Section 6.11. Frequently Asked Questions

6.11. Frequently Asked Questions

The following Frequently Asked Questions, answered by the authors of this book, are designed to both measure your understanding of the concepts presented in this chapter and to assist you with real-life implementation of these concepts. To have your questions about this chapter answered by the author, browse to www.syngress.com/solutions and click on the "Ask the Author" form. You will also gain access to thousands of other FAQs at ITFAQnet.com.

Q: Why should you pay for a p-to-v toll when there are a number of ways to do it for free?

A: If you don't have the time or inclination to learn the manual process or need the assurance of a vendor for your physical-to-virtual migrations, then a tool that comes with support is a very reasonable option.

Q: What takes the longest in the p-to-v process?

A: Transferring the data of the physical server into either an image file or the virtual server itself. That's why tweaking your network settings for optimal throughput is essential when p-to-v'ing a server.

Q: Can you create complete backups of your physical servers and then recover them into virtuals?

A: I've used NTBackup to back up Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP, and created virtuals out of .bkf files. It works but there's a bit of futzing around with the virtual once it is running. Try it.

Q: What's the most essential part of creating a smooth migration plan?

A: Practice. No matter what the tool or process, practice it and learn its gotchas and the workarounds. No matter what method you use, there will be times when it won't go as planned. Practicing your p-to-v process on a number of physical platforms and disk configurations allows you to become more adept once you're doing it for real.