P2V and P2P Options for DRP

[sgunelius]

I know this has been hashed over a few times already in different threads, but both were usually separate subjects. Is anyone out there currently using a single product/solution that'll support periodic conversions, P2V and P2P, of their production systems to a hotsite? I'll have ESX hosts at my hotsite that will match my production blades, but will most likely have less powerful physical servers as targets for P2P. I've used HP's Physical to ProLiant pack, but am wondering how well it would work if I'm trying to "downgrade" a DL360 G5 to a DL360 G2. I'm not too worried about the periodic P2V, but same process for P2P sounds dicey. Does anyone have any suggestions and should I not try to serve both purposes with a single solution (PowerConvert or Echo) or choose a best of breed product for each purpose? Thank you in advance for your responses.

Regards,

Scott

[Chamon]

Have you looked at this? Check out replicator. Havent used it but may or may not be any good. I like one of there other products.

[dpomeroy]

We have been very happy with PlateSpin PowerConvert. We have mostly used it as a P2V tool, but I have tested in all other directions even doing a P2P from old IBM server to newer HP server and V2P to a couple older IBM and HP servers. I guess the main drawback could be price.

Don Pomeroy

VMTN Communities User Moderator

[Chamon]

Have you used plate spin to revert from ESX 3.0.x back to 2.5????

[dpomeroy]

I haven't tried any V2V that were downgrading to a previous version of ESX. I don't see why it wouldnt work as PowerConvert would create a new VM on the ESX 2.5 host and then copy the drives from the VM on the ESX 3 host.

Don Pomeroy

VMTN Communities User Moderator

[sgunelius]

Chamon,

I had planned on using CDP to replicate my VM-related files between my data center and hotsite since I've got fiber running between them, bandwidth isn't an issue, so I don't know if Vizioncore's replicator product will be of interest, but their P2V-DR Module in vRanger Pro looks promising. Thanks for the response.

Regards,

Scott

[sgunelius]

Don,

The price for PowerConvert was the one drawback for me. I could have afforded it back when I was with Pfizer, but I don't think my current employer has deep pockets. I'll touch base with PlateSpin again and try to get some more information about their "Echo" appliance. I'll also take another look at HP Server Migration Pack - Universal Edition to see if this will provide some of what I'm looking for. I'm actually wondering if I should be concentrating my efforts at looking for an "Any to Image" or bare metal solution. If you can think of anything else, please let me know. Thanks again.

Regards,

Scott

[sgunelius]

I'm going to take a fresh look at PowerConvert or some bare metal products. The Forge virtualization appliance from PlateSpin (formerly Echo) is about $50K and is really targeted more towards "DR in a box" with protection for up to 25 servers physical servers. I really would prefer something like PowerConvert that would allow me to do a single P2X conversion and support periodic block level updates to the destination X. If anyone can think of a similar solution, please give me a shout. Thanks.

[Lieven]

P2V ==> VMware convertor (free)

V2P ==> We have written a script ourselves , so there is actually no need for expensive products. I have used this on about 20 systems without any problem.

Copy sysprep files and necessary drivers for target system to VM Sysprep VM Shut down VM Mount disks VM to management machineAssign drive letters to above mounted disks Share mounted disks Boot target (physical) server with WINPE Map mounted disks Prepere partitions on target system Copy contents to target server Reboot

P2P = P2V + V2P