INF-BCO1436 NEW vsphere Replication Enhancements & Best Practices Lee Dilworth, VMware, Inc. Rahul Ravulur, VMware, Inc. #vmworldinf
Disclaimer This session may contain product features that are currently under development. This session/overview of the 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. 2
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vsphere Replication (VR) recap Software based, asynchronous replication vsphere vsphere source target Virtual machines can be replicated regardless of the underlying storage Enables replication between heterogeneous datastores Replication is managed as a property of a virtual machine Efficient replication minimizes impact on VM workloads 4
So in summary we can say. Introduced with vsphere 5.0 in 2011 Only enabled IF Site Recovery Manager (SRM) 5.0 was used Proven track record in production with SRM Basis for almost all Cloud DR offerings (DR-as-a-Service) Minimal to no impact on running VM s 5
6 What has changed?
vsphere Replication Changes Integrated with vsphere 5.1 Included with most vsphere Editions Per-VM replication out of the box vsphere vsphere source target 7
So hang on does this mean We can use vsphere Replication without SRM? We can replicate (and recover) per VM? We can use with vsphere Essentials+ and above? We can use this in configurations with only one vcenter? Can we upgrade the environment to SRM later? 8
Use Cases Basic replication requirements only Remote/branch office recovery solution Local recovery solution One vcenter controlling small adjacent locations/offices Data Center migration / collapse projects 9
10 Using vsphere Replication
How it works 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 11
How it looks Single interface and common management Designed to integrate with other products Doesn t require console hopping 12
Configuring VR replication VR replication is configured per VM in vcenter Selectable RPO from 15 min up to 24 hours Selectable destination datastore (per virtual disk) 13
Configuring VR replication: Multiple VMs All VMs will have same settings (RPO etc.) 14
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 15
16 Architecture
Architecture Updates Simple and Flexible Quick Setup VR Appliance (OVA), download from vmware.com VR Appliance now performs management role AND server role (previously two unique appliances in 5.0) Deployment Flexibility ROBO use case: single VR Appliance & vcenter Two site use case: vcenter & VR Appliance per site Upgrade and Scalability Up to 500 protected VMs managed by single VR Appliance Existing vsphere Replication environments can be upgraded 17
Replication Between Two Sites Source Site vsphere Client Target Site vsphere Client VR Appliance vcenter Server vcenter Server VR Appliance NFC NFC Storage Storage VMDK1 VMDK2 (VMDK1) (VMDK2) 18
Replication for Remote Office Branch Offices (ROBO) Source Site vsphere Client Target Site vcenter Server VR Appliance NFC NFC Storage Storage VMDK1 VMDK2 (VMDK1) (VMDK2) 19
20 Replication Details
Consistency Point in time consistency Each VM has a set RPO Write order consistency across vmdk s within VM VR Filter inline Each replica is at worst crash consistent Immutability of target vmdk maintained at all times GuestOS quiescing via VSS available Improves OS recoverability Application level VSS quiescing available in 5.1 Flush application writes with VSS 21
Initial Copy WAN transfer alternative? User can provide initial copy seed Any out of band channel (e.g. datastore browser download) During VM configuration for VR, point wizard at pre-seeded files Reference vsphere Replication Admin Guide for more details 22
VR vscsi Filter & VR Agent VR vscsi Filter Runs in kernel Attached to the virtual device, intercepts all I/O to the disk Each replica corresponds to a lightweight snapshot Bitmap of changed blocks is maintained between replications (backed by on disk state file) VR Agent Runs in Host Agent Implements configuration of replication in primary site Manages VMs replication process Interposes on operations that impact replication vcenter VR Appliance VM VR Agent VR vscsi vsphere Filter vsphere vsphere 23
Replication Step 1 - initial full sync of source and target Compares disk IDs to avoid mismatches Calculates checksum of all blocks at source and target Exchanges and compares checksums to determine delta Replicates all changed blocks necessary to align VMDKs A B C D E A B C D E B D E Source Disk tcp/31031 Seed Disk 24
Replication Step 2 - Complete full sync, switch to deltas Switches to delta after first sync VR Agent tracks all changing blocks via vscsi filter Changed blocks replicated as per RPO A II B C I D I E A II B C I D I E A C D Source Disk tcp/44046 Target Disk Ongoing I/O not penalized when replication active Light-weight deltas (LWDs) not same as VM snapshots 25
Secondary Site Disk Layout in Detail (ongoing transfers) 2 A B C D E 1 Target VM Disk Folder Consistent Disk(s) LWD s Port 44046 3 Redo Log Current Disk Image Immutability of target disk preserved through redo log use 26
VR Sizing is highly variable! Per Protected VM Small CPU/Network/Disk utilization increases during initial sync Per Host running Protected VM s Small CPU/Network/Disk utilization increases during initial sync Steady state overhead is small CPU utilization increase Network overhead during RPO transfer windows WAN Replication traffic during initial syncs and steady state RPO transfers Traffic via well known ports (QoS usage) VR Server Appliance 500 protected VM s max supported with VR During initial sync VRS-to-NFC data traffic needs to be taken into account 27
VR Network Traffic is highly variable! Transfer time Dependent on transfer size and network pipe Size of data transfer / throughput = transfer time Based on change rate of data Unique data churn / number of transfers = average LWD size Size of data per transfer Number of transfers per day 1440 minutes per day / RPO in minutes Many unique customer-specific factors in determining bandwidth! 28
29 Example Use Cases
Simple replication between sites Each site has own vcenter Replicate VM s in either direction 30
Simple replication between sites (detail) Source Site vsphere Client Target Site vsphere Client VR Appliance vcenter Server vcenter Server VR Appliance NFC NFC Storage Storage VMDK1 VMDK2 (VMDK1) (VMDK2) 31
Local site replica Single vcenter Single VR Appliance Local may = Remote from you, simply connect to vcenter via WAN Fast VM recovery 32
Local site replica (detail different target host(s) & datastore) Source & Target Site vsphere Client VR Appliance vcenter Server NFC NFC Storage Storage VMDK1 VMDK2 (VMDK1) (VMDK2) 33
Local site replica (detail same target host(s) & datastore) Source & Target Site vsphere Client VR Appliance vcenter Server NFC NFC NFC VMDK1 Storage Storage (VMDK1) 34
Remote & Branch office protection Single vcenter at main site Single VR Appliance at main site 35
Remote & Branch office protection (detail) Target Site Remote Sites vsphere Client VR Appliance vcenter Server Storage VMDK2 VMDK3 NFC NFC NFC Storage Storage Storage VMDK1 (VMDK2) (VMDK3) (VMDK4) VMDK4 36
37 Moving to SRM
When to use Site Recovery Manager (SRM)? Scale Number of protected VM s has increased significantly Automation Need for greater automation in our DR solution Reliability Requirement to have automated non-disruptive testing, migration, failover and failback Customization Need ability to perform automated recovery customization (IP changes, Inter-VM dependencies, Custom callout scripts/steps) Application Support Need to have ability to create protected groups of VMs Repeatability Requirement for repeatable, built-in recovery plans to failover subsets of protected VMs or all protected VMs 38
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 Choice of replication options for SRM 39
vsphere Replication builds a foundation for SRM Common Functionality VR Appliance Filesystem/Application Quiescence SRM Specific Deploy multiple VR appliances per site for resiliency Full DR Orchestration Site A (Primary) VMware Site Recovery vcenter Server Manager VMware vsphere Servers Site B (Recovery) VMware Site Recovery vcenter Server Manager VMware vsphere Servers Grouping of protected VMs Built in recovery plans Recovery customization (Custom scripting, IP customization) Non-disruptive testing Full or partial failover workflows Support for array replication Audit Trail / Reporting API vsphere Replication is simply protection, SRM is disaster recovery 40
SRM 5.1 Architecture with vsphere Replication (VR) Protected Site vsphere Client SRM Plug-in Recovery Site vsphere Client SRM Plug-in SRM Server vcenter Server vcenter Server SRM Server VR Appliance VR Appliance NFC NFC Storage Storage VMFS VMFS VMFS VMFS 41
42 Summary
vsphere Replication Key Takeaways Available as part of most vsphere 5.1 editions Selectable Recovery Point Objectives per VM Protect your VMs irrespective of storage Non-intrusive, snapshot-free copies, ready to be recovered Recover VMs in 4 clicks! Upgrade path to SRM vsphere Replication: resilient, reliable & efficient protection of VMs 43
Thank You 44
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INF-BCO1436 NEW vsphere Replication Enhancements & Best Practices Lee Dilworth, VMware, Inc. Rahul Ravulur, VMware, Inc. #vmworldinf