The scenario requires a live migration (no downtime) of a virtual machine to a new cluster that does not share the same storage. This necessitates a combined operation. A standard vMotion migrates the active compute state (CPU and memory) but requires shared storage. Storage vMotion migrates the virtual disk files but does not change the host. By performing a vMotion with Storage vMotion, both the compute resource and the storage location are changed simultaneously in a single, non-disruptive operation. This is also known as a "shared-nothing" migration and is the only method that satisfies all the stated constraints.

A. A standard vMotion only moves the compute resource. It will fail because the destination cluster cannot access the VM's datastore, as shared storage is a requirement.

B. A backup and restore process inherently involves downtime, either during the backup or the restore/cutover phase, which violates the "no downtime" requirement.

D. This statement is incorrect because the required technology to perform this move exists within vSphere, as described in the correct answer.

1. VMware vSphere 6.0 Documentation

vCenter Server and Host Management Guide

Page 219

Section: "Migration of a Virtual Machine to a New Compute Resource and Storage".

The document states

"You can use vMotion and Storage vMotion in a single operation to migrate virtual machines to a different compute resource and a different datastore simultaneously." This directly describes the required action.

2. VMware vSphere White Paper

"vSphere vMotion Architecture

Performance and Best Practices in VMware vSphere 6.0"

Page 10

Section 3.2: "Migration of Both Compute and Storage".

This section details the process: "VMware vSphere 5.1 introduced the ability to combine a vSphere vMotion migration with a vSphere Storage vMotion migration... This type of migration is often referred to as a shared-nothing migration because of the minimal infrastructure requirements."

3. VMware vSphere 6.5 Documentation

vCenter Server and Host Management Guide

Page 243

Section: "Conditions and Limitations for vMotion".

Under the requirements for migrating a virtual machine to a different vCenter Server instance

it implicitly supports the scenario by outlining network and storage migration capabilities

stating you can "Move the virtual machine to a new storage location." This confirms the feature's existence in the relevant product version.