I have two Hyper-V Server (core) host machines. Both have access to a NAS shared storage where VMs disks are stored. If I create a new VM on host 'A' and, after some time, I need to move it to host 'B', how do I manage it considering:
a) I cannot build a high availability cluster, so no quick migration is possible. b) a) is not possible because I caanot have a 3rd machine to act as a DC.
So, prior to mounting all this scenario, I wanted to know how to do this without the need to copy all data. I mean, is this possible?:
- Switch off VM on host a)
- On host b), create a new VM with the same shared storage
- Swith newly created VM on host b)
This brings some clear problems to me as the loss of virtual NICs IDs, MACs and so on... so, is it possible to clone the VM parameters to host b) prior to migration and keep it there, switched off so at any time I can just swith off a) and restart on b)?.
Thanks in advance,
Jose.
a) A cluster will solve all the issues you’ve mentioned and this is the most proper way to do what you need.
b) You don’t need a third machine to act as a DC. Just create a virtual machine or two on the same hosts instead. They will act as a primary and secondary DCs for your cluster. In order to get these VMs up before cluster start, you can place them locally and not making those clustered.
As for the main question, you can just import the virtual machine on the second host. Shut down the virtual machine on the host A and try importing this VM folder on host B. More information on how to move a virtual machine between standalone Hyper-V servers http://www.cryer.co.uk/brian/windows/hyper-v-server/how_to_move_virtual_machine_to_another_hyper_v_server.htm#Shutdown_and_copy