VMware Site Recovery Manager - Architecting a DR Solution - Best Practices

Editor's Notes

• #6: TEST Non Disruptive leaves source VMs up Spins up a snapshot of data at target site, so may impact performance at target site. May have duplicate IPs Test “Bubble” networks only validate SRM functionality, not good for a real test CLEANUP Wipes away snapshot & deltas, doesn’t save anything DESTROYS data RECOVERY Storage Sync Shutdown VMs Remove Storage Final Storage Sync Stops Replication Can revive suspended Hosts or Suspend/Pause VMs Presents writable storage to hosts Imports VMs (replaces placeholders) Powers on VMs In order to failback, must run Reprotect REPROTECT Reverses Storage Replication Also reverses Recovery Plan If IP change in use, flips Protected & Recovery site config to match new Recovery site
• #8: What apps should you protect? Business Critical Apps: Keep The [Business] Lights On (KTLO) Not everything will be needed in Disaster Recovery Apps: T0-3 Where Own a second datacenter for Active/Active? CoLo? – can downsize in Disaster to save costs Active/Active is best Vendor Microsoft = NO for DCs SQL = Log Shipping, Availability Groups SRM Separate Management Cluster All-In-One vs vCenter + SRM Still need supporting services for 5.1+: SSO, Inventory, DB, etc
• #9: IP Change GUI = 1:1 VM change – slow, hard to manage Dr-ip-customizer.exe – easier way to export ALL VMs, update CSV, re-Import No IP Change Extend VLAN - Dot1q tunneling Same IP Segment for SRM-Only VMs Separate for everything else Routing – same IP at both sites vs IP change Testing Isolate source? AD & DC data poisoning Separate networks for testing? Storage RecoverPoint doesn’t consolidate data during a test, Journal Log may fill up, Journal Image Access may fill up NetApp – consolidates snaps while in test
• #11: Documentation = Visio List all communication paths of all vCenter integrations. Minimum of two hosts in management cluster for HA & DRS SSO, vCenter, Web Client, Inventory, VUM, SRM, database, & SRA communication paths, ports Storage replication connectivity Size vCenters accordingly: Min simple “all-in-one” 2CPU, 12GB RAM, 60GB disk (without DB) vCenter by itself: 2CPU 4GB RAM Appliance is self-contained SSO, Inventory, Web Client, & vCenter Sizing Limitations (internal DB): 100 hosts, 3000 VMs Same as full vCenter with Oracle db Still need Windows server for SRM & VUM Okay to install SRM on same server as vCenter if sized properly SRM Min: 1CPU, 2GB of RAM, 5GB disk space
• #15: Get 3rd party certificates BEFORE installation CN = “SRM” SAN = server.fqdn extendedKeyUsage = serverAuth, clientAuth On 5.1, cannot use complex passwords, no special characters, check before deploying 5.5 SRA installations may require specific Java version, NetApp, for instance. vCenter “Administrator” role permissions are automatically propagated to SRM, anything else needs to be manually added Array Managers require user account with special permissions. Have to add Array Pair (source & target) and enable to discover replicated volumes, LUNs, Consistency Groups. NetApp import by export name “SRM”, EMC RPA by CG managed/Controlled by SRM Can adjust RPA Portion used image access, we set to 40% Protection Group is grouping of Datastores. Must have separate Protection Groups to failover different Apps or Tiers Datastore can be in only ONE Protection Group Protection group can be member of multiple Recovery Plans Can have multiple Recovery Plans, but Boot Priority is attribute of the VM within the Protection Group. If you change Boot Priority in one Recovery Plan, it will update it in ALL Recovery Plans Can set VM dependencies within same boot Priority group only. Can span Protection Groups, but must be in same Recovery Plan IP is Attribute of VM, only ONE IP per NIC, but DHCP, Subnet, GW, Alt GW, DNS & suffix, WINs for both Protected & Recovery sites Additional Options: Shutdown Action, Startup Action, delay for Post-Power On Action, Pre/Post Power-On Actions Pre-Power On = Script on SRM server or User Prompt Post-Power On = Script/Command on VM Guest OS, Script on SRM Server, or User Prompt
• #17: Adding a new Datastore – Volume or LUN must be a member of the replication set and visible in the Array Manager Adding VMs requires “Configure Protection” or “Configure All” Removing VMs requires “Remove Protection” Remove Datastore from Protection Group, remove from replication set, refresh Array Manager There is no migration from different SRM servers, no export of config, no backup outside of full database backup Only “migration” would be to build a new server and point to current database