Simple Workload Portability, Automation, and Recovery
Use the VM Import/Export feature with StorMagic SvHCI to manage manual and automated processes related to your VMs.
Backup and Restore Processes
Export a full VM in the portable, standard OVF format to store it off-cluster as a backup file. Later, you can either import this backup back into SvHCI, or mount it in a datacenter or cloud environment to access your files, even if your SvHCI cluster is unavailable.
Golden Image Deployment
Distribute VM images to add or upgrade applications on SvHCI.
Preparatory and Development Work
Install a VM from a third-party hypervisor for lab, development, or migration preparation work (SvHCI already includes the VMware VM Import Utility for importing VMs in operational use cases).
Hello/Flexibility
Choice of Automated or Manual
Import or export VMs through the UI and CLI/API interface, using the industry-standard OVF/OVA file format. As a core virtualization and storage capability, it’s useful for manual (via UI) or scriptable (via the feature’s API/CLI interface) use cases.
System-validated Imports
Import VM images back into SvHCI either as replacements for failed VMs or as new template-derived instances. Perform imports from local files or from URLs – the system validates all components before creation for you.
Export Snapshots for Crash-consistent Backups
Export from powered-off VMs or from selected snapshots of running VMs. Get flexibility for both clean and crash-consistent backups. Download exports directly to your workstation or file system, eliminating the need to buffer large disk images on the SvHCI host. The export process also compresses unused VM disk space to optimize file size.
Metadata Included
Each OVF package captures not only the VM’s disk data but also detailed metadata for CPU, storage, and memory configurations. Using an industry-standard format, OVF ensures seamless portability and compatibility across platforms such as VMware vSphere and leading cloud environments.