5.11 Handling a Workload’s Storage Media and Volumes

Portability Suite provides mechanisms for configuring your conversion job to handle your workload volumes and their physical or virtual layout in the target infrastructure.

Workload Virtualization (X2V)

When virtualizing a workload, you can select which volumes you want included on the target and manage their free space sizes. You can also control how physical disk arrangement on your source is propagated on the peer virtual machine according to the target virtualization platform’s storage media configuration and virtual disk handling features and capabilities.

Workload Deployment to Physical Hardware

When you are migrating workloads to physical hardware, you can select which source volumes to include and size, and which target disks to repartition and populate.

RAID Storage

Portability Suite supports RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) storage, which it treats like any other storage hardware. As long as the associated storage controller driver is present, Portability Suite successfully completes the migration. Portability Suite does not support software implementations of RAID.

SAN Storage

Portability Suite supports SAN storage. As long as the driver for the associated host bus adapter (HBA) is present, Portability Suite successfully completes the migration. Portability Suite treats SAN LUNs like any other disk with logical volumes.

NAS

Portability Suite supports Network Attached Storage (NAS) systems. Portability Suite treats NAS like any other disk with logical volumes.

Windows Dynamic Disks

Portability Suite supports Windows dynamic disks, including mirrored, spanned, and RAID 5 configurations.

Portability Suite treats dynamic disks like it treats any other logical volume. When you are converting workloads that have dynamic disks, the disks on the target workload are created as basic disks, which you can use to remove unnecessary or obsolete dynamic disk configurations. After the conversion, you can upgrade the required disks on your targets from basic to dynamic disks.

Linux Logical Volumes

Portability Suite supports logical volumes of Linux workloads. If Logical Volume Manager (LVM) is installed on your Linux source, you can use several LVM1 and LVM2 features to better manage your target workload’s volume layout and organization.

You can set up your workload migration job to:

NOTE:Portability Suite does not support:

  • LVM snapshots. You can create LVM snapshots on your target after the migration completes.

  • LVM mirrors. You can re-create mirrored logical volumes on the target after the conversion completes.

Storage layout and volume configuration settings depend on the job configuration mode (Advanced or Wizard), conversion type, target virtualization platform, and source operating system.

5.11.1 Storage Layout and Volume Configuration (Wizard Mode)

Storage Layout Configuration: X2V (Wizard Mode)

Use this Conversion Wizard page to specify a disk mapping scheme during workload virtualization operations.

In the wizard’s navigation pane, click Disks.

Storage Layout section: Displays information in a tree format according to the options selected.

Disk Mapping options: These options control how the source disk arrangement is propagated on the target. Select the option that best suits your conversion. To add a virtual disk, select Custom, then click Add Virtual Disk in the Details section.

Details section: Displays information applicable to the selected item in the Storage Layout tree.

You can rearrange disks by dragging and dropping.

To add a virtual disk, select a storage item in the upper section, and in the Details section click Add Virtual Disk.

To view the path and name of a virtual disk and datastore it is assigned to, select the virtual disk.

Volume Configuration: X2V, X2P (Wizard Mode)

Use this Conversion Wizard page to select volumes to include in the conversion and to adjust the volume size on the target.

In the wizard’s navigation pane, click Volumes.

Adjust Volume Free Size: Use one of the options to specify the volume free size. Custom lets you enter a free space value in the Details area.

Select volumes to include in the conversion: Select the volumes to be converted. System or boot volumes must be selected.

Details: View information about the selected volume. You can modify free space and total size values.

Linux Volume Groups Configuration (Wizard Mode)

Use this Conversion Wizard page to manage LVM (Logical Volume Manager) volume groups. This page is displayed only if the source has LVM installed.

In the wizard’s navigation pane, click Volume Groups.

To add, rename or delete a volume group, click the corresponding button.

To include a volume group in the conversion, select the corresponding check box in the right pane.

To allocate storage to a volume group, click in the Allocation for Volume Group row.

NOTE:Unassigned volume groups are removed prior to conversion.

5.11.2 Drive Configuration (Advanced Mode)

When you are working in Advanced mode, the Peer-to-Peer Conversion job window provides access to a single configuration interface that combines the wizard’s Volumes and Disks screens.

To access drive configuration options in Advanced mode:

  • In the Conversion Job window, under the Drive Configuration section, click Hard Drives.

Settings vary depending on the target system.

Windows X2P Drive Configuration (Advanced Mode)

Use these settings to select the volumes to copy during the conversion:

Copy: Select the volumes to be copied during the conversion.

New Free Space: To resize the volume during the conversion, specify the desired amount of free space. Portability Suite automatically adjusts New Size.

New Size: To resize the volume during the conversion, specify the desired size. Portability Suite automatically adjusts New Free Space.

To Disk: Select which hard drive the volume will be copied to on the physical target machine.

Preserve Partitions: Click this column to determine if an existing vendor partition should remain intact during the conversion. If the partitions are not selected, Portability Suite permanently removes the partitions from the server.

Linux X2P Drive and LVM Volume Configuration (Advanced Mode)

Use these settings to select the volumes and non-volume source spaces to copy and size during the conversion. The Volume Group tab is available only if LVM is installed on the source.

Linux X2P Drive and LVM Volume Configuration (Settings Tab)

Use these settings to select source volumes to copy, non-volume source spaces to recreated and size, and target disks to repartition and populate.

Include: Select the volumes or non-volume source spaces to be copied or re-created and sized during the conversion.

New Free Space: To resize the volume during the conversion, enter the desired amount of free space. Portability Suite automatically adjusts New Size.

New Size: To resize the volume during the conversion, enter the desired size. Portability Suite automatically adjusts New Free Space.

Disk/Volume Group: Select which hard drive or volume group the volume will be copied to on the physical target machine.

Preserve Partitions: For each disk, click the corresponding cell in this column to select existing vendor partitions to preserve during the conversion. If the partitions are not selected, Portability Suite permanently removes them from the server.

Linux Drive and LVM Volume Configuration (Volume Groups Tab)

Use these settings to manage volume groups.

Add Volume Group: Creates a volume group on the target machine that is not present on the source machine.

Rename Volume Group: Renames a volume group that is being copied from the source to the target.

Delete Volume Group: Deletes a volume group so that it is not created on the target machine. The volumes assigned to the volume group can be reassigned to other locations by using the Settings tab (by default, they are assigned to disk).

Allocation for Volume Group: To allocate space on disks to a volume group, select the volume group, then select the disks to include in it. Specify the amount of space to be allocated to it on each included disk.

Target VM-Specific P2V/V2V Drive Configuration (Advanced Mode)

When configuring a peer-to-peer virtualization job in Advanced mode, the job configuration window provides access to settings specific to the target virtualization platform.

Drive Configuration: Microsoft Virtual Server, VMware Server/GSX

The following are drive configuration settings specific to Microsoft Virtual Server and VMware Server (formerly GSX):

Copy: Select the volumes to be copied during the conversion.

New Free Space: To resize the volume during the conversion, specify the desired amount of free space. Portability Suite automatically adjusts New Size.

New Size: To resize the volume during the conversion, specify the desired size. Portability Suite automatically adjusts New Free Space.

NOTE:Operating systems have partition size limitations. For instance, Windows NT 4 SP4 and SP6 targets must not exceed 7.8 GB.

To Disk: Select which hard drive the volume will be copied to on the physical target server.

Disk Type: IDE is permitted when the source machine uses IDE and the target is MSVS.

Drive Configuration: VMware ESX 3

The following are VMware ESX 3-specific drive configuration settings:

Datastore: Select the datastore volume on the ESX 3.0 server where you want to place the vmdk files.

Copy: Select the volumes to be copied during the conversion.

New Free Space: To resize the volume during the conversion, specify the desired amount of free space. Portability Suite automatically adjusts New Size.

New Size: To resize the volume during the conversion, specify the desired size. Portability Suite automatically adjusts New Free Space.

Disk/Volume Group: Assign the volume to a disk or, if LVM is enabled, to a volume group. The volume will be copied to this disk or volume group on the target machine.

Create: Select any non-volume disk partitions that should be created on the target machine (for example, a Linux swap partition).

New Size: To resize the non-volume partition during the conversion, specify the desired size.

Drive Configuration: VMware ESX 2

The following are VMware ESX 2-specific drive configuration settings:

Disk Image Location: Select the location on the ESX 2.0 server where you want to place the vmdk files.

Copy: Select the required source volumes to copy during the migration.

New Free Space: To resize the volume during the migration, specify the desired amount of free space on the target. Portability Suite automatically adjusts the New Size.

New Size: To resize the volume during the conversion, specify the desired size. Portability Suite automatically adjusts New Free Space.

Disk/Volume Group: Assign the volume to a disk, or to a volume group, if LVM is enabled. The volume will be copied to this disk or volume group on the target machine.

Create: Select any non-volume disk partitions that should be created on the target machine (for example, a Linux swap partition).

New Size: To resize the non-volume partition during the conversion, specify the desired size.

Solaris Zone Volume Configuration

The following are volume configuration options for Solaris zones.

Solaris Zone File Systems: Options in this area provide information about and a means to manage Zone File Systems (ZFS) on the target. For the Zone FS 0 file system, you cannot modify the Datastore and Location values, which are computed based on the zone path you specify for the zone. To change the Datastore and Location values, change the Target Volume and Path values in the target zone configuration settings (see Solaris Zone Configuration).

To add a new file system, click Add and specify the required target directory in the Datastore column. To remove file systems that you do not need on the target, click Remove Unused FS.

Volumes to Copy: Options in this area provide information about volumes that were discovered on the source and enable you to select which ones to reproduce on the target zone. For volumes that you select to reproduce, you can specify a file system from the list in the upper area. The root volume cannot be deselected (excluded from conversion); it is always selected and assigned to the Zone FS 0 file system.

5.11.3 Volume Configuration in Server Sync

When you are using Server Sync to synchronize two Windows or Linux workloads, Portability Suite provides you with the capability to specify the required mapping between source volumes and existing volumes on the target. See Synchronizing Workloads with Server Sync.

To access volume configuration options in a Server Sync job:

  • In Advanced mode: In the Conversion Job window, under the Drive Configuration section, click Volume Mapping (for Windows machines) or Drives and Volumes (Linux machines).

  • In Wizard mode: Not available.

The following topics provide information about Server Sync volume configuration options specific to Windows and Linux workloads.

Server Sync Volume Configuration (Windows)

A Server Sync job for Windows workloads provides detailed drive and volume information for both the source and the target, and enebles you to specify the required mapping.

Mapped To: Map each volume on the source to an existing volume on the target.

Server Sync Volume Configuration (Linux)

A Server Sync job for Linux workloads provides detailed mount point and volume information for both the source and the target, and enebles you to specify the required mapping.

Mapped To: Map each volume on the source to an existing volume on the target.

5.11.4 Handling Volumes and Image Files in X2I (Imaging) Conversions

When capturing a Flexible Image or importing volumes into a Flexible Image, Portability Suite provides a mechanism for including required volumes in an image, and specifying volume data mapping and image configuration options.

Target Volume Configuration: X2I (Wizard Mode)

Use this page, when setting up a Capture Image or Import Image job in wizard mode, to select volumes to include in the image and to specify paths to existing volume data.

For each volume selected for the image, specify the path to the corresponding image data.

For a Capture Image job, specify the path to the image package file (*.pkg).

For an Import Image job, specify the path to the directory containing the raw volume data.

To repackage the image, click Advanced in the Volume Data Mapping area and select Repackage in the Properties dialog box. Specify a path for the new image file, or use the default path.

Image Configuration: X2I (Wizard Mode)

Use this page, when setting up a Capture Image or Import Image job in wizard mode, to specify the image name and the path where it is stored.

Image Name: Type a name for the workload image or accept the default.

Configuration file path: Type the full path to the image’s XML configuration file or accept the default.