Something I don’t really see mentioned much is how we can take a physical OEM Windows server or PC and convert it to a virtual machine without breaking the licencing agreement.
Before we start converting machines we must ensure we have sufficient non-OEM Windows licences and corresponding media available.
Simply pop in the install media and run an “upgrade” this will run a dynamic upgrade from say OEM to VLK. I do find this a little irritating as it extends the maintenance window for the P2V.
This is also pretty handy for those restoring a full OS backup to a virtual environment, in the event of disaster or data recovery from decommissioned servers.
Daniel Noakes