShield Endpoint, vSphere Replication

If you can connect the two storages to the ESXi hosts at the same time you could migrate the VMs in an easier way.

Upgrade the ESXi hosts to version 6.0 or 6.7 (depending on your hardware), with this installation you will have all the features in demo for 60 days
install a vcenter server (VCSA) inside one of the ESXi hosts and register the ESXi hosts, as it is a new installation you will have a 60 days demo with all the features.
Migrate the VMs online at off-peak hours from one storage to another.

When you verify that all is well and smooth plan to upgrade the hardware version and VMware tools on each of the VMs (if possible).

In the end you will have to enter the licenses you purchase so you may lose some of the features.

[VirtualNewbie1]

Hello Virtuoso,

I am coming back to this response after a long time. Apologies. Thanks Virttuoso for the details reply.

1. We wish to buy new Hardware to replace our existing 3 ESXi Hosts. The new ESXi hosts support VMware vSphere™ 8.0. 

Since our existing ESXi is installed with VSphere 5.5, as per the documentaion these ESXi hosts have to be first upgraded to minimum 6.7.

2. We also wish to buy VSphere Essential Kit which costs each around 690 $ for 3 years.  Essential Plus Kit price is way to high, around 5000 $ so it is out of question. So 6 vSphere Essentials CPU licenses (for 3 servers, max 2 processors each) and 1 vCenter Server Essentials license.

So all in all the solution which we are planning consists for 3 new ESXi hosts which support VSpher Version 8.0

Cosidering above requirement, the upgrade process will be like this? Please correct me if wrong.

1. Installation of Version 6.7 on new ESXi Hardware.

2. Connect the storage to the new ESXi hosts. This storage is also connected to the existing ESXi(5.5V) Hosts.

3. Migrate/Move the VMs one by one from old ESXi(5.5) to new ESXi(6.7)

4. I am not sure if this involves only starting the VMs from new ESXi??

5. After the migration of all the VMs. Upgrade the ESXi from 6.7 to 8.0.

Will this plan work?

Kindly give hints/suggestions.

Regards,

Admin