Conversion applications move a working host into its new virtual environment along with its stored application images in tow.

Unless VM guests are installed from ‘bare metal’ operating systems and application media, guest instances are converted from an existing stable VM that has a specific foot print that regards its memory needs, disk displacement plus future storage needs, network I/O requirements and settings, and needs for raw CPU power.

Converting that stable platform requires preserving many characteristics, including operating system-specific files, settings, and user and group attributes. On top of that, the servers must maintain access to external resources, such as DNS servers, certificate authorities, directory services, external databases, and the links that are components/resources to a working server.

Keeping all of these components in tact with causing as little server downtime as possible is a tall order that both PlateSpin and LeoStream take pretty successful stabs at it.

PlateSpin PowerConvert 

PlateSpin’s PowerConvert aims to be an egalitarian provisioning product that seemingly doesn’t care which virtual host platform you are working with. Its main goal is to help move a server process from point A to point B. In PlateSpin’s realm, these points could exist in either the virtual or physical worlds, or have a foot in both. PlateSpin supports P2V, V2V, V2P, P2P conversions, P2I (physical to image), V2I, I2V and I2P deployment. 

Click to see: Net results

The key to PlateSpin’s proposition is that it uses a procedure of conversion that’s designed to provide at most, a single re-boot. This is obviously a beneficial trait in any conversion product because it minimizes server downtime. Likewise PlateSpin’s product assists in hot failover and disaster recovery scenarios as essential services and other mission-critical systems can be mirrored in live or standby modes on physical or virtual backup resources. Of course, the one reboot claim comes with the caveat that you’d likely have to run several test conversions before attempting one on a live, mission-critical server.

PowerConvert analyzes candidate servers to take an inventory code and correlate services running on them. Once the systems are fully understood, the task of dragging a working system that may consist of just a few files and service profiles, or very many can proceed in various ways. The server's workload can be consolidated onto a larger server, converted in its entirety to a candidate virtual or physical resource that can serve as its replacement or run as a standby backup or archived into a image repository for backup or other purposes.