Protection for All - vSphere Replication & SRM

Technical Update

Lee Dilworth, VMware

Ken Werneburg, VMware

BCO5129

#BCO5129

2

Disclaimer

This presentation may contain product features that are currently

under development.

This overview of new technology represents no commitment from

VMware to deliver these features in any generally available

product.

Features are subject to change, and must not be included in

contracts, purchase orders, or sales agreements of any kind.

Technical feasibility and market demand will affect final delivery.

Pricing and packaging for any new technologies or features

discussed or presented have not been determined.

This information is confidential

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Regional Accent Disclaimer

Ken and Lee have accents! Sorry

Terminology we will be using

• SRM (Site Recovery Manager)

• ABR (Array Based Replication)

• VR (vSphere Replication)

• VRMS (vSphere Replication Management Server)

• VRS (vSphere Replication Server)

• SVR (Standalone vSphere Replication i.e. NO SRM involved)

For vSphere Replication internals see:

• BCO4977: VMware vSphere Replication - Technical walk-through with

engineering

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Agenda for Today

Introduction

vSphere Replication (VR) Recap

VR Use Cases

Site Recovery Manager (SRM) Recap

FAQ

What’s New

Wrap Up

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2013+

Availability Timeline

2008

SRM 4.x + ABR

SRM 5.0 + ABR

SRM 5.5 + ABR

VR 5.0 (SRM Only)

SRM 1.x + ABR

VR/SRM & SVR 5.1

VR/SRM & SVR 5.5

SRM 5.1 + ABR

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vSphere Replication Recap

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vSphere Replication

Included with vSphere Essentials Plus and higher

Per VM, async replication

Replication at the VMDK level

Fully integrated with vCenter / ESXi 5.x

Use cases with AND without SRM

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vSphere Replication Appliance

Single Appliance to download

• Same appliance used in SRM and non-SRM

deployments

• Initial instance performs two roles

Role 1 - vSphere Replication

Management Server (VRMS)

• Configuration management

• Only one appliance per site performs role

• Warning if attempt to configure >1 per site

Role 2 - vSphere Replication Server

(VRS)

• Manages replica instances

• One or more per site (up to 10 max)

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Simple Deployment

Deploy and configure VR components

Pair components with vCenter

Configure VM for replication*

* Will need to define RPO, Target Datastore, Target Folder or Resource pool

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Configuring vSphere Replication

VR replication is configured

per VM in vCenter

Selectable RPO from 15 min up to 24

hours

Selectable destination

datastore (per virtual disk)

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Four Steps for Full Recovery

Right-click, select “Recover”

Select a target folder

Select a target resource

Click Finish

Will validate your choices as you go

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vSphere Replication Use Cases

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vSphere Replication Standalone

Local site replica

• Singe site copy

• Works with single vCenter

Remote office / Branch office

• Support for single vCenter

• Support for single VR appliance

Replication between sites

• Each site own vCenter

• Replicate in either direction

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Local Site Replica

vCenter Server

ESXi

NFC

VRA

ESXi

NFC

VRA

ESXi

NFC

VRA

Storage Storage

VMDK1 (VMDK1)

VR

Appliance

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Replication Across Sites

ESXi

NFC

VRA

ESXi

NFC

VRA

ESXi

NFC

VRA

Storage Storage

(VMDK1)

ESXi

NFC

VRA

ESXi

NFC

VRA

ESXi

NFC

VRA

VR

Appliance VR

Appliance

Storage Storage

VMDK1

vCenter Server vCenter Server

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Remote Office Branch Office (ROBO)

Storage Storage

VMDK1

ESXi

NFC

VRA

ESXi

NFC

VRA

ESXi

NFC

VRA

ESXi

NFC

VRA

Storage

VMDK3

(VMDK1)

Bra

nch

1

Bra

nch

2

(VMDK2)

(VMDK3)

ESXi

NFC

VRA

Storage

VMDK2

VR

Appliance vCenter Server

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Site Recovery Manager (SRM) - Recap

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Replication

SRM

Add-on solution for vSphere

Primary use case Disaster Recovery

Support for Planned, Non-disruptive Test and Failback Migrations

Remove need for scripts / manual runbooks

Reduce risk moving or failing workloads between sites

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Key Components Of SRM

Replication SRM Server

One vCenter Server

(Windows or VCVA) per

site, same versions

One SRM Server per

site, same versions

vSphere hosts,

recommend same

versions per site (pre

vSphere 5.x only if using

array replication)

vSphere Essentials Plus and higher editions supported

vCenter Server

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SRM Replication Options

SRM can utilize BOTH array

based AND vSphere Replication

SRM will “see” existing

standalone vSphere Replication

protected VMs

SRM can install vSphere

Replication from scratch if

needed

Hub LUN 2

Web

Multi-tier App

DB

App

vSphere Replication

Storage-based Replication

LUN 1

Web

DB

App

Multi-tier App

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Recovery Workflows

Failover Automation

• User defined recovery plan

• Minimize errors

Non-disruptive Failover Testing

• Isolated test environment

• Increase confidence in DR process

Planned Migration

• Zero data loss

• Operational migration

Failback Automation

• Re-protect VM’s, migrate back

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FAQ

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What Use Is vSphere Replication without SRM?

Disaster Recovery for smaller environments

ESXi

NFC

VRA

Storage

VMDK3 (VMDK3)

VR

Appliance

Individual VM recovery

Local & Intra site replication implementations

Location migration requirements

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Ok… so What Do We Miss out on if We Decide Not to Use SRM?

Failover / Migration Workflow Automation

Non-disruptive Failover Testing

Customizable Orchestration

Built-in Reporting / Alerting & Customization

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Why is vSphere Replication Not Using All Available Bandwidth?

Built for “Full” host scheduling

VM replication optimized per VMDK

• TransferDiskMaxBufferCount & TransferDiskMaxExtentCount

Current implementation scales effectively, many VMs, many VMDKs

Not ideal for single high churn use case, stay tuned

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Workloads NOT Suitable for vSphere Replication?

Shared inter-site components

vCenter Server

High Churn & VSS

Inter-VM write order fidelity

Zero RPO

Unsupported

AD, DNS, LDAP

• Typically shared across sites

Official solution, “Heartbeat”

• Could be done, unsupported

Usually = aggressive RPO

• VSS Quiescence time overhead

Array Based Consistency

Groups

VR Range is 15min-24hrs

• Use array replication < 15min

Check release notes!

• pRDMs, multi-writer VMDK’s etc.

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Can I Use Array Replication and vSphere Replication Together?

Yes, but NOT on the same VM!!!

Typical use case is protection

“service” levels i.e.

• Tier 1 (RPO < 15min) – array

• Tier 2 (RPO > 15min) – VR

Do not place VR VM in array

replicated datastore

VM cannot belong to >1

protection group

• Why? If failover attempted other

protection groups would be

invalidated

Hub LUN 2

Web

DB

App

vSphere Replication

LUN 1

Web

DB

App

Array Based Replication

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What’s New?

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Protected Site Storage vMotion Now Supported

Storage vMotion

Manually migrate VMs or use Storage DRS to ease management

Storage vMotion can now be used for protected virtual machines

Only protected site VMDKs can be migrated: recovery ‘shadow’

objects are fixed

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SDRS, sVmotion & Array Based Replication

LUN 1

LUN 2

SDRS or svmotion move between devices in same consistency group

(CG) supported

Protected VM state maintained

For clarity, group CG datastores in same datastore cluster

Array

Consistency

Group

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SDRS, sVmotion & vSphere Replication

LUN 1

LUN 2

Protected site SDRS or svmotion move between devices supported

Protected VM state maintained

Full sync resumes (not restarts) if interrupted by svmotion or

SDRS move

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vSAN + vSphere Replication

vSAN vSAN

vSphere Replication

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vSphere Replication Appliances

vSphere 5.1

• vSphere Replication Standalone = 1 x VR Appliance per vCenter

• With SRM 5.1 user able to deploy up to 10 x VR Appliance per vCenter

vSphere 5.5

• vSphere Replication Standalone = Up to 10 VR Appliances per vCenter

• vSphere Replication Standalone, new topology support

• With SRM 5.5, limit still same, 10 x VR Appliance per vCenter

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vSphere Replication Appliance Increase - Advantage for ROBO

Storage Storage VMDK1

ESXi

NFC

VRA

ESXi

NFC

VRA

ESXi

NFC

VRA

ESXi

NFC

VRA

Storage

VMDK3

(VMDK1)

Bra

nch

1

Bra

nch

2

(VMDK3)

ESXi

NFC

VRA

Storage

VMDK2

VR

Appliance

(VMDK2)

VR

Appliance

VR

Appliance

vCenter Server

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Multi Point-In-Time Recovery (MPIT)

ESXi

VRA

Protected VM Current Replica

N - 1

N - 2

N - 3

Retention of multiple points in time allows reversion to earlier known good states

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MPIT Configuration

Retention policy is specified during configuration of replication

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MPIT Presented as VM Snapshots after Failover

Use the snapshot manager to revert to earlier points

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MPIT Details

Retention “slots” differ from “replication instances”

Example:

• RPO = 4 Hours

• Retention Policy = 3 instances for past 1 day(s)

time

0:00 8:00 16:00 0:00 slots

instances 23:57 3:44 12:38 16:34 20:28

instance expires latest instance

Most recent complete instance is *always* preserved.

Most recent *might* be the second instance in the slot.

(Ensures you can always failover to the most recent copy)

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MPIT Details

Example:

• RPO = 4 Hours

• Retention Policy = 3 instances for past 1 day(s)

time

0:00 8:00 16:00 0:00 slots

instances 3:44 12:38 16:34 20:28

instance expires latest instance

The oldest instance in any given retention slot is preserved,

as is the most recent replication.

0:28

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Wrap Up

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What Have We Covered?

vSphere Replication

• Recap of vSphere Replication and how to use it

Use Cases

• Options for implementation

• How to use vSphere Replication Standalone or with SRM

Site Recovery Manager

• Recap of current SRM product set and requirements

FAQs

• Understanding of most common field questions

What’s New

• New features and topology support in SRM and vSphere Replication 5.5

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Other VMware Activities Related to This Session

HOL:

HOL-SDC-1305

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery In Action

Group Discussions:

BCO1003-GD

Disaster Recovery and Replication with Ken Wernebur

BCO5129

THANK YOU

Protection for All - vSphere Replication & SRM

Technical Update

Lee Dilworth, VMware

Ken Werneburg, VMware

BCO5129

#BCO5129