Back in October I reported that VMware had announced that they were going to release a new P2V tool called VMware Converter. Today VMware announced today that Converter is officially available. Their official statements says:

“VMware Converter Starter is available free of charge at www.vmware.com/products/converter. VMware Converter Enterprise is available at no additional cost to VMware customers who have current support and subscription contracts for VMware VirtualCenter Management Server.”

Some of the features include:

Convert to virtualization faster
VMware Converter rapidly improves cloning time though the use of sector-based snapshot copying rather than file level copying. Customize the image of your virtual machines through a powerful scripting tool.
Manage and schedule multiple conversions
Easily manage, schedule, and monitor multiple conversions through the centralized management console. You can even queue up conversions for a later time.
Integrate with VirtualCenter
Convert directly into VirtualCenter 2.0 managed or ESX Server 3.0 virtual machines from the VMware Converter console.
Convert remote servers
Perform remote conversions with zero disruption to the source servers.
Get broad operating system support
Support is available for cloning the most common operating systems including Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000, Windows NT 4 (SP4 +) and 64-bit Windows Support (Windows XP and Windows Server 2003).

I also have un-official word that VMware is looking to include Live P2V capabilities in the 3.0.1 version. This will be in direct competition with Platespin’s PowerConvert product.

The VMware press statement can be read here.

For more information on Converter 3 go here.

Platespin just announced that you can rent their PowerConver and PowerRecon products for $1 per server per day. Read the full press release here:

http://www.platespin.com/corporate/newsdetails.aspx?id=148