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.
You can also use Advanced Cross vCenter vMotion to migrate workloads from your on-premises environments to your cloud environments. With Advanced Cross vCenter vMotion, you can move or clone workloads across vCenter Server systems in different vCenter Single Sign-On domains. For more information, see Export or Clone a Virtual Machine in the vCenter Server and Host Management guide.
Summary of Supported Configurations
| On-premises vSphere Version | Network Connectivity | VDS version on-premises |
|---|---|---|
| vSphere 5.0, 5.1, 5.5, 6.0, and 6.5 | Internet | Any VMware Distributed Switch, vSphere standard switch, or Cisco Nexus 1000v |
