Looking to move from Vmware Server to ESXi

[jmarket]

I am looking to move from vmware server to esxi and have a few questions. We currently have about 7 virtual machines and none of them use pre-allocated disks. I have read that esxi requires the use of pre-allocated disks. I have also read that I can use vmware converter to convert my existing vms to esxi.

Will vmware converter allow me to choose the size of the pre-allocated disk during the conversion of my existing vms?

I am planning on purchasing a new HP server so would you suggest the embedded version of esxi? I will be using local storage for my vms if that matters.

With vmware server I have a batch file that I schedule to run that stops each vm, copies vm to backup drive, and restarts each vm. What would be the easiest way to accomplish this task with esxi? I do have backup agents that run inside the vms for backups but like to make images every so often.

Thanks for your help in advance

[java_cat33]

Hi,

Yes VMware Converter allows you to change the size of the disk when you import it into ESX.

I assume you are looking at using the free version of ESXi? Local storage is not a problem if you are only going to have one ESX server.

Take a look at this thread for a free ESXi backup solution

[jmarket]

Will Vmware Converter allow me to convert my currenty vmware server vms to esxi while they are running or will I have to shutdown the vms durning the conversion process?

[java_cat33]

Yes you can do it while the VM's are online

[tragopan]

I found it much simpler and faster to convert when powered down.

However, part of my problem was that I started with Server then Server 2.0 Beta then Server 2 - each time I 'upgraded' the installer created new vmx files...so I had three sets of files...converter did the job nicely to ESXi.

Average VM was 40gig and it did it over a gigabit NIC averaging 17 minutes per VM.

[jmarket]

To convert online do I need to run vmware converter on the vmware server or can I run it from a seperate workstation?

[jmarket]

17 min sounds good. What was the time you had trying to convert while they were online? Did you run the converter from the vmware server or copy the vm to a different workstation and convert from there?