This topic provides an overview of the VMware VM migration feature of Cloud Backup, including the benefits, working principles, procedure, and billing of the feature.
Introduction
VMware migration is a VM protection solution provided by Alibaba Cloud Cloud Backup for on-premises VMware virtual machines (VMs). You do not need to install clients on VMs. Cloud Backup can migrate VMs to Alibaba Cloud in a simple, secure, and reliable manner.
Benefits
No client installation
You do not need to install the Cloud Backup client on the VM operating system. You only need to deploy a migration gateway in your VMware environment.
Incremental migration
Cloud Backup supports scheduled incremental migration and obtains block-level incremental data by using VMware-native APIs. This ensures high migration efficiency and greatly shortens the switchover window.
Data consistency
During migration, Cloud Backup ensures that the disk data of VMs is consistent. Cloud Backup is ideal for migrating VMs that run database applications and VMs with a large number of files.
Data verification
After the first full migration is completed, you can verify whether the ECS instance on the cloud is running as expected and whether the data is consistent at any time. You can verify data integrity before you switch your workloads.
Ease of use
You can migrate one or more VMs in each migration plan. You can manage migration jobs in the Cloud Backup console. After you configure a migration plan, you can click Finish Migration in the Cloud Backup console to complete the migration. No additional operations are required.
How it works
You must deploy and activate the migration gateway by using the Open Virtual Appliance (OVA) template provided by Cloud Backup on the vCenter Server where the backup is performed. You need to deploy only one gateway on each vCenter Server. If you have a large number of VMs, you can also deploy multiple gateways. The gateway migrates VMs based on the migration plan that you configure.
When a migration plan is running, the migration gateway creates snapshots for the specified VMs, reads data by using VMware SDKs, compresses and deduplicates the source data, and then uploads the data to the cloud. Then, Cloud Backup creates an ECS instance based on the migration plan and writes data to the ECS disks. During scheduled incremental migration, the migration gateway also creates snapshots for the specified VMs to obtain incremental data, and then writes the incremental data to the disks. When the migration is completed, Cloud Backup enables the destination ECS instance.
Cloud Backup allows you to migrate VMs to Alibaba Cloud over the Internet, virtual private networks (VPNs), or Express Connect circuits. If you migrate VMs over the Internet, you must make sure that the migration gateway can access the Internet. You do not need to expose the IP addresses of the gateway to the Internet.
Procedure
The following procedure shows how to migrate on-premises VMware VMs in the Cloud Backup console.
You are not charged for activating Cloud Backup. You are charged for migrating VMware VMs to the cloud. For more information, see Billing methods and billable items.
Create a migration gateway in the Cloud Backup console. A migration gateway helps you back up and restore data.
Install and activate the gateway
After you download the gateway and certificate, you need to install the gateway in your VMware environment. After the gateway is installed, you can migrate VMware VMs in the Cloud Backup console.
Before you migrate VMware VMs, you must add a vCenter Server in the Cloud Backup console.
When you create a migration plan in the Cloud Backup console, specify whether you want to run the migration plan immediately or on schedule, the virtual private cloud (VPC), and the ECS instance type. Cloud Backup starts the migration plan and continuously migrates data from the selected VMs to the specified ECS instance.
Confirm that the migration is complete
You can click Finish Migration to allow Cloud Backup to create an ECS instance based on the last synchronized data. In this case, Cloud Backup no longer runs migration jobs.
Billing
You are charged for VMware VM migration based on the following billable items:
Migration of VMware VMs to the cloud: You are charged based on the number of VMware VMs that are migrated to the cloud. After a VM is migrated to the cloud, the status of the VM changes to Migration Completed. For more information, see Pricing.
What to do next
Learn about how to migrate VMware VMs. For more information, see Migrate data from a VMware VM to an ECS instance.
Learn about the best practices of Cloud Backup. For more information, see Best Practices.