C.0 Advanced Windows Cluster Migration to VMware VMs with RDM Disks

PlateSpin Migrate supports the semi-automated (X2P) migration of a Microsoft Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC) to VMware virtual machines (VMs) with shared RDM (raw device mapping) disks. You can migrate two nodes of an active/passive WSFC to VMs on different VMware virtualization hosts in a VMware Cluster. Data on shared disks in the physical cluster is replicated to the RDM disks, which are shared across the two target VM nodes after you migrate each node. This cluster across boxes configuration requires each cluster VM node to connect to shared storage on a SAN. A dedicated virtual network enables heartbeat communications between the cluster VM nodes across the hosts. Each cluster VM node has a separate network connection for data communications.

Figure C-1 WSFC with VM Nodes on Different VMware Hosts (Cluster across Boxes)

NOTE:The information in this section is intended for system administrators who are familiar with VMware virtualization technology and Microsoft Windows Server Failover Cluster technology. Refer to the Microsoft documentation and VMware documentation for the most recent information about the vendors’ support and configuration requirements for hosting WSFC nodes as VMs on different VMware virtualization hosts.

This section describes how to use PlateSpin Migrate Client to migrate a two-node Windows Server Failover Cluster to VMware VMs with RDM disks for storing the shared data.