vSphere Upgrade and Migration Service
vSphere versions are approaching end of life
Protect your business and upgrade now
Data centre virtualisation has matured rapidly in recent years and many organisation have come to the realisation that the foundation for successful digital transformation lies with data centre virtualisation. Today, many organisations exceed 75% virtualisation1. As your infrastructure needs become more complex – and the volume of data you are dealing with grows exponentially – you need a powerful, flexible way to respond. VMware vSphere 6.7 delivers.
Only with the latest virtualisation tools can you achieve true automation and business agility in the data centre, which in turn leads to better business decision making and the potential to unlock new revenue streams.
Data#3’s VMware specialists provide a complete vSphere Upgrade and Migration service. We can assess your current state, mitigate any migration risks that appear, and provide a clear roadmap to optimal vSphere implementation.
The Countdown Is Over
vSphere 5.0, 5.1 and 5.5 are no longer supported by VMware. The countdown clocks have reached zero, ensure your critical systems are safe and speak to us about upgrading to the latest virtualisation tools today.
vSphere 5.0 and 5.1 End of Technical Guidance
Expired Fri, 24th Aug 2018
vSphere 5.5 End of General Support
Expired Sat, 22nd Sept 2018
Environments are growing in complexity, as are security threats. At the same time, you need to balance support for both traditional and modern applications, and do more with the resources you’ve got. Your data security and business continuity are at risk if you’re using outdated versions of virtualisation software which are nearing end-of-life.
Other virtualisation products are reaching End of Support or End of Agreement, too. By running outdated systems like vCenter for Windows, vCenter Host Gateway and more, you could be compromising your organisation’s ability to respond to security threats and business demands on the data centre.
What’s New in VMware vSphere 6.7?
vSphere 6.7 delivers key capabilities and incredible improvements on it’s predecessors,
enabling IT teams to tackle new demands on data centre infrastructure.
Download the white paper to learn how you can take advantage of faster vCentre operations,
reduced memory usage and comprehensive built in security.
Why is staying up-to-date important?
Discover how vSphere 6.7 wildly outperforms even 6.5.
Next-gen infrastructure like vSphere 6.7 responds to the challenges of the modern data centre head-on. It enables you to fully leverage VMware technology, including VMware vSAN™ and VMware NSX®; and gives you a powerful, secure and flexible foundation to run both existing and modern applications across clouds and devices.
vSphere 6.7 delivers phenomenal performance improvements over v6.5:
- 2x faster performance in vCenter operations per second
- 3x reduction in memory usage
- 3x faster DRS-related operations (e.g. power-on virtual machine)2
Learn more about the power of vSphere 6.7 with this video:
Why upgrade or migrate with Data#3?
Understand the dangers of 'going it alone'.
Unless you only have one Platform Services Controller (PSC), this major infrastructure upgrade is complex and risky. There is no direct upgrade path for customers moving themselves from vSphere 5.5 or below to vSphere 6.5/6.7, partnering with VMware experts will simplify this process and ensure you don’t encounter data centre disasters. As this article recounting a vSphere upgrade shows, it’s unwise to ‘go it alone’. Ensure your data, security and business continuity are safe by engaging Data#3 to manage your vSphere upgrade or migration.
By partnering with Data#3 you receive:
• A smooth process that protects your data and minimises disruption to business-as-usual processes
• The identification of major new opportunities to add real value to your business operations
• Analysis of your unique environment to provide a current state of your data centre
• Gap analysis to identify what needs to be done before you can upgrade your data centre virtualisation
• Specialist recommendations and a roadmap for upgrading to the latest tools, to ensure that no data centre disasters occur
• Ongoing education and support to help you get the most from virtualisation
What is included in the vSphere Upgrade and Migration service?
Learn about our five step approach.
Our five-step approach to managing vSphere upgrades and migrations delivers proven results. The process can take from five days to four weeks depending on the complexity of your IT environment and the depth of review you are looking for.
Here’s what you can expect:
1. Preparing to upgrade
- Understand the business requirements, objectives, timelines and scope
- Perform an in-depth current state analysis to identify any gaps or risks
- Develop a clear roadmap for upgrade and prepare an execution plan
- Verify compatibility and interoperability of other installed VMware and third party solutions or plug-ins
- Verify hardware and software requirements
2. Pre-upgrade tasks
- Validate the implications of the new vCenter and Platform Services Controller (PSC) topologies
- Acquire necessary access privileges to be able to perform an upgrade
- Backup databases, old volumes and SSL certificates
- Take VMware snapshots (a copy of the virtual machine’s disk file)
3. Performing the upgrade
- Perform vCenter and PSC upgrade
- Perform Host upgrades
- Perform Virtual Machine upgrades
- Perform Datastore upgrades
4. Verifying the upgrade
- Execute the operational verification process
- Investigate any opportunities for optimisation
- Ensure mutually agreed upon success criteria is met
5. Ongoing education and support
- Education on the new capabilities of vSphere 6.5/6.7
- Education on design, monitoring and operating procedures
- Option to configure newer capabilities into the system
- Option to upgrade or virtualise other VMware solutions, non-VMware solutions and more… whatever your business needs to realise true value from these great new capabilities
Avoid data centre disasters and ensure you’re equipped with the latest virtualisation tools.
Data#3 is a technology specialist with extensive experience in VMware. Reach out to a Data#3 Specialist below to learn more about how we can ensure you’re getting the most from your investment in vSphere data centre virtualisation.
1. Gartner (May 2016) Gartner Says Worldwide Server Virtualization Market Is Reaching Its Peak. [Online] Available at: https://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3315817
2. Singh, H (April 2018). Introducing VMware vSphere 6.7! [Online] Available at: https://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2018/04/introducing-vmware-vsphere-6-7.html
