Physical server to virtual

ajishbalasubramanian0408 · 2018-04-02T14:21:37.000Z

Hello all,
I am looking to have a backup solution for my current server 2008 as there are few service running into it. So if this sever goes down, I want to quickly move the service to other sever.
Can I take the image of this server and move it to virtual machine? If yes, what software could I use? Can I use vm converter?what kind of spec should I invest on for running the vm locally?
Thanks

@support-team-vmware @adrianomoreira6700

Denis-Kelley · 2018-04-02T15:06:20.000Z

Both VMware and Hyper-V have utilities to do a physical to virtual conversion.

Denis-Kelley · 2018-04-02T15:06:59.000Z

If you use Veeam’s free Endpoint backup, it will allow you to restore it to a virtual machine.

tomsteinmetz6433 · 2018-04-02T16:31:55.000Z

We’ve used VMWare in the past to convert some physical servers into virtual machines. The specs that you would want to give it will vary depending on how much data needs to be stored, what kind of processing power it needs, etc.

ajishbalasubramanian0408 · 2018-04-02T17:48:32.000Z

Thanks, I would try veeam …I am guessing I will be able to take image backup and virtualise of server in 30 days free trail?

Denis-Kelley · 2018-04-02T18:00:38.000Z

Well, you will need to use the Free Endpoint since you are physical. Then in VMware or Hyper-V restore as a VM to test. Veeam Backup and Replication is for existing virtual machines. The converters are pretty straight forward though. Just disable the services first and then convert to your Hypervisor of choice.

brittany-for-vmware · 2018-04-02T18:05:13.000Z

VMware does have a P2V Converter, it’s the vCenter Converter and can transform your Windows- and Linux-based physical machines to VMware virtual machines. You can convert physical machines without any disruption or downtime. It’s a pretty straight-forward software, but you can find more details on the product page: vCenter Converter: P2V Virtual Machine Converter | VMware

@VMware

ajishbalasubramanian0408 · 2018-04-02T18:40:07.000Z

Thanks… when you say to convert, I can do this with Veeam and then restore it to VM ?

shaa2998 · 2018-04-02T19:33:25.000Z

Microsoft also has virtual machine converter for HyperV. It works very well too. I’ve used it to convert VMware/Phyisical to HyperV without issues.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=42497

Another 3rd party that does pretty good is Starwind. They are vendor neutral and will convert from to anything.

V2V Converter / P2V Converter - Converting VM Formats

StarWind V2V Converter – a free & simple tool for cross-hypervisor VM migration and copying that also supports P2V conversion. Сonvert VMs with StarWind.

jonathanyergo8120 · 2018-04-02T21:52:08.000Z

One thing to consider is licensing. You say you want to convert a physical server, but does said server have OEM licensing? If so, you won’t be compliant if running the VM on differing hardware. If it was licensed with retail or volume keys, then your good. If OEM and needing to convert keys, volume won’t be an option as you can only downgrade to 2008 R2, not 2008. So, best bet would be to try and find 2008 retail licensing.

kooler-starwind · 2018-04-03T13:19:26.000Z

Megaaz03:

Hello all,
I am looking to have a backup solution for my current server 2008 as there are few service running into it. So if this sever goes down, I want to quickly move the service to other sever.
Can I take the image of this server and move it to virtual machine? If yes, what software could I use? Can I use vm converter?what kind of spec should I invest on for running the vm locally?
Thanks

You can do disk2vhd, but we normally recommend to provision production system from scratch instead of P2V-ing them.