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Deploy-First Architecture (Carbonite Migrate)

Agent-based OS-level replication from Nutanix source VMs into pre-provisioned Azure Local VMs.

Architecture model

Deploy-First with Carbonite Migrate follows a direct source-to-target replication model. The target VM already exists on Azure Local when replication begins. Carbonite agents installed on both endpoints handle all changed-block tracking and replication without any hypervisor-layer dependency.

Component diagram

Deploy-First Carbonite architecture

Draw.io source: 04-deploy-first-architecture-detailed.drawio

Architecture components

Component Role
Nutanix AHV source VM Running production workload; Carbonite source agent installed
Carbonite Migrate agent (source) Tracks and replicates changed blocks to the target
Azure Local target VM Pre-provisioned before migration starts; Carbonite target agent installed
Carbonite Migrate agent (target) Receives and applies replicated blocks from the source
Carbonite management server Central console for job creation, monitoring, and cutover orchestration

Data flow

Nutanix AHV source VM
  └── Carbonite source agent
        └── TCP 6325/6326
              └── Carbonite target agent
                    └── Azure Local target VM
  1. Initial mirror — Full block-level copy from source to target (runs once, typically during off-hours)
  2. Continuous replication — Changed blocks replicated in near real-time; source remains live throughout
  3. Cutover — Source writes stopped, final delta applied, workload execution transferred to target

Key differences from two-hop paths

Dimension Veeam / HYCU / Commvault Deploy-First (Carbonite)
Intermediate staging layer Yes (Hyper-V host) No — direct source to Azure Local
Azure Migrate required Yes (Hop 2) No
Hypervisor API dependency Yes No — agent-based only
Target VM created before migration Not typically Yes — always
Replication model Snapshot / image Continuous changed-block

Carbonite Migrate capabilities

Capability Detail
Replication model Continuous OS-level changed-block replication
Supported OS Windows Server (all modern versions), Linux distributions
Hypervisor dependency None
Network requirement TCP 6325 and 6326 between source and target agents
Cutover model Final sync + workload transfer; source VM held for rollback
Re-IP capability Supported during or after cutover via Carbonite cutover settings

Diagram references