1.2 Supported Source Workloads and Target Platforms

1.2.1 Supported Source Workloads

Portability Suite supports the following operating system families:

  • Microsoft Windows

  • Linux*

  • UNIX*

Not all Portability Suite features and transfer methods are supported for all source operating systems. For version specifics and the most up-to-date list, see Knowledge Base Article Q20002.

Supported Microsoft Windows Workloads

For the Windows platform, Portability Suite supports the following portability and protection features:

  • Workload portability: Peer-to-peer conversions (P2V, V2V, V2P, P2P).

  • Workload protection: Peer-to-peer conversion (P2V and V2V) with incremental synchronization of changes. Covers all supported Windows workloads except Windows NT 4. Supported target infrastructures for protection are VMware* ESX Servers, versions 3.0 and later.

  • Peer-to-peer workload synchronization with Server Sync (P2V, V2V, P2P, V2P).

  • Workload imaging with Flexible Images (X2I, I2X), with full or partial support for several third-party backup and archiving applications.

  • Workload image protection through incremental image synchronization (X2I).

Table 1-3 Supported Microsoft Windows Workloads

Version

Bit Spec

Remarks

Windows Vista*, Business/Enterprise/Ultimate, SP1 and later

32-bit, 64-bit

Not supported on Microsoft Virtual Server (MSVS), VMware Server, and VMware ESX versions earlier than 3.5 Update 2.

Windows Server* 2008, Standard/Enterprise

32-bit, 64-bit

Windows Server 2003, Standard/Enterprise

32-bit, 64-bit

 

Windows Server* 2000, Windows Advanced Server 2000

32-bit

 

Windows XP Professional, x86 only

32-bit, 64-bit

 

Windows NT* 4.0 Server

32-bit

 

Portability Suite supports the following localized versions of source Windows workloads:

  • English

  • French

  • German

  • Japanese

Supported Linux Workloads

For the Linux platform, Portability Suite provides only peer-to-peer workload portability support (P2P, P2V, V2P, V2V), including workload synchronization with Server Sync.

Supported Linux file systems are EXT2, EXT3, and REISERFS.

Workload protection and imaging are not supported for Linux.

Table 1-4 Supported Linux Workloads

Version

Bit Spec

Red Hat* Linux 7.3, 8

32-bit

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS/ES/WS 2.1

32-bit

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AS/ES/WS 3, 4, 5

32-bit, 64-bit

SUSEĀ® Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 8, 9, 10, 11

32-bit, 64-bit

NOTE:

  • Linux-based source workloads must be running a Secure Shell (SSH) server.

  • Customized kernels or kernels rebuilt from source are not supported. For more information about supported Linux kernels, see Knowledge Base Article Q20947.

Supported UNIX Workloads

Portability Suite provides migration support for Solaris* workloads running on SPARC* systems.

The supported versions are Solaris 10, Update 5 (U5) and Solaris 10, Update 6 (U6). You can migrate these workloads into native zones in Solaris 10 zone servers that are running the same update version.

Workload protection and imaging are not supported for Solaris.

NOTE:

  • Solaris source workloads must be running a Secure Shell (SSH) server.

1.2.2 Supported Target Virtualization Platforms

The following is a list of supported virtualization platforms. For version details, as well as the most up-to-date list, see Knowledge Base Article Q20002.

Table 1-5 Supported Target Virtualization Platforms

Platform

Remarks

VMware vCenter 4

 

VMware ESX Server 3.5, 3.5i, 4, 4i

 

VMware Virtual Infrastructure version 3.0 - 3.0.1, 3.5

 

VMware ESX Server 3.0.x

 

VMware ESX Server 2.5.x

 

VMware ESX Server 2.1.1

 

VMware Server 1.0

Windows only (x86 and x64)

VMware GSX Server 3.1; 3.2 (Windows only)

Windows NT 4.0 SP6a, 2000, 2003 source workloads only

Microsoft Virtual Server (MSVS) 2005 (build 465; build 465.254 with Service Pack 1)

Windows NT 4.0 SP6a, 2000, 2003 source workloads only (x86 and x64)

Solaris 10 (U5 and U6) zone server

For source workloads that are Solaris 10 (U5 and U6) physical machines or zones

Citrix* XenServer 4.1, 5, 5.5

NovellĀ® Xen* Hypervisor on SLES 10 SP2

Supported through semi-automated virtualization using the X2P conversion workflow. See Semi-Automated Workload Virtualization through X2P.

Microsoft Hyper-V

Virtual Iron*

1.2.3 Supported Third-Party Image Formats

The following are supported third-party image formats:

  • Acronis* True Image (True Image 9.1, True Image Server 8.0, True Image Enterprise Server 8.0, 9.1).

  • Symantec* LiveState* Recovery (LiveState Recovery Standard Server, LiveState Recovery Advanced Server, LiveState Recovery Advanced Server Suite, versions 3.0 and 6.0).

1.2.4 Hardware Compatibility

A hardware compatibility list for Windows source workloads and Take Control ISO images is available. See Knowledge Base Article Q20314.

A list is also available for Linux source workloads. See Knowledge Base Article Q20570.