The final of VMware Converter 3.0 is now available for download. I reviewed VMware Converter 3 Beta sometime ago. I liked the tool, but it was a bit unreliable. The final seems to work better, although, I only converted one machine using VMware Converter 3 Starter Edition.

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Update: Please, also check out my first impressions about VMware Converter 3.0 final. I wonder how long VMware Converter 3.0 Starter Edition beta is already available. I only became aware of it because it was mentioned in a comment of a recent post about VMware Converter. Of course, I couldn’t wait to try it. VMware Converter is a P2V solution. It enables you to convert physical machines running Windows to VMware virtual machines. The Starter Edition is for free, the Enterprise Edition will be licensed as part of support and subscription services with VirtualCenter Management.

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InfoWorld has an interesting article about VMware Converter 3. It is a tool that converts Windows systems running on a physical machine to a virtual machine in the VMware format. They wrote that there will be a free-of-charge version and an enterprise edition.

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Some weeks ago I wrote about P2V migration for VMware, discussing six different ways to do the job. The growing number of referrals to this post show that this topic is troubling many IT professionals at the moment. Even VMware linked to my site from their Technology Network. Some sites have other useful information about P2V migration which I am going to share in this post. It also provides a list of all P2V products and solutions I’ve found so far. Let me know, if you’ve heard of others. I will add them to this list then.

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Update: Please read this review about VMware’s free P2V solution, VMware Converter 3.0 and check out my first impressions about VMware Converter 3.0 final. We are currently setting up a new VMware server and want to migrate several physical Windows servers to virtual machines. So far, I know six different ways doing this.

1. VMware P2V Assistant VMware offers a tool for this purpose. The only problem with this option is that the VMware P2V Assistant is quite expensive. Prices start at about $2,500 for the VMware P2V Assistant Starter Edition which allows 25 migrations. The VMware P2V Assistant Enterprise Edition costs more than $6,100.

2. PlateSpin PowerConvert Platespin PowerConvert seems to be a more sophisticated tool since it allows any kind of conversion. It not only supports VMware but also Microsoft’s format. Prices start at 2,619 Euro.

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I just read an interesting article (only available in print) about PowerConvert from Platespin in a German magazine, Windows IT Pro (5/2006). PowerConvert supports the virtual machine formats of VMware and Microsoft. You can do any kind of imaginable conversion with these two formats including physical-to-virtual and virtual-to-physical.

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VMware Virtual Machine Importer allows you to import virtual machines from Microsoft Virtual PC and Virtual Server. The 2.0 beta supports the latest versions of Microsoft’s virtual machines format. You can also import from Symantec’s LiveStat and Ghost 9. Provided you use one of this Symantec tools, Virtual Machine Importer is an alternative to VMware P2V Assistant, as you can use it to transfer physical installations into virtual machines. Importer 2.0 also supports the latest VMware formats, especially ESX Server 3.0 Beta 2. VMware Virtual Machine Importer 2.0 Beta is now available for download. Also check out their press release.