Question : Best way to virtualise existing windows PC's

I manage a few legacy systems, one XP one W2K, they both have proprietary databases that are no longer supported but are still used. We have no reasonable way of reinstalling the database on another machine and for speed and hardware reliability I would like to run these as virtual machines on a server. What is the best way to do this. Cheaper would be better as there is not much budget.

Thanks in advance!

Answer : Best way to virtualise existing windows PC's

-The proper way to do hot(OS is running) P2V a DB server is to stop the App & DB on the machine before starting the conversion, this is to ensure DB consistency after conversion
-Also important before starting P2V, disable any physical hardware related services or uninstall physical hardware related tools(virtual hardware dont need all these, they may cause instability issue or guest OS cannot start after P2V)
-You can perform P2V using one of the possible methods below

1. Hot clone with vmware converter for vmware virtualization platform - Install vmware converter on the machine itself(P2V this machine) or on a mgmt machine(P2V remotely), run the converter wizard(easy to use all wizard driven) Resulting VM can be a VM for hosted virtualization platform like vmware server 2 on windows/linux or dedicated hypervisor like vmware esx/esxi
Get vmware converter at http://www.vmware.com/download/converter/getconverter.html
Just register to get it for free

2. Or you can also do hot P2V with free 3rd party P2V tool to prepare VM for various virtualization platform using Vizioncore vConverter, refer to http://www.vizioncore.com/products/vConverter/features.php

3. Create a disk image from a running machine using disk imaging tool like Symantec Ghost, Acronis True Image or Storagecraft Shadow Protect. The resulting image file can be converted to VM, for example using the same vmware converter mentioned above

4. Cold clone(most reliable becoz OS is not running) - Mainly for enterprise vmware customers, using a bootable iso that is burned to disc and boot the physical machne from the disc to start the P2V

So which is the best or more suitable for you? The choice is yours to make.

Cheers!