Source Host
- ESX 3.0.1, 32039
- HP DL360 G4
- 2 x Intel Xeon(TM) @ 3.4GHz
- Hyperthreading: Active
- Storage: SAN1
Source VM
- 2 NICS
- 3 Virtual Disks
Target Host (Option 1)
- HP BL480c G1
- 8 x Intel Xeon(R) X5355 @ 2.66GHz
- Hyperthreading: Inactive
- Storage: SAN2
Target Host (Option 2)
- HP BL685c G1
- 8 x AMD Opteron(tm) 8220 @ 2.8GHz
- Hyperthreading: Inactive
- Storage: SAN2
My task
- Migrate VM to Target Host 1 or 2 with the minimum amount of downtime.
- We are not licensed for VMotion and from what I understand, VMotion wouldn't work anyway since the target host does not have access to SAN1.
My idea
- Since both ESX hosts are tied into the same DataCenter in our VC, I'm thinking of cloning the source VM while it's online to one of the target hosts and select the new storage as SAN2. Once the clone completes, I will take the source VM offline and power on the clone. If all goes well, I will leave the clone in production and delete the original source.
My questions
- Will I be able to clone to another host w/a different CPU manufacturer?
- Will the clone process clone all of my virtual NICS and Virtual Disks? (Both the source and target ESX servers are connected to the same VM Network.)
- Would there be any benefit to using the migration option instead? The only reason I want to use the clone method is to minimize downtime, from what I understand a migration needs the source VM to be powered off and can also take a long time it's a large VM.
Thanks!