Moving VMs between datastores with free ESXi (and very fast GhettoVCB restores)
Trying to move virtual machine between datastores (local or remote) can be painful without vCenter and SVmotion. Easy and fast way is to use traditional VI Client to move contents of virtual machine directory via datastore browser (Move To feature). Processing stays within ESXi and goes quickly. VMware converter could also be used, but it's SLOOOOOW and everything goes via management PC which is dumb design. GhettoVCB restores aren't fastest either. This is quite obvious workaround, but I have to admit didn't realize this until today. Since backups are NFS mounted I can simply import VMX file from backup directory using datastore browser. Yes, this will result in changes to backup which is not that great, but at least it's quick - even biggest VM can be restored in couple minutes. And that issue with changes to backup could be easily solved with ZFS snapshots.