VMware offers migration freebie
VMware, whose software lets a single x86 computer run multiple operating systems simultaneously, is offering its Physical to Virtual (P2V) migration tool free to customers who buy an on-site consulting service called the P2V Migrations Jumpstart.
The P2V tool lets a computer's configuration be moved from an ordinary server to VMware's virtual machine software foundation. One of VMware's competitors, SWsoft, added its own Virtuozzo P2V tool in August.
Virtual machine software, by letting a server gracefully run more tasks at once, can increase a computer's efficiency. VMware dominates the market for x86 servers, but also faces competition from Microsoft and open-source Xen.