Tricks for a faster P2v
If you are converting the Window installation on a physical server to a virtual server, and keeping all the operating system and installed software in place (called a P2V or Physical-to-Virtual conversion), here are some tips and tricks for speeding up your P2V to make a faster P2V.
Converting a physical server to a virtual will also transfer any rubbish that you would not want to have, slowing down your new virtual instance of your old physical server. This may include;
- Drivers for physical devices that no longer exist in the virtual machine (VM)
- Old data or old installations of software that is no longer needed
- Deleted files – yes, files that were deleted will still occupy space and be transferred at the block level
- Management tools and software, like RAID configuration tools and network card teaming utilities that are no longer relevant to a VM
So, prepare your server by following my guide on preparing for a P2V before reading how to make a faster P2V here.
Why convert to virtual?
It’s important to consider why you are virtualising your server, because the steps you take to virtualise can actually negate some of the benefits if you don’t do it properly. So, consider;
- Drivers – some estimate that 85% of Windows crashes are caused by bad drivers. Admittedly, Microsoft have improved this with newer versions of Windows, but chances are that you are doing a P2V on an older OS – like Server 2003. VMware virtual machines have a tiny (and stable) driver footprint through VMtools
- Hardware management tools, like; RAID administration, NIC teaming tools, temperature and fan speed reporting, power supply and hard drive status monitoring – none of this is needed in a VM because all the management is centralised
- Disk space over-provisioning – is probably a given that the physical server had disks that were 36GB, 72GB or 146GB – and you may not need to have a C drive that big. The same probably applies to other over-sized data drives that were based on the physical capacity available – when it is a VM you can do online expansion of disks and thin provisioning
- CPU and RAM over-provisioning – again, your physical server probably has multiple cores and lots of RAM, but is not fully using it. Once it’s virtualised, you can benefit from uneven configuration
- Backup and anti-virus – on a physical server you would need to have local in-OS anti-malware installed, and backup would need agents installed to ask the OS to read all data and send it through the network assigned to the OS. With VMware you don’t need either – there are more intelligent ways to protect your VMs (VADP such as VDP and vShield Endpoint)
Accelerating your P2V
You hopefully have read my guide on the best way to prepare Windows for a P2V, but there are some extra steps that you can do to make it go faster;
- Schedule the conversion for out of hours (this can be done as the last step in VMware converter)
- Stop services on the source server so it is less busy
- Ensure that the source server is on a fast link to the virtual infrastructure (vCenter) – minimise the hops, same subnet if you can
- Follow KB 2020517 if you want to disable SSL – if you are on a private network (edit converter-worker.xml to have “false” inside the <useSsl> tag). This can increase speed considerably
- Consider converting only the C drive and then using other methods to transfer the remaining data. This may be tricky if the source server is trying to use the data – stop services and ensure you gather good documentation on your setup
You might follow some, or none of the above – it all depends upon the needs of your individual source server.
If you are still having troubles, like failures or unable to get started, look at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1016330
Read post 3 about post conversion steps
