What is the purpose of VMware vMotion?

VMware vMotion is specifically designed to enable the live migration of virtual machines (VMs) across different physical hosts without any downtime. This means that a VM can be moved from one host to another seamlessly, which is crucial for maintaining high availability and performance in a virtualized environment. The live migration is performed while the VM is still running, ensuring that applications continue to function without interruptions or service outages.

This capability allows administrators to balance workloads efficiently, perform maintenance on hosts without taking down VMs, and enhance resource utilization across the data center. The technology relies on a shared storage infrastructure and maintains the VM’s state as it moves between hosts, making it a powerful tool for effective management in virtual environments.