Migrating and Protecting VMware Workloads Without VDDK

Can VMware workloads be migrated without VDDK?

Yes. The VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit (VDDK) is a VMware library that many backup, replication and migration tools use to read and write virtual disks. A tool that depends on it needs the customer or provider to obtain, deploy and maintain the toolkit. There are three broad ways to avoid that dependency, each with trade-offs:

• Agents inside each guest. Software in every VM copies data from inside the operating system. It avoids VDDK, but adds an agent to install, update and remove on every workload.
• Export and convert. Exporting VM disks and converting them for the target hypervisor needs no toolkit, but it is usually a full copy with no ongoing synchronisation, so large workloads need a long cutover window.
• A platform with its own VMware integration. Sendense reads VMware disks through its own native integration and uses VMware changed block tracking, so it can keep the destination synchronised and cut over in a planned window. Confirm that the platform covers your VMware storage types and target platform.

Migration is only half of the decision. The workloads still need backup and disaster recovery once they land. For how Sendense keeps protection attached through the move, see VMware exit planning, Workload Mobility, VMware to CloudStack migration and VMware backup and recovery.

Sendense native VMware integration

Broadcom’s recent change to the availability of the VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit (VDDK) has created new challenges for VMware backup, replication and migration solutions that rely on customers being able to obtain and deploy the toolkit.

For CloudStack providers helping customers migrate away from VMware, that dependency can now be a significant consideration.

Sendense provides backup, disaster recovery and cross-hypervisor replication for service providers and enterprises, with native support for VMware and Apache CloudStack.

And Sendense doesn’t depend on VDDK.

VMware workloads can be backed up, protected and continuously replicated to CloudStack without VDDK, while retaining the storage compatibility, performance and reliability required for production workloads.

With Sendense, CloudStack CSPs can:

• Migrate VMware workloads to CloudStack using incremental replication and low-downtime cutover
• Back up VMware workloads without VDDK
• Continuously replicate VMware → CloudStack for Disaster Recovery as a Service
• Replicate CloudStack → VMware where required
• Protect workloads after migration with ongoing CloudStack backup and DR
• Support all VMware storage types, without requiring customers to move workloads onto NFS or another specific storage platform
• Use their preferred CloudStack storage backend
• Deliver the same performance and reliability without relying on VDDK

There is no VDDK for the customer or CSP to obtain, distribute or maintain, and no need to redesign the source VMware environment around the migration or protection platform.

Migration can be the start, not the end - Sendense isn’t just a VMware migration tool.

A CSP can use the same platform that migrates a customer’s workloads into CloudStack to provide ongoing Backup as a Service and Disaster Recovery as a Service once they’re there.

It means a VMware exit project can become an ongoing managed protection service, rather than ending when the final VM is migrated.