The best way to migrate virtual machines from the existing infrastructure to HPE SimpliVity is to share HPE SimpliVity datastores with standard ESXi hosts, and migrate the virtual machines using VMware vSphere® Storage vMotion®1. This method allows the virtual machines to be moved to the HPE SimpliVity datastores without any downtime or impact on the performance. The HPE SimpliVity datastores are automatically created and managed by the HPE SimpliVity Virtual Controller, and they can be shared with any ESXi host that is in the same vCenter Server® as the HPE SimpliVity cluster2. Connecting VMFS datastores holding the virtual machine files to HPE SimpliVity nodes, and migrating the virtual machines (option A) is not a supported method, as the HPE SimpliVity nodes do not have direct access to the VMFS datastores, and they can only use the HPE SimpliVity datastores3. Mapping VMFS datastores holding the virtual machine files as an RDM to HPE SimpliVity nodes, and migrating the virtual machines (option C) is not a supported method, as the HPE SimpliVity nodes do not support RDM devices, and they can only use the HPE SimpliVity datastores4. Adding ESXi system to the HPE SimpliVity cluster, and migrating the virtual machines to HPE SimpliVity datastores (option D) is not a recommended method, as it requires the ESXi system to be converted to an HPE SimpliVity node, which involves installing the HPE OmniStack software and the HPE SimpliVity Virtual Controller, and reconfiguring the network settings. This method may cause downtime and data loss, and it is only advised for specific scenarios, such as replacing a failed node or expanding the cluster. References:
1: Using HPE SimpliVity Official Certification Study Guide (HPE2-K45), HPE Press, 2019, p. 29.
2: HPE SimpliVity OmniStack Interoperability Guide 4.2.0, HPE, 2021, p. 8.
3: HPE SimpliVity 380 Gen10 Node Data sheet, HPE, 2019, p. 5.
4: HPE SimpliVity OmniStack Interoperability Guide 4.2.0, HPE, 2021, p. 9.
[5]: HPE SimpliVity 380 Gen10 Node Installation and Startup Service, HPE, 2019, p. 3.
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