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Impact of shutting down vCenter server host and wiping second datastore

We have a very basic VMware Setup - Essentials licensing, three servers, no HA, vMotion etc.

I have one server that has vCenter Server on datastore1 and a few VMs on datastore2. I need to reconfigure the RAID of datastore2. My plan is to migratethe VMs off this datastore on to another server, reboot and reconfigure the RAID (which will now not have any VMs on it). Then I'd move the VMs back to the datastore2.

So I have a few questions -
1. Will rebooting this server (and having vCenter go offline) in any way impact the other two servers? (should I power down vCenter first before reboot?)
2. Since I'm not reconfiguring the vCenter datastore1 drive, I assume that once I'm done with changing the RAID on datastore2, and I reboot, vCenter will come back online (set to auto power on). Is this a fair statement, or should I double-check something first?

I'd like to do this during work hours, but I want to make sure it wouldn't impact the other VMs on different servers. Thanks.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

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ruhkus

ASKER

Thanks. As a precautionary measure should I screw up something - could I shut down vCenter, then use the direct connect to the ESXi server and download the vCenter folder from the datastore? Would I then be able to place this folder with the VM data on another server and with a few basic configuration changes, have it run vCenter again?

Also, is using the Migrate feature in vSphere client basically 100% safe, as long as it says the migration completed?

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

Yes, easiest way would be to Export and Import.

Part 10: HOW TO: Backup (Export) and Restore (Import) virtual machines to VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 for FREE

Migrate is Safe, it either completes or does not complete. (and if it does not complete, the method does not trash your VM)

ruhkus

ASKER

Thanks! Worked fine.