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VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager v5.1 Technical Presentation Scott Calvet Systems Engineer

ScottCalvet@VMware.com

Twitter: @Gr8VirtualScott

Blog: http://greatvirtualscott.com

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A little about me.

Customer for over 13 years

Industries Financial Software Support Publishing Insurance (Fortune 500)

Past Roles Help Desk Systems Admin Systems Engineer Systems Architect Regional IT Manager

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My Industry Certifications

XenApp, XenDesktop, XenServer

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vSphere Provides The Best Foundation For Disaster Recovery

Encapsulation: Simple Application Protection Entire system including application, OS, and data is stored

as virtual machine files

Entire system can be protected with data protection tools

Hardware-Independence: Flexible Infrastructure Eliminate need for identical hardware across sites Enable waterfalling of equipment to recovery site

Consolidation: Cost-Efficient Infrastructure Reduced hardware requirements at recovery site Use recovery hardware to run low-priority apps

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vCenter Site Recovery Manager Ensures Simple, Reliable DR

Provide cost-efficient replication of applications to failover site

Built-in vSphere Replication Broad support for storage-based replication

Simplify management of recovery and migration plans

Replace manual runbooks with centralized recovery plans

From weeks to minutes to set up new plan Automate failover and migration processes for reliable recovery

Enable frequent non-disruptive testing Ensure fast, automated failover Automate failback processes

Site Recovery Manager Complements vSphere to provide the simplest and most reliable disaster protection and site migration for all applications

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Key Components Of SRM 5

Storage

Servers

VMware vSphere

vCenter Server Site

Recovery Manager

Virtual Machines

Site Recovery Manager Manages recovery plans

Automates failovers and failbacks Tightly integrated with vCenter and replication

Storage-Based Replication (3rd party) Provided by replication vendor Integrated via replication adapters created,

certified and supported by replication vendor

vSphere Replication Part of vSphere platform

Replicates virtual machines between vSphere clusters

Choice of replication options

Required at both protected and recovery sites

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vSphere

SRM Architecture with vSphere Replication

Protected Site Recovery Site

SRM Plug-In SRM Plug-In

Storage

SRM Server SRM Server

Storage

(VR Appliance)

vSphere Client vSphere Client

vSphere

vRA vRA

VMFS VMFS

Storage VMFS VMFS

vCenter Server vCenter Server

vSphere

vRA

vSphere

NFC

vSphere

NFC

VR Appliance

VR Appliance

Replication

SRA SRA

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Storage Replication Adapters (SRAs): Discover arrays Determine which LUNs are replicated Assist in initiating tests, recovery Other SRA capabilities

Reprotect Synchronization Planned Migration

64 bit SRM 5.1 will require new SRAs

SRM Compatibility Matrix:http://www.vmware.com/pdf/srm_storage_partners.pdf

SRM Server

SRA

Vendor Management

Interface

Array Manager

Array Manager

Replication Manager

SRA

Vendor Management

Interface

Array Array Array

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Storage Array Integration

SRAs show detailed storage specific data in the SRM GUI

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vSphere Replication part of the platform

Virtual machines can be replicated

irrespective of underlying storage

type

Enables replication between

heterogeneous datastores

Replication is managed as a

property of a virtual machine

Efficient replication minimizes impact on VM workloads

SRM can use either the integrated software replication or storage based

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vSphere Replication UI

Select VMs to replicate from

within the vSphere client by right-click

options

Can configure for an individual VM, or

multiple VMs simultaneously!

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vSphere Replication Traffic

Deltas (TCP 44046) Normal mode of operation sends only changed blocks to the replica site Changed blocks accumulate in a redo log

Full Sync (TCP 31031) Read disks, exchange checksums Used to establish the initial state Also used for recovery from errors or if an unusual state is detected Ensures traffic isolation Ensures data synchronization checks do not impact replication

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Quiescent Applications with vSphere Replication

Integrates with VSS and application writers for consistent applications!

VSS writer integration

Improved since 1st VR with SRM

Works via VMware Tools

]

Create quiescent copies of virtual machines including apps!

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Architecture Storage Impact Protection Groups

Datastore Group 1

LUN 1

PG 1 - EMail

PG 2 - SQL

.vmdk files in

separate

datastores PG3 - SharePoint

LUN 4

LUN 5 VMFS D

Datastore Group 3

PG 1 EMail PG 2 SQL

PG3 SharePoint

Recovery Plan 2 (Entire Site)

Protected Site Recovery Site

Datastore VMFS A

LUN 2

LUN 3

Datastore Group 2

Datastore

VMFS B Datastore

VMFS C Datastore

PG 1 - EMail

Recovery Plan 1 (Email)

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Storage Impact Granular DR Testing and Failover

Recovery Plan 3 (Entire Site)

Recovery Plan 2 (SQL)

Recovery Plan 1 (EMail) Group VMs on disk by application, service, business unit, etc. - create a recovery plan for each group.

Test or fail over only what is necessary i.e. Not all or nothing

SRM provides granular testing of disaster recovery plans

Intelligent organization of your

storage will enable this!

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Workflows

Planned Migration

Allows for a data synchronization as part of the process

Will stop on errors and allow you to resolve them before continuing

DR Event Allows for a data synchronization as part of the process

Will not stop on errors

Test Recovery

Allows for a data synchronization as part of the process

Supports a recovery that uses a different network

Uses a clone or snapshot for the test

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Workflows continued

Reprotect Can be run following a successful recovery

Reverses the direction of replication, and protects virtual machines back to the original site.

This enables a failback to recover the environment back to the primary site.

Cleanup This is done following a test recovery

Removes the snapshot or clone created during the test

Powers off and deletes test VMs

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Use Cases

Recover from unexpected

site failure

Full or partial site failure

The most critical but least frequent use-case

Unexpected site failures do not happen often

When they do, fast recovery is critical to the business

Anticipate potential datacenter outages

For example: in case of planned hurricane, floods,

forced evacuation, etc.

Initiate preventive failover for smooth migration

Graceful shutdown of VMs at protected site

Leverage SRM planned migration capability to

ensure no data-loss

Most frequent SRM use case

Planned datacenter maintenance

Global load balancing

Ensure smooth site migrations

Test to minimize risk

Execute partial failovers Use SRM planned migration

to minimize data-loss

Automated Failback enables bi-directional migrations

Unplanned Failover Preventive Failover Planned Migration

3 typical

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Additional Use Cases Upgrade, Patch Testing

Storage Array Replication

Protected Site Recovery Site Test

Replication not impacted

Isolated Test

Network

Copy of production

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Risk With Infrequent DR Plan Testing

Parallel and cutover tests provide the best verification, but very resource intensive and time consuming.

Cutover tests are disruptive, may take days to complete and leaves the business at risk

Unproven Recoverability

Time DR Test DR Test

Changes to A

pplications &

Infrastructu

re Configur

ation

TESTING GAP

Recovery Risk

IT Environment without Virtualization & DR Automation

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Frequent DR Testing Reduces Risk

Increased confidence that the plan will work Recovery can be tested at anytime without impact to production

SRM provides frequent testing of recovery plans

Virtualization & DR Automation Greatly Reduce Recovery Risk

Recovery Risk

DR Test DR Test

Frequent DR Testing

Time

Virtualization + DR Automation

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Testing a Recovery Plan storage layer

Storage Array Replication

Protected Site Recovery Site

Replication not impacted Isolated

Test Network

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Testing a Recovery Plan

VMs are ready to be used now

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Planned Migration

Will shutdown protected VMs, and

than synchronize them!

Will stop on errors and