Product specifications

FC0054604-00 A 8-1
8 Migrating Virtual Machines
and Virtual Ports
Microsoft VMM 2007 allows you to quickly migrate Virtual Machines from one host
to another. Migration allows administrators to perform maintenance on physical
servers and easily move Virtual Machines to more powerful servers with minimal
downtime.
VMM 2007 allows for two types of migrations:
 LAN Transfer/Migration of Virtual Machines. In LAN transfers, all the files
(VHDs) related to the Virtual Machine are moved from the source machine
to the destination machine via the LAN. While very flexible, LAN transfers
are slower compared to SAN transfers due to the time it takes to physically
move the files over the LAN. The time taken for a LAN transfer can vary
greatly depending on the size of the Virtual Machine’s VHD.
 SAN Transfer/Migration of Virtual Machines. In SAN transfers, the LUN
containing the Virtual Machine is remapped from the source server to the
destination server (instead of transferring the files over the network).
Therefore, SAN transfers are much faster than standard network transfers,
and are independent of the size of the files being transferred.
This section defines the requirements for SAN transfers, describes how to start a
SAN transfer, and discusses how NPIV plays a role in SAN transfers.
Requirements for a SAN Transfer
The requirements for a SAN transfer are:
 Both the source and destination hosts involved in a transfer of a Virtual
Machine need to have physical access to the storage array presenting the
LUNs.
 Both the source and destination hosts must have NPIV-capable HBAs
connected to an NPIV-capable switch.
 The Virtual Machine and all its associated files (VHDs) must reside on the
SAN (not on a local disk).