“The storage is failing again. One of the servers just went read-only. We need to migrate to KVM ASAP”
The customer’s team had heard it before.
And this time, everyone knew:
The old HyperV infrastructure was at its limit.
This was a post-acquisition environment. HyperV was still hosting most of the customer’s Windows servers, and a few Linux ones too. But the setup was fragile:
- The storage system was aging, regularly causing instability
- The HyperV hosts were near end-of-life, and a failure was only a matter of time
- Customers were already feeling the impact of outages and slow recovery
The internal team was working to migrate workloads to a new OpenNebula + StorPool environment running on new hypervisors. But the plan in place?
It wasn’t working.
The Original Plan: Functional, but Painfully Slow
The approach was to:
- Perform a full backup of each HyperV server
- Transfer the backup (often over the internet)
- Perform a bare metal restore into OpenNebula
- Manually fix network settings, boot errors, OS quirks…
The process worked — technically.
But:
- It required 2-3 days of downtime per server
- Backup speeds over WAN were painfully slow
- Each restore introduced manual fixes
- Customers had to coordinate maintenance windows
- The project was moving far too slowly
That’s when we got involved.
Rebuilding the Migration Strategy from the Ground Up
We didn’t just propose a better tool.
We reimagined the entire process — from infrastructure to customer communication.
First, we performed a full analysis:
- Storage flow
- Network topology
- Replication options
- OS adjustments for HyperV-to-KVM conversions
- Timing and billing considerations
- Coordination limitations with the customer base
The New Approach: Smart, Scripted, Scalable
We built a replication-based strategy:
- Set up replicas in HyperV, syncing directly to the site where OpenNebula runs
- Avoided WAN transfers by replicating locally
- Created automated scripts to:
- Copy the replicated disks to StorPool
- Convert OS configs for KVM boot compatibility
- Deploy new VMs in OpenNebula using the converted disks
- Tuned the automation for both Windows and Linux environments
The result?
A full server migration—from replica to production-ready VM—could be done in 1–2 hours.
From 3 Days of Downtime to 2 Hours Max
Once replicated, we could now migrate 3–4 servers per day with minimal customer impact.
We shifted from reactive coordination to a proactive scheduling system.
We led all customer communication:
📨 Communication Included:
- Initial notification: Scheduled date, impacted servers, what to expect
- Real-time updates: Maintenance start & completion emails
- Follow-ups: Validation steps, fallback windows, alternate scheduling if needed
Instead of waiting on customers to “find time,” we gave them enough notice to align internally.
And it worked.
Empowering the Internal Team
Their support team (Tier 1–2) became part of the operation.
We gave them a straightforward playbook:
- Run the migration scripts
- Follow testing checklists
- Validate network & OS boot
- Confirm with customers
No deep platform knowledge required.
No high-risk tasks.
Just confidence and clarity.
Wrapping in Billing and Infrastructure Changes
Behind the scenes, we also:
- Coordinated with the billing team to transition VMs to the new platform
- Ensured servers were removed from the old system post-migration
- Maintained original IPs thanks to a prior project connecting both datacenters under Cloudflare Magic Transit
(That project’s a story for another blog…)
The Outcome: 100 Servers Migrated in 5 Weeks
- 100 servers moved from unstable HyperV to high-performance OpenNebula + StorPool
- Minimal customer disruption
- Zero critical outages
- One failed HyperV node mid-project — handled without panic thanks to the momentum and prep
- Old environment decommissioned before full collapse
This wasn’t just a migration.
It was risk mitigation, operational reengineering, and crisis prevention—wrapped into one.
What This Proves
Sometimes a project is “in motion” but still heading toward failure.
The key is stepping back, rethinking the process, and asking:
“Is this really the best way to do it?”
That’s what we brought to this migration.
That’s what Nubius Solutions does on every project.
More Than a Migration — This Was a Real-World Showcase of Our Stack
This project wasn’t just about saving a customer from HyperV collapse.
It was about bringing together three of our strongest capabilities:
✅ Nubius Virtualization Platform
A modern, scalable virtualization solution powered by OpenNebula, built for agility and control.
✅ Nubius Distributed Storage
High-performance, reliable, and fully-managed storage powered by StorPool.
✅ Custom Projects & Cloud Migrations
End-to-end planning, execution, and automation for complex infrastructure moves—tailored to your needs.
This approach isn’t just limited to HyperV.
Whether you’re migrating from VMware, Proxmox, or any other virtualization platform, we use the same methodology—adjusted accordingly—to:
- Reduce risk
- Cut downtime
- Automate the complex
- Deliver fast, reliable results
Planning a Migration?
Let’s talk.
We’ll help you rethink the process, minimize the disruption, and finish faster.