How about backing up that dreadful application/server that you couldn’t or did not wanted to virtualize to your ESX environment? It could be useful to have a copy of a server that for whatever reason you did not virtualize. The new VMware Converter plugin for VirtualCenter gives you this option. You can create a reoccurring schedule for a p2v, you can even save several version of the converted machine. How cool is that! Seems like a great way to backup a machine!

How do I do this:

1. click on scheduled tasks
2. click new and pick “import a machine”
3. select “physical” and enter the servers name/ip and username and password
4. select the disks you want to import
5. type a name for the VM
6. select the destination host
7. select a datastore
8. select a network
9. and schedule the task!