Migration is the process of moving a virtual machine from one host or datastore to another.
In vCenter Server, you have the following migration options.
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Cold Migration
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Moving a powered-off virtual machine to a new host. Optionally, you can relocate configuration and disk files to new storage locations. You can use cold migration to move virtual machines from one datacenter to another.
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Migrating a Suspended Virtual Machine
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Moving a suspended virtual machine to a new host. Optionally, you can relocate configuration and disk files to new storage location. You can migrate suspended virtual machines from one datacenter to another.
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Migration with vMotion
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Moving a powered-on virtual machine to a new host. Migration with vMotion allows you to move a virtual machine to a new host without any interruption in the availability of the virtual machine. You cannot use migration with vMotion to move virtual machines from one datacenter to another.
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Migration with Storage vMotion
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Moving the virtual disks or configuration file of a powered-on virtual machine to a new datastore. Migration with Storage vMotion allows you to move a virtual machine’s storage without any interruption in the availability of the virtual machine.
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Cloning a virtual machine or copying its disks and configuration file creates a new virtual machine. Cloning is not a form of migration.