Hi Antoan -
I looked at your survey and noticed that I would probably lie when answering question 1 - 6.
I wonder if you will get any useful results from it.
If I were in your shoes I would ask questions like ....
What is your favorite P2V procedure ?
- hotclone
- coldclone
- I use third party images and import them with Converter
- I use whatever suits the special case best
VMware no longer offers a Coldclone procedure. What do you do to work around this ?
- I still have the old Coldclone CD from the original download
- I use a PE-LiveCD with Converter 3.0.3
- I use Thirdparty Coldclone CDs
- I use a pirated copy of the VMware Coldclone CD downloaded from obscure sources
- I use other Coldclone procedures that do not need Converter
- I use the hotclone procedure instead
- I dont need to do Coldclones
Which versions of Converter do you use ?
- always the latest
- the latest 5.* version and 3.0.3
- the latest 5.* version, 3.0.3 and a ColdcloneCD
Where do you install Converter ?
- on the vCenter host
- on a physical machine
- various versions in several different VMs
Current Converter no longer supports old Windows- versions. What do you do if you need to P2V NT4 or Win2000 ?
- I do not import NT4 and other old versions
- I use thirdparty tools instead
- I would use older versions if they were still available
- I use older Converter-versions and do not care if I have to download them from obscure sources
Converter uses a wizard to guide you through the configuration.
- I do not care about the selections the wizard presets. I know exactly what I want and do not need the wizard.
- I do not know what options are good for me - so I have to rely on the wizard.
How do you rate the Converter User Interface ?
- oh dear - I only have a vague idea of what all those options are good for
- the user interface is ok - it does all that I want
- the user interface is over simplyfied - I wish there were more options
What do you do if the Converter fails at 98% ?
- you think "I must have misconfigured something" and start over
- you think "good - the first part is done" and fix the results manually
- you give up
What do you do when Converter fails between 5% and 98%
- I start over and try again - if necessary several times
- I read the logs and try to fix the reason of the failure
- I read the logs but do not find out what was wrong so I start over
- I do not troubleshoot Converter errors and give up
- I do not troubleshoot Converter errors - instead I go to plan B
- I post in the forum or use google
Converter uses SSL per default.
- good - I need SSL for security reasons
- bad - I dont care about encrypted file transfer - speed is more important
Converter displays error messages when a task fails. Please rate the usefulness of the messages.
- useful - if I see the message I know what to do against the problem
- not helpful - I do not understand the messages
- poor - the messages are missguiding
Converter claims to be able to handle third party images like Acronis tib files. What do you think about this feature ?
- very useful - I need it
- nice to have but not necessary at all
- that must be a bluff - it never worked for me
Please do not lie ;-)
Did you read the manual ?
- yes - I always read the manual before using a new tool
- I only read the manual when I run into problems
- this is supposed to be a simple tool - if it is necessary to read the manual this is poor UI-design
Converter did not work when ESXi 5.1 was released.
Converter still can not handle GPT disks though they are getting more and more common.
Converter support for Linux is not as good as the release notes say.
What do you think about that ?
- it is a free tool so I do not complain
- this things do not affect my work
- problems like that have an influence on our decision to use vSphere at all
Does the quality of Converter influence your plans for investments in VMware virtualisation ?
- no - I regard it as free give away
- a bit
- yes
- yes - absolutely - if I cant import my physical machines I dont need vSphere
Would you pay for a Converter with additional features like Coldclones, better Linux-support ...
- no - I dont need any features that are not yet included
- I already pay for vSphere licenses and Converter is a must-have tool of the whole suite - I already pay enough
- yes - I would buy a Converter Pro-version
Why do you use Converter ?
- I have to import physical machines and dont know any other way to do that
- I use it for V2V - for tasks that Datastorebrowser and Storage-vMotion cant handle
- I do P2V and V2V from commandline if necessary - I only use Converter because it is more convenient
Converter can not have success in 100% of the cases. What do you prefer - lets assume 1 out of 10 attempts will fail.
- always try to do the job = this means you will get 9 successful imports and waste time for the tenth
- dont run jobs that may fail = this means you may get 8 successful imports only but never waste time
Have a look at the list of additional features - select the ones you miss the most
- GPT-support
- support for old Windows versions
- scheduled hotclones
- scheduled coldclones
- Coldclone BootCD
- import more Linux variants
- import Linux without the need of an ESXi host as target
- use the contents of a external disk connected via SATA, USB, iSCSI ... as a p2v source
- use a standalone vmdk-file as source
...