Vmware vCenter Converter 4.0 Standalone is out

New VMware Converter is out and available. Few months ago I did the BETA testing here so you might already saw the new wizard with the expandable side, which is cool. There is several new features in the new version of the software. One of the most exciting features is the possibility to convert multiple virtual machines at the same time. This feature was in the past available only for the Professional edition of the VMware Converter. The new VMware Converter 4.0 Standalone (this is the full name of the product) is available in two versions. As a standalone product and as a modul of VMware vCenter. The standalone version does convert linux boxes. Not the one included with the vCenter. Why? Good question….

VMware vCenter Converter 4.0 Standalone

So what’s new ?Here are some of the main features.

• Complete multiple conversions simultaneously with a centralized management console.
• Hot cloning improvements to clone only incremental changes to physical machine during the P2V conversion process.
• Supports conversion from physical machines, third-party images (Acronis [see my how-to the other way], StorageCraft, Symantec BESR [see my how-to the other way]) Norton Ghost, and virtual machines.
• Supports conversion from Microsoft’s Hyper-V.
• Physical to virtual machine conversion support for Linux (RHEL, SUSE and Ubuntu) as source.
• Now you are able to modify the destination virtual machine configuration, including CPU, memory, and disk controller type.
• Workflow automation enhancements to include automatic source shutdown, automatic start-up of the destination virtual machine as well as shutting down one or more services at the source and starting up selected services at the destination.
• It is possible to choose how the volumes are laid out in the new destination virtual machine.

You can install VMware Converter different maners:

1. As a Standalone Client

Standalone Install Client

2. As an Agent

VMware vCenter Converter 4.0 standalone Agent

3. As a server

VMware vCenter Converter 4.0 standalone - Server

Some of the new features available After the conversion done.

After conversion features - VMware vConverter

I think that one of the best features of the VMware Converter one can use in the entreprise. As a System Administrator I can tell you, that you never know when threre will be some materiel crash or physical server problem. You can use VMware Converter as a Disaster Recover Plan in your entreprise. You can Create virtual machine clones of physical or virtual machines in your company and then store them on a file server or big USB drive. You can Store those VMs at an alternative site for disaster recovery. In the event of a disaster, the cloned virtual machines can be re-deployed on VMware Server or VMware virtual infrastructure.

The conversion process can now be done Simultaneously, using multiple tasks.

Multiple Conversion task available !

Now what is NOT available in the standalone version:

- scheduled conversions
- Recurring conversions
- CLI (command line interface)
- VMware vcenter integration
- cold cloning (using a bootcD)

You can get VMware vCenter Converter 4.0 Standalone here.

VMware vCenter Converter 4.0VMware converter

Technorati Tags: Converter, vCenter converter, VM, VmWare Converter, Vmware vCenter Converter 4.0 Standalone

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