Hello,

I am wondering if it is ok to do a vmotion of an active Exchange 2013 host.  Just the the guest from one esxi server host to another esxi server host, not the storage.  Or do I need to shut down the guest first and then move it and bring it back up.

I found documentation but it talks about DAGs,

Esxi 5.1

Exchange 2013 on Win 2012 standard

Thanks!!

From what I've read and heard in the past, you're supposed to rely on Exchange HA (DAG) and not a hypervisor's HA (if your Exchange servers are virtualized).  I'll see if I can dig up documentation stating so.

Not sure if this is what you read:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj619301.aspx

This is the official TechNet regarding Exchange 2013 virtualization.

And from within the above article:

Host-based failover clustering and migration for Exchange

Hi schultzycom,

please find the answer in Scott Schnolls video about virtualization best practice at

http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechDays/Techdays-2014-the-Netherlands/Exchange-Server-2013-Virtualization-Best-Practices

Live migration is supported as well as every method that migrated a machine while it is turned on - basically that is the same as mentioned in the technet article before.

So the answer is yes for migration via vmotion, as you do not use a cold cloning procedure.

You MUST NOT turn it off, while that may be working this is not the supported procedure for moving a MBX role.

Regards,
Martin

• Edited by Gudel, Martin 13 hours 6 minutes ago

Hi schultzycom,

please find the answer in Scott Schnolls video about virtualization best practice at

http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechDays/Techdays-2014-the-Netherlands/Exchange-Server-2013-Virtualization-Best-Practices

Live migration is supported as well as every method that migrated a machine while it is turned on - basically that is the same as mentioned in the technet article before.

So the answer is yes for migration via vmotion, as you do not use a cold cloning procedure.

You MUST NOT turn it off, while that may be working this is not the supported procedure for moving a MBX role.

Regards,
Martin

• Edited by Gudel, Martin Thursday, May 14, 2015 6:21 PM

Hi schultzycom,

please find the answer in Scott Schnolls video about virtualization best practice at

http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechDays/Techdays-2014-the-Netherlands/Exchange-Server-2013-Virtualization-Best-Practices

Live migration is supported as well as every method that migrated a machine while it is turned on - basically that is the same as mentioned in the technet article before.

So the answer is yes for migration via vmotion, as you do not use a cold cloning procedure.

You MUST NOT turn it off, while that may be working this is not the supported procedure for moving a MBX role.

Regards,
Martin

• Edited by Gudel, Martin Thursday, May 14, 2015 6:21 PM

Thank you for your response,  I thought I would put the details in here so others do not have to wonder.

From the technet document

All failover activity occurring at the hypervisor level must result in a cold boot when the virtual machine is activated on the target node. All planned migration must either result in shutdown and cold boot, or an online migration that makes use of a technology like Hyper-V Live Migration. Hypervisor migration of virtual machines is supported by the hypervisor vendor; therefore, you must ensure that your hypervisor vendor has tested and supports migration of Exchange virtual machines. Microsoft supports Hyper-V Live Migration of these virtual machines.

From VMware tech support

I understand from your case description that you would like to know if VMware supports vmotion of an Exchange 2013 server, live, or does it have to be shut down first.

Yes, live migration of Exchange servers is supported. 

You can go ahead with the migration.