New to ESX and have a few questions.

[jesmitch]

We have been evaluating VMServer for some time now and I think we are ready to take the jump into ESX server. Our situation is that we have several old NT4.0 servers that we would like to keep intact, but convert into ESX. We are only going to have one ESX server with no vmotion or any of the extras. My question is, what do we need to buy along with ESX server to make this happen? Do we need to buy a copy of infrastructure or can we do everything we need to do with just ESX server? What are your thoughts about ESX server standard and buying virtualcenter foundation to go along with it? Does Converter enterprise come wtih virtualcenter foundation?

[alanrenouf]

You can certainly do this with one esx server or if you wanted to try it you could even do this on vmware server which is a free product ! but all the cool stuff kicks in when you get Virtual center and a SAN and another esx server or more.

VMware Converter Starter is a free download available to everyone. It is an easy to use product for single conversions.

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[jesmitch]

Vmware converter standard works good, but it only gets the product to VMserver and not to an ESX server. In Vmconverter standard, the ESX option is greyed out.

[weinstein5]

Have you downloaded a recent copy - I believe VMware has changed the licensing of the standard edition now allowing you to migrate to an ESX Server -

[alanrenouf]

It is NOT included in the foundation version!!

The plugin inside of VirtualCenter is included, as is the cold clone

boot cd. The stand alone converter enterprise is not included however.

The plugin provides much the same functionality as the enterprise stand

alone product, including remote p2v, so it may not be an issue for you.

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[jesmitch]

According to the folling link, in order to convert into an ESX server, enterprise edition of converter is needed.

[jesmitch]

I see that they released a new version yesterday so I am going to download and try it to see if they just haven't updated their FAQ's yet.

[alanrenouf]

The plugin is definately available and works in much the same way, they may only be talking about the stand alone converter here.

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[jesmitch]

After checking into the newest version, it does indeed include ESX server now. That is fantastic. Can anyone tell me the biggest difference between foundation and full blow virtual center?

[alanrenouf · Accepted solution]

Nice overview of features and whats included here:[http://www.vmware.com/solutions/smb/whats_new.html]

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[jesmitch]

Thanks to everyone with helping me out with this. I am extremely green when it comes to VMware but am excited at the possibilities.

[alanrenouf]

Its a fantastic product and the forums and people on the forums are very helpfull.

[Patrick_Miller]

Wow....normally I wouldn't do this, but Alan, please write your own posts from now on. I mean..you didn't even bother to change a single word.

I know you know what I mean, but others can see what I mean here: http://communities.vmware.com/message/874367#874367 (Posted almost 3 months ago.)

[alanrenouf]

Hey, if the advise is sound, why mess. :smileyblush:

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[khughes]

I don't think there are any rules on here about plagiarzing, but if you found information in a different thread you could just as easily link to it and still get helpful points for it. It's usually common sense to give credit to where it is due.

- Kyle

[jhanekom]

Potentially useful on top of what's already posted, so I'm going ahead anyway...

A comprehensive overview of how the Virtual Infrastructure suite of products is licensed is available in the following whitepaper: http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi_pricing.pdf

It also includes indicative pricing, which is great for when you want to do planning, as well as an indication of all the various starter bundles that are available. These present significant savings and are well worth a look if you're a smaller shop and looking to implement additional servers in your single-server environment in the near future.

If you're going to stay a single-server environment for the foreseeable future, the best option may be 3i, which comes in at half the price (US$495) of Foundation (US$995), but is crippled in that you cannot manage it with VC. For two servers, I'd recommend the VI3 Standard HA Acceleration Kit (US$2995), which comes with 2x 2CPU Standard Edition and VirtualCenter Foundation (which, as was mentioned in other posts, excludes Converter Enterprise.)

Remember that the prices above exclude Support & Subscription, which is mandatory.