Site Recovery Manager 6.1Overview and Technical Walkthru

GS Khalsa

Technical Marketing, Storage & Availability

About This PresentationAuthor(s) Technical Marketing – GS Khalsa & Ken Werneburg

Title and General description

Site Recovery Manager 6.1 Technical Overview

Distribution and Audience type

Internal, External, Partner, Customer. This deck is designed to be a deep dive on SRM 6.1. This is considerably longer than required for most presentations as it is designed to be fairly exhaustive. For most sales conversations this deck should be dramatically shortened, and should be used in its entirety only for a longer session exploring the technology of Site Recovery Manager.For further SRM information please visit the Vault and look for the SRM Overview deck as well as the SRM offline demo.

Primary target audience

Technical: Server team (managers, directors, VI Admin), BC/DR teams.

Technical level High

Time required to present

90+ minutes

Date updated September 17, 2015

Agenda• Overview• Architecture• Topologies• Deployment and Configuration• Replication• Protection • Recovery• Workflows

Overview

VMware Site Recovery Manager

vSphere

vCenter Server Site RecoveryManager vCenter Server Site Recovery

Manager

vSphere

Production Site Recovery Site

Servers ServersArray-basedreplication

vSphereReplication

• Centralized recovery plans for 1000’s of VMs• Non-disruptive recovery testing• Automated DR workflows • Integrated with the VMware product stack• Eliminates complexity and risk of manual

processes• Enables fast and highly predictable RTOs• Provides policy-driven DR control for any

virtualized app

Transforms Management of Recovery And Migration Plans

v Weeks or months to set up recovery plans

v Unstructured and manual makes them error-prone

v Quickly fall out of sync with infrastructure changes

ü Simple set up in minutes

ü Software-defined workflows eliminate errors

ü Simple to update and keep in sync with changes

From Complex Runbooks… …to Simple Recovery Plans

Terminology

7

RPO - Recovery Point Objective

RTO - Recovery Time Objective

Last Viable Restore Point

All Functionality Recovered

Disaster Strikes

Architecture

Replication

9

•SRM is not a replication solution•SRM monitors and interacts with replication solutions

•Choice of replication options•vSphere Replication/Host Based Replication

•Array Based Replication

OS

DataApp

OS

DataApp

SAN Virtual SAN

vSphere Replication

Only changes are replicated

OS

DataApp

OS

DataApp

Site Recovery Manager Architecture

vSphere Web Client

SRM Plugin

SRM Server

vSphere

vSphere Web Client

SRM Plugin

SRM Server

vSphere

Array Replication

vCenter ServerLinked ModeSRA

Storage Storage

SRASSOPSC

vCenterServer

SSOPSC

vCenterServer

vSphere Replication

Protected Site Recovery Site

VR Appliance VR Appliance

Use Cases and Topologies

Disaster Recovery• Least frequent but most-critical use case

• Ensures fastest RTO

12

PROTECTED SITE RECOVERY SITE

Disaster Avoidance• Ensures app-consistency and zero data loss

• Zero downtime if used with stretched storage

• Proactive, controlled workflow

13

PROTECTED SITE RECOVERY SITE

Planned Migration• Most common use case• Frequent on-ramp for SRM• Enables data center maintenance and

global load balancing

14

SITE A SITE B

Active-Passive Failover

15

RecoveryProduction

•Dedicated resources for recovery•Most common•Paying for idle resources

Active-Active Failover

16

RecoveryProduction

•Run low-priority apps on recovery infrastructure•Shutdown low-priority apps as part of recovery

Bi-directional Failover

17

ProductionProduction

•Production applications at both sites•Each site acts as the recovery site for the other

Multi-Site Failover

18

SRM VC

Remote Office A

SRMVC

Main Data Center

SRM

SRM

SRM VC

Remote Office B

SRM VC

Remote Office C

SRMVC

Site B

SRM SRMVC

Site C

SRM

SRMVC

Site A

SRM

• One to One pairing of SRM servers

• Each VM only protected once

• Each VM only replicated once

• Utilize enhanced linked mode

Stretched Storage & Orchestrated vMotion

19

ProductionProduction

•Production apps at both sites with seamless mobility across sites•Zero downtime for planned events•Typically limited to a Metro distance (less than 100 km)

Stretched Storage

Deployment

Site Recovery Manager Concepts

Recovery Plans

SRM Server

Networks, Folders, Resources, Storage Policies, Placeholder

Datastores

SRM Server

One or more Protection Groups

Protection Groups

vCenterServer

vCenterServer

Protected Site Recovery Site

Site PairingMapping

Protection Groups

Resources: Networks, Folders, Resource

Pools, Storage Policies

Recovery Plans

Groups of VMs Recovered Together

Replication

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

– Reprotect– Synchronization– Planned Migration

• 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

ArrayArray Array

Storage Array Integration

Storage Array Integration

vSphere Replication Overview• Per-VM, host-based replication

• Network-efficient by replicating only changed data

• Included with vSphere Essentials Plus and higher editions

25

OS

DataApp

OS

DataApp

SAN Virtual SAN

vCenter Server

vSphereReplication

Only changes are replicated

OS

DataApp

OS

DataApp

vSphere Replication Features and Benefits• Easy virtual appliance deployment

– Minimal time investment, no hardware procurement

• Integration with vSphere Web Client– Ease of administration and monitoring

• Protect any VM regardless of OS and apps– One solution reduces complexity and cost

26

OS

Data

App

vSphere Replication Features and Benefits• Flexible recovery point objective (RPO) policies

– Supports a wide variety of business requirements

• Compatible with Virtual SAN, SAN, NAS, local storage– One solution reduces complexity and cost

• Quick recovery for individual VMs– Reduces downtime, minimizes resource requirements

27

vSphere Replication Features and Benefits• End-to-end network compression

– Further reduces bandwidth requirements

• Network traffic isolation– Control bandwidth, improve performance, security

• Windows VSS and Linux file system quiescing– Increased reliability when recovering VMs

28

Management

Replication WAN

LAN

vSphere Replication Overview• Reliable: Protecting thousands of VMs since 2011

• Efficient: WAN-friendly replication with compression

• Value: Included with vSphere Essentials Plus Kit and higher

• Easy: Virtual appliance deployment, vSphere Web Client management

29

OS

DataApp

OS

DataApp

SAN Virtual SAN

vCenter Server

vSphereReplication

Only changes are replicated

OS

DataApp

OS

DataApp

Protection

Protection Groups• Group of VMs that will be recovered together

– Application– Department– System type– Or ?

• Different depending on replication type

• A VM can only belong to one Protection Group

CONFIDENTIAL 31

ProtectionGroup

vSphere Replication Protection Groups • Group VMs as desired into Protection Groups

• What storage they are located on doesn’t matter

CONFIDENTIAL 32

Protection Group 1 – Web App Protection Group 2 – Email

Protection Group 3 – SharePoint

Array Based Protection Groups

33

Consistency Group Protection Group 1 – Web AppLUN 1

Protection Group 2 – Email

Protection Group 3 – SharePoint

Datastore A

LUN 2

Datastore B

LUN 3

Datastore C

LUN 4

Datastore D

LUN 5

Datastore F

Storage Policy-Based Protection Groups

CONFIDENTIAL 34

Profile Driven Protection Group

• Policy Driven Protection

• New Style Protection Group leveraging storage profiles

• High level of automation compared to traditional protection groups

• Policy based approach reduces OpEx

• Simpler integration of VM provisioning, migration, and decommissioning

Storage Policy

Recovery

Protection Groups fit into Recovery Plans

CONFIDENTIAL 36

Protection Group 1 – Web App

Protection Group 2 – Email

Protection Group 3 – SharePoint

Protection Group 1 – Web App

Protection Group 2 – Email

Protection Group 3 – SharePoint

Recovery Plan 2 - Email

Protection Group 2 – Email

Recovery Plan 3 – Whole Site

Recovery Plan 1 – Web App

Protection Group 1 – Web App

Priorities and Dependencies UI

37

Priority Group 5

Priority Group 4

Priority Group 3

Priority Group 2

Priority Group 1

Desktop

Desktop

Desktop

Desktop

Apache

Apache

Mail Sync

Exchange

App Server 2

App Server 1Database

Priorities and Dependencies

Master Database

Dep

ende

ncy

VM IP Customization• IP Subnet Mapping

– Ability to map entire subnets rather than individual addresses

39

Shutdown & Startup Actions• Can be customized for each VM

40

Pre and post power on steps

41

• Script or Prompt

• Can be run on – Recovered VM– SRM server

Workflows

Workflows for Recovery Plans

• Recovery– Planned Migration– Disaster Recovery

• Reprotect

• Test

• Cleanup

Replication

Running a Recovery Plan – Planned Migration or Disaster RecoveryProtected Site Recovery Site• Synchronize storage

• Power off VMs

• Synchronize storage again

• Break replication

• Mount datastores to hosts at Recovery Site

• Power off non-critical VMs at Recovery Site (optional)

• Power on VMs

Differences between Planned Migration & Disaster Recovery

• Planned Migration Mode§ Allows for a data synchronization as part of the process§ Will stop on errors and allow you to resolve them before continuing§ Since it shut’s down the virtual machines being migrated, application consistent VM’s are recovered on

the recovery side

• Disaster Recovery Mode§ Allows for a data synchronization as part of the process§ Will not stop on errors§ If the protected site is available, than the virtual machines being migrated will be application consistent

at the recovery side. § If the protected site is not available the consistency state will be what was designed in the solution

45

Failback is a process of “Reverse Recovery”

Reliable and automated for

both ABR and VR

Easily return environments to

the primary production site

Failback – continued• After a reprotect, replication now goes in reverse – to the protected side

Testing a Recovery PlanProtected Site Recovery Site

Replication

not impacted

Isolated Test Network

Snapshot

• Entirely non-disruptive to production VMs and replication

• Allows for data synchronization as part of the process

• Supports a recovery that uses a different network

• Uses a clone or snapshot

Steps:

• Replicate storage (optional)

• Snapshot VM or Storage

• Mount snapshot to hosts

• Power on VMs

Cleaning up a Test Recovery• Run after testing is complete

• Steps:

• Power off VMs

• Remove VMs from inventory

• Delete snapshot

• Following cleanup, no test resources are in use at the recovery site

• Test or recovery is now ready to be run

History Reports• Each workflow operation has an associated history report

History Reports - continued

History Reports - continued

Additional Resources• Hands on Lab

• SRM Technical Overview

• SRM Evaluation Guide

• Product Documentation

• Trial Licenses

• VMTN Community Forums

• SRM FAQ

CONFIDENTIAL 53

Supplemental

Recovery Plan Steps• Are all the steps that need to be taken to recover

• Pre-sync storage – to reduce downtime

• Shutdown VMs – to ensure no data loss

• Sync storage – to get latest data

• Power On VMs - in desired sequence

• VMs can be left shutdown as part of recovery

56

Multi-site UI

CONFIDENTIAL 57

Advanced – IP Customization

Forced Recovery (Introduced in 5.0.1)

VMware vSphere

VMwarevCenter Server

Site RecoveryManager

VMwarevCenter Server

Site RecoveryManager

VMware vSphere

Site A (Primary) Site B (Recovery)

Servers Servers

??

Avoid delays to RTO when protected site is inconsistent

Testing a Recovery Plan

Testing a Recovery Plan

VM’s are ready to be used now

All Paths Down Handling

VMFS

vSphere vSphere

VMFS

vSphere vSphere

Limits

CONFIDENTIAL 63

Maximum

Protected virtual machines total 5000

Simultaneously recoverable VMs 2000

Protected virtual machines in a single protection group 500

Protection groups 250

Simultaneous running recovery plans 10

vSphere Replicated virtual machines 2000

SDRS, sVmotion & Array Based Replication

• SRM + SDRS supported with heterogeneous datastore clusters– replicated and non-replicated– mix of consistency groups

• Protected VM state maintained

DatastoreCluster

CG

1C

G 2SDRS

SDRS

SDRS, sVmotion & vSphere Replication

LUN 1

LUN 2

• Protected or recovery site SDRS or svmotion move between devices supported

• Protected VM state maintained

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

Embedded vPostgres Database

• Provides alternate integrated and simplified installation option

• Supports any size SRM environment

CONFIDENTIAL 66

Enhanced topology support

SRMVC

Site A

Shared Site

VCSRM SRM

SRM VC

Site A

Enhanced topology support• Shared recovery site and shared protected site support

SRM VC

Remote Office A

SRMVC

Main Data Center

SRM

SRM

SRM VC

Remote Office B

SRM VC

Remote Office C

Enhanced topology support

Remote Office A

Remote Office B

Remote Office B

SRMVC

Shared DR Site

SRMVC

Site A

Remote OfficeSRM

Remote OfficeVC

SRM

Enhanced topology support

SRMVC

Site B

SRM SRMVC

Site C

SRM

SRMVC

Site A

SRM

SRM and VR Interop resolution

Point in time recovery is available in SRM when using vSphere Replication

SRM Advanced Settings dialog to instruct SRM to preserve/collapse MPIT images

vrReplication.preserveMpitImagesAsSnapshots

Preserved by default so set at both sites

Running a Recovery Plan

Recovery Plan