While you can use vMotion with the vSphere client to migrate VMs between your on-premises data center and your SDDCs, use of an automation solution like PowerCLI or the vSphere APIs becomes increasingly necessary as the number of migrated VMs grows. There's no formal definition of how many VMs constitute a "bulk" migration, but for most cases, assume that if you can't count the VMs on the fingers of one hand, a bulk migration solution is appropriate.
To implement bulk migration, you can use command-line (PowerShell) or API automation, described in the Multicloud Workload Migration whitepaper. For additional GUI and REST API options, download the Cross vCenter Workload Migration Utility.
Summary of Supported Configurations
The following table summarizes the supported configurations for hybrid bulk migration.
| On-premises vSphere Version | Network Connectivity | VDS version on-premises |
|---|---|---|
| vSphere 5.0, 5.1, 5.5, 6.0, and 6.5 | Internet or AWS Direct Connect and L2 VPN created through HCX | Any VMware Distributed Switch, vSphere standard switch, or Cisco Nexus 1000v |
