News Releases•3 min read

VMware Eases Move to Virtual World with Next-Generation Conversion Tool

VMware Eases Move to Virtual World with Next-Generation Conversion Tool

PALO ALTO, Calif., October 2, 2006 — VMware, Inc., the global leader in software for industry-standard virtualized desktops and servers, today introduced VMware Converter 3, the next generation of its conversion tool that enables fast and reliable Physical-to-Virtual (P2V) and Virtual-to-Virtual (V2V) conversions through a simple and centralized management product. VMware will provide a version of VMware Converter 3 free of charge at general availability for anyone seeking an easy and affordable approach to converting to a virtual environment and will provide an enterprise edition at no additional cost to customers who have current support and subscription contracts for VirtualCenter Management Server.

“Converting physical systems into virtual machines is an important first step for many customers seeking to upgrade their IT environment to a virtual infrastructure,” said Karthik Rau, senior director of infrastructure products and solutions at VMware. “VMware Converter 3 takes a significant step forward in making the conversion process simple, automated and widely available to anyone seeking a zero-cost way to try existing workloads in a virtual environment.”

VMware Converter 3 is designed from the ground up to provide high levels of scalability, reliability and usability. VMware Converter 3 creates VMware virtual machines from sources such as physical machines, other VMware virtual machine formats and third-party image formats. It combines the functionality of two existing VMware products—VMware P2V Assistant and VMware Virtual Machine Importer—into one integrated offering aimed at simplifying the process of converting physical and virtual machines into VMware virtual machines. VMware P2V Assistant takes a snapshot of an existing physical system and transforms it into a VMware virtual machine, eliminating the need to reinstall and reconfigure complex application environments. VMware Virtual Machine Importer is a freely available utility that takes virtual machines from a variety of source formats and converts them into most VMware product destinations.

VMware Converter 3 helps IT professionals successfully create new virtual environments by letting them:

  • Create VMware virtual machines from physical machines running these Windows operating systems: Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 (including 64-bit versions of these), as well as Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4 SP4+
  • Import older VMware virtual machine formats to new VMware virtual machine formats
  • Convert VMware virtual machines from third-party formats including Microsoft Virtual Server and Virtual PC and Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery
  • Move virtual machines across different development, test and production environments
  • Populate new virtual machine environments quickly from a large directory of virtual machine appliances available at www.vmware.com/vmtn/appliances

VMware Converter 3 introduces new functionality:

  • Zero-downtime conversion enables users to convert a physical machine to a virtual machine while the source machine continues to operate, without disruption to end-user service
  • Remote cloning allows machines to be cloned from a remote console without manually using a boot CD or physically being in front of the source machine
  • Improved usability with a new, easy-to-use user interface that allows customers to convert physical machines in the fewest possible steps
  • Better performance with significantly improved cloning speed
  • Broad support for new and legacy hardware and software running on the source server

Pricing and Availability

VMware Converter 3 is currently in beta testing and expected to be generally available within the next six months. For more information, visit www.vmware.com/converterbeta.

About VMware, Inc.

VMware, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC), is the global leader in virtual infrastructure software for industry-standard systems. The world's largest companies use VMware solutions to simplify their IT, fully leverage their existing computing investments and respond faster to changing business demands. VMware is based in Palo Alto, California. For more information, visit www.vmware.com or call 650-475-5000.


# # #
 

VMware is a registered trademark or trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

This release contains “forward-looking statements” as defined under the Federal Securities Laws. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to: (i) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (ii) delays or reductions in information technology spending; (iii) risks associated with acquisitions and investments, including the challenges and costs of integration, restructuring and achieving anticipated synergies; (iv) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures and new product introductions; (v) the relative and varying rates of product price and component cost declines and the volume and mixture of product and services revenues; (vi) component and product quality and availability; (vii) the transition to new products, the uncertainty of customer acceptance of new product offerings and rapid technological and market change; (viii) insufficient, excess or obsolete inventory; (ix) war or acts of terrorism; (x) the ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees; (xi) fluctuating currency exchange rates; and (xii) other one-time events and other important factors disclosed previously and from time to time in EMC’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. EMC and VMware disclaim any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.