VMware reveals a new P2V application: VMware Converter

Surprisingly VMware just published a new beta program enrollment page for a new product able to do physical to virtual (P2V) and virtual to virtual (V2V) migrations: VMware Converter.

The new tool seems to merge 2 existing solutions from the company: P2V Assistant, aimed at P2V operations, and Virtual Machine Importer, aimed at V2V operations.
But the most interesting thing is VMware Converter will feature live conversion capability (no need to shut down source machine to perform conversion), a feature at today offered only by PlateSpin with its PowerConvert 6.0.

The product is expected to support all VMware products as destination, including VMware Infrastructrure 3:


The beta is expected to begin in early October: enroll for it here.

Update: InternetNews revealed VMware will offer a free version of this new product, able to perform a conversion at a time.

The Enterprise edition, able to perform multiple migrations at the same time, will be aslo free but only for customers already purchasing VirtualCenter.

The product is expected to ship within 6 months.

Finally PlateSpin could have a serious competitor to front.