VMware Eases The Transition To Virtualisation

October 4th, 2006: Moving desktops and servers from physical to virtual environments can be a task fraught with complication. To make life easier, VMware has released a new converter tool and best of all, it’s free.

According to VMware, Converter 3 enables fast and reliable Physical-to-Virtual (P2V) and Virtual-to-Virtual (V2V) conversions through a centralised management product.

Converter 3 is able to create virtual machines from sources such as physical machines, other VMware virtual machine formats and third-party image formats. It combines the functionality of VMware P2V Assistant and VMware Virtual Machine Importer into one integrated offering that the company says simplifies the conversion process overall.

VMware P2V Assistant takes a snapshot of an existing physical system and transforms it into a VMware virtual machine, eliminating the need to reinstall and reconfigure complex application environments.

"Converting physical systems into virtual machines is an important first step for many customers seeking to upgrade their IT environment to a virtual infrastructure," says Karthik Rau, senior director of infrastructure products and solutions at VMware. "VMware Converter 3 takes a significant step forward in making the conversion process simple, automated and widely available to anyone seeking a zero-cost way to try existing workloads in a virtual environment."

VMware is providing a version of VMware Converter 3 free-of-charge at general availability for anyone seeking an easy and affordable approach to converting to a virtual environment. It is also providing an enterprise edition at no additional cost to customers who have current support and subscription contracts for VirtualCenter Management Server.

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