Summary
Ensuring virtual machine alignment when running a physical-to-virtual (P2V) migration.
Symptoms
Considering storage alignment at the block level, how do I migrate a physical machine's assets to a virtual machine?
Resolution
In DPX, run physical-to-virtual (P2V) migrations using the Full Virtualization feature or the Rapid Return to Production (RRP) feature.
Note: The RRP feature is only available in BEX 3.4+.
To initiate a P2V migration using Full Virtualization:
1. In the Restore pane of the Advanced Recovery for SnapVault (or Open Storage) tab, expand the node to display the BMR object.
2. Identify the snapshot instance to recover, select it, then right-click that object.
3. Select the Virtualize entry from the resulting dialog box.
4. In the next dialog box, select Full Virtualization, then select the option that directs DPX to align the new virtual machine.
Note: Select the alignment option to avoid storage performance issues caused by VM misalignment. From a block level perspective, this option increases the block size at the beginning of the raw image, ensuring that the entire image is 4K-aligned.
Warning
When adding data to the block level image in a P2V operation, it may not be possible to reverse this move using the same physical hardware. DPX incrementally increases the disk image for alignment purposes, and post-migration, the new image may not fit on the original hardware.