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--- title: Architecture – Migration considerations with VMware HCX description: Learn about VMware HCX migration considerations for Azure VMware Solution. author: rvandenbedem ms.author: rvandenbedem ms.topic: concept-article ms.service: azure-vmware ms.date: 1/15/2026 ms.custom: engagement-fy24 # Customer intent: As a cloud architect, I want to understand the VMware HCX migration options for Azure VMware Solution, so that I can choose the most suitable migration method that balances downtime and scale for our virtual machine migration. --- # VMware HCX migration considerations VMware HCX offers five options with the HCX Enterprise Edition license when migrating VMware vSphere virtual machines to the Azure VMware Solution: - Cold Migration - HCX vMotion - Bulk Migration - Replication Assisted vMotion - OS Assisted Migration The cost of the VMware HCX Enterprise Edition license is included in the cost of the Azure VMware Solution service. ## VMware HCX migration options Each of these options has different advantages and disadvantages when used. You need to select the best options for your migration plan. | **Migration Method** | **Migration Downtime** | **Scale** | | :-- | :-- | :-- | | Cold Migration | Long downtime | VM copy with Network File Copy (NFC) protocol, small scale | | HCX vMotion | None | Serial migrations, small scale | | Bulk Migration | Minimal downtime | VM shutdown (source site)/VM power-on (destination site), Parallel migrations, largest scale | | Replication Assisted vMotion (RAV) | None | Parallel migrations, larger scale | | OS Assisted Migration (OSAM) | Conversion downtime | Hyper-V and KVM workload migrations | ## VMware HCX architecture The Azure VMware Solution deploys VMware HCX as an Add-On. A VMware HCX Service Mesh is used to connect two sites together, including a Layer 2 network extension, which allows VMware vSphere virtual machines to be migrated from the on-premises site to the Azure VMware Solution private cloud. :::image type="content" source="media/concepts/vmware-hcx-migration-concepts.png" alt-text="Diagram showing the architecture of VMware HCX with the Azure VMware Solution." border="false" lightbox="media/concepts/vmware-hcx-migration-concepts.png"::: ## Next Steps After learning about the VMware HCX migration considerations of the Azure VMware Solution, consider exploring the following articles: - [Create an HCX network extension](configure-hcx-network-extension.md) - [HCX Network extension high availability (HA)](configure-hcx-network-extension-high-availability.md) - [Enable HCX access over the internet](enable-hcx-access-over-internet.md) - [Upgrade HCX on Azure VMware Solution](upgrade-hcx-azure-vmware-solutions.md) - [Use VMware HCX Run Commands](use-hcx-run-commands.md) - [Migrate a SQL Server standalone instance to Azure VMware Solution](migrate-sql-server-standalone-cluster.md) - [Migrate a SQL Server Always On Failover Cluster Instance to Azure VMware Solution](migrate-sql-server-failover-cluster.md) - [Migrate a SQL Server Always On Availability Group to Azure VMware Solution](migrate-sql-server-always-on-availability-group.md)