virtualization.info

Steven Pollack, CEO, Platespin, accorded a technical interview with us about PowerP2V features. A lot of news emerge about this, exclusively for virtualization.info readers:

virtualization.info: Physical to virtual (P2V) migration is a probably the most needed process for obsolete datacenters IT managers embracing virtualization technology. But available tools on the market right now seem highly expensive. Would you give us some raw times? How much time is needed for a PowerP2V conversion and for a manual conversion of a legacy Windows NT 4.0 box?

Stephen Pollack: We find many customers look for cost justification based on the structure of their ITorganization. For example, several customers look to PlateSpin PowerP2V purely because the majority of their IT resources are remote and they want to save the cost of having to visit each server to capture its configuration and port it to a virtualization host. Others value the level of automation which allows them to accelerate how quickly they can migrate underutilized infrastructure to a more efficient virtualization host.

The speed of the migration determines how many you can do over a defined period of time. For a standard 100mbs network, a typical Windows server can be fully converted into a VM in under an hour assuming sufficient network access. The version of the OSdoes not really factor into the overall speed although Windows NT reboots one or two more times than Windows 2000 or 2003 as part of how the final configuration is applied.

The overall time savings when comparing PowerP2V to most any alternative is very large. The typical alternative for a Windows server would be to remove hardware dependencies using SYSPREP, capture the image to an off-line store, create the empty VM with the desired configuration, restore the image to the VM, undo the SYSPREP changes, boot the VM and manually finish the configuration changes. A typical manual conversion takesthe better part of the day for small servers, and perhaps two or three days for larger servers or more complex server configurations. With PowerP2V you can perform several concurrent conversions in a single day while reducing the risk of failure by several factors given that no manual intervention is required.

VI: One of the most problematic things of P2V migration is legacy boxes downtime during conversion. PowerP2Vbe able to convert a physical machine without interrupting the work? If so how will be done?

SP: In its current form, the source server is taken off-line to capture a complete instance for the purposes of migration. We are working to reduce the downtime which will allow a wider set of application for the technology. For example,for standard consolidation, most customers seem to be able to plan a maintenance window to implement the conversion. When PowerP2V is used for high-availability applications, the downtime needs to be minimal. Were committed to evolving PowerP2V in that way and have worked on some alternatives in our lab.

PlateSpin is shortly releasing a new flexible image format as an interim step on the conversion process. This will allow P2I and I2V conversions to be done which will help reduce the overall downtime by separating the steps of capturing the source from the step of creating the destination. This new feature, part of PowerP2V 4.0, will also add to the options customers have for provisioning new virtual machines, with the added advantage of the configuration flexibility currently enjoyed when doing a P2V directly.

VI: Another big problem of P2V migrations are hardware RAID configurations on machines to be converted. PowerP2V is able to manage such a configuration? If not what workaround can be used to migrate?

SP: PowerP2V captures a logical view of the server and therefore is not affected by RAID configuration details. Unlike the solutions that use physical imaging, we have not had any customer scenarios where the specifics of how the disk is configured affected the migration success. We can issue an update to PowerP2V normally within 2 to 5 business days to deal with hardware dependencies should they occur. In some cases, the customer can update PowerP2V for new hardware drivers using some field installation utilities we ship with the product.

VI: A really desired feature of this virtualization market segment would be preparing a perfect virtual machine on a lab environment and deploy it on a wide corporate desktop population, dramatically reducing installation task time. And nobody offered virtual to physical (V2P) migration till today. PowerP2V is going to become a PowerV2P also?

SP: One of our key messages announced during the recent VMworld User Conference in Oct, 2004 in San Diego, is the introduction of a PowerV2P capability. We previewed the initial implementation in our booth and will be releasing this shortly for trial.

We find V2P specifically important for customers using virtual infrastructure in a test lab and a mixed environment (or physical only) in production. The use of P2V and V2P allows for round-tripmigrations which is very valuable for the typical way in which servers are managed through their lifecycle.

VI: Actual virtualization players, EMC/VMware and Microsoft, offer products a company could buy together for different purposes and deployments. So IT managers start to feel the need of a conversion tool doing so called virtual to virtualconversion (V2V) from a virtualization platform to another. PowerP2V is able to convert to/from all VMware (ESX Server, GSX Server and Workstation) and all Microsoft (Virtual Server and Virtual PC) products?

SP: PowerP2V provides a full V2V capability to allow customers to implement multiple virtualization technologies and move server environments between them. This is in our currently shipping product.

VI: Microsoft has just released its own P2V migration tool, Virtual Server Migration Toolkit (VSMT), which is completely free. Where PowerP2V is different from it and why these differences would worth the price?

SP: As with all product comparisons, they are rooted in customer-specific requirements. One of the main differences is that PowerP2V does not require any specific 3^rd party solutions. The VSMT is integrated with ADS provisioning which means customers have to support and deploy ADS as part of their virtualization infrastructure. Many customers already have a multi-platform provisioning solution in place, so ADS is not a viable alternative. Secondly, PowerP2V provides native support for multiple VM architectures, something the market seems to be embracing. Finally, we offer substantive levels of automation and configuration flexibility, which we feel is the real value of PowerP2V in terms of being able to use it to properly optimize a data center over time.

VI: PowerP2V is able to virtualize even Linux boxes. Butsome IT managers already feel the need to convert *nix boxes (mainly SUN Solaris for x86 and BSD operating system family). This need could raise much when upcoming Solaris 10 will start to spread. And VMware is starting to support it as guestoperating system. PlateSpin is going to support any *nix box conversion?

SP: Yes, PlateSpin continues to work on extending Linux support to other UNIX operating systems. We will keep pace with customer requirements as they emerge. We currently cover most Red Hat and SUSE releases and are adding a few more Linux platforms over the next three months.We have seen a growing need for Solaris I86 support, not as much for FreeBSD. The approach we have taken to the development of our product makes it easy to extend as needed to support new platforms. If customers have a large need for a new platformto be certified, they should contact us directly.

VI: A third virtualization player is just appeared, Serenity Systems International, offering a new virtualization platform: Virtual Station (SVISTA). PlateSpin plans to support SVISTA in future PowerP2V releases?

SP: This is under consideration.

VI: PowerP2V greatly simplified legacy machines conversion, even if there are some issues, like moving from physical IDE storage system to a virtual SCSI one, an IT manager should know before starting migrations. PlateSpin plans to realize training courses about PowerP2V? If so Partner will be able to teach them?

SP: We have built a rapidly growing network of value-added partners across the globe. Many of these partners are now able to provide value-added services when working with PowerP2V, including helping the customer implement a complete server consolidation program. Customers should contact us for more information about our partner program as well as who to talk to if they are looking for value-added services for our products. We are also shortly launching a customer training program look for details on our web site in the coming weeks.

VI: Can you give us some more anticipationabout future technology features PlateSpin is developing for PowerP2V and when well see them?

SP: Our vision is to bring full OS portability to the data center. As such, we are workingto enhance PowerP2V to provide multi-directional conversions to all the relevant data center architectures based on IA technology. It will support not only adoption of virtual infrastructure but improve the way in which basic server management occurson traditional physical computing models as well.

We are also working on a series of related products for introduction throughout the year that enhance the IT specialists ability to optimize the data center, consolidate the data center and prepare a proper disaster/recovery program. All of these new products leverage the technology we have already built.

Our next release, scheduled for January 2005, introduces the support for flexible images mentioned above. It also adds additional Linux platforms, support for foreign language OS, and email notification, to make it easier to track a conversion through the job.

We also emphasize the needs of the systems integrator in the way we package and license our products. As such, we will be adding more features that support their unique needs along with the day-to-day operational requirements people have to get more out of IT technology.