Datasheet

Chapter 1: Exploring VMware Infrastructure 3 as Your Virtual Solution

You need VirtualCenter to take advantage of load-leveling and fault

tolerance. VirtualCenter is a separate purchase and is not included

with VI3.

Two other useful products fall outside the realm of VI3, but you might want

them anyway.

 VMware Converter: You will use this product over and over again.

With it, you can easily convert physical Windows machines into virtual

machines. Additionally, if you use Virtual Consolidated Backup to back

up images of your virtual machines, you can restore those images

by using VMware Converter. This is also the product to use to convert

between various virtual machine formats from VMware and third-party

products.

The two versions of VMware Converter are

• Starter Edition: Use this free version to convert physical machines

into virtual machines on an ESX from the physical machine itself

while it’s running. It also enables you to convert physical machines

to other VMware formats remotely.

• Enterprise Edition: Use this version to convert physical machines to

virtual machines remotely and run multiple conversions simultane-

ously. You can also schedule migrations if you want to run them

off-hours. Another benefit is migrating a machine that is powered

off, which allows you to create a boot CD for cold cloning. The

cold-clone command line interface (CLI) can be used to convert

SUSE and Red Hat Linux machines.

 Capacity Planner: This product is designed for consultants to quickly

gather comprehensive data about your IT infrastructure. It is a hosted

application service that gathers data without the use of agents, and it’s

designed to get all the information you need to correctly design your

virtual environment.

Planning Your VMware Solution

After you decide to virtualize, there are four distinct stages to bringing

your plan to fruition. You start by defining your capacity requirements and

figuring your return on investment (ROI). Then it’s time to design and build

your virtual infrastructure. Then, after you virtualize your physical machines,

back up your hard work and investment.

05_277935-ch01.indd 1905_277935-ch01.indd 19 8/21/08 9:16:51 PM8/21/08 9:16:51 PM