V2V Migration to OpenStack — From Any Source
Migrate virtual machines from VMware, Citrix Hypervisor, or XCP-ng directly to OpenStack.
Your backup platform becomes your migration engine — no extra tools, no complexity.
Why Storware for V2V Migration
- OpenStack Expertise Since 2019. We’ve protected OpenStack environments longer than most vendors have supported them.
- OpenInfra Foundation Member. The only data protection company invited to co-author the official VMware-to-OpenStack Migration Guide.
- Multi-Hypervisor DNA. Built from day one for heterogeneous environments. 15+ virtualization platforms supported.
- European Data Sovereignty. Polish headquarters, GDPR-compliant, EU-based alternative to US vendors.
V2V Migration Platform Support
VMware
VMware one of the main hypervisors on the market, after its acquisition by Broadcom provides some sort of unclearance regarding further licensing model and supported product direction. To escape the vendor lock-in situation, customers are looking for stable alternative and flexible operations of the environment.
Citrix Hypervisor
Starting in 2025, Citrix introduced licensing changes and announced end-of-life timelines for certain versions, raising concerns among organizations about potential forced migrations. This has been further accelerated by a broader industry shift toward avoiding vendor lock-in and adopting more flexible, open virtualization environments.
XCP-ng
XCP-ng (Xen Cloud Platform – next generation) is an open-source virtualization platform built on the Xen Project hypervisor and powered by Xen API (XAPI). Created to revive the original vision of XCP, it provides a free, community-driven alternative to XenServer, supported by an active ecosystem of developers and contributors.
Why Backup-Based Migration Works
Traditional migration tools are point solutions — used once, then shelved. Storware takes a different approach: your backup infrastructure becomes the migration engine. The same platform that protects your VMs today carries them to their new home.
No Extra Tools
V2V migration is built into Storware. No separate migration software to license, learn, or maintain.
Built-In Safety Net
Your backups are your migration source. If anything goes wrong, restore to the original environment.
Continuous Protection
Same platform protects workloads before, during, and after migration. No gap in coverage.
Agentless Architecture
No agents to install on source or target VMs. Migration happens at the hypervisor level.
Universal Licensing
One license covers all platforms — source and target. No per-VM migration fees.
Common Migration Scenarios
Platform Consolidation
Running multiple hypervisor platforms increases complexity. Migrate workloads to a unified OpenStack environment to simplify management.
Cost Optimization
Proprietary hypervisor licensing consumes significant budget. OpenStack eliminates per-socket and per-VM fees.
Vendor Independence
Infrastructure decisions shouldn’t depend on vendor pricing changes. OpenStack provides full control without lock-in.
Datacenter Modernization
Legacy environments lack cloud-native integration. OpenStack enables infrastructure-as-code and API-driven automation.
How V2V Migration Works
Disk format conversion, driver injection, and resource mapping happen automatically
- Back Up Source VMs. Create backups of your virtual machines using Storware’s agentless backup. Full and incremental backups are supported with change block tracking for efficient data capture.
- Select Migration Target. Choose your destination OpenStack environment, project, and cluster. The migration wizard guides you through storage mapping and network configuration.
- Execute Migration. Storware automatically handles disk format conversion (VMDK/VHD/XVA to QCOW2/RAW), driver injection, and resource mapping. VMs are restored directly to OpenStack.
- Validate and Protect. Verify migrated workloads in OpenStack, then continue protecting them with the same Storware platform. No tool changes, no retraining, no gaps.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Do I need separate tools for backup and migration?
No. Storware Backup and Recovery handles both backup/recovery and V2V migration in a single platform. Your existing backups become your migration source. - What happens to my data protection during migration?
Storware protects both VMware and OpenStack environments with equal feature coverage. There’s no gap in protection—your VMs are backed up before migration, and the same platform continues protecting them after. - Do I need to install agents on my VMs?
No. Storware uses agentless architecture for both VMware and OpenStack environments. Backups and migrations are performed through hypervisor APIs without installing anything inside your VMs.
- Which OpenStack distributions are supported?
Storware supports all major OpenStack distributions including Canonical OpenStack, Red Hat OpenStack Platform, and community deployments. Both KVM and QEMU hypervisors are fully supported.
- How does Storware handle disk format conversion?
Storware automatically converts VMDK, VHD, and XVA disk images to QCOW2 or RAW format compatible with OpenStack. Driver injection happens automatically.
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