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.

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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

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 VMs

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

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?

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

Using vSphere Replication

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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
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How it looks

Single interface and common management

Designed to integrate with other products

Doesnt require console hopping

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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)
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Configuring VR replication: Multiple VMs

All VMs will have same settings (RPO etc.)

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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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Architecture

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Architecture Updates Simple and Flexible

VR Appliance (OVA), download from vmware.com VR Appliance now performs management role AND server role (previously two unique appliances in 5.0)

Quick Setup
Deployment Flexibility Upgrade and Scalability
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ROBO use case: single VR Appliance & vCenter Two site use case: vCenter & VR Appliance per site

Up to 500 protected VMs managed by single VR Appliance Existing vSphere Replication environments can be upgraded

Replication Between Two Sites

Source Site
vSphere Client

Target Site
vSphere Client

VR Appliance

vCenter Server

vCenter Server

VR Appliance

ESXi VRA

ESXi VRA

ESXi VRA

ESXi NFC

ESXi NFC

Storage Storage
VMDK1 VMDK2 (VMDK1) (VMDK2)

Storage

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Replication for Remote Office Branch Offices (ROBO)

Target Site
vSphere Client

Source Site

vCenter Server

VR Appliance

ESXi VRA

ESXi VRA

ESXi VRA

ESXi NFC

ESXi NFC

Storage Storage
VMDK1 VMDK2 (VMDK1) (VMDK2)

Storage

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Replication Details

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Consistency

Point in time consistency

Each VM has a set RPO

Write order consistency across vmdks 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

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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

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VR vSCSI Filter & VR Agent

VR vSCSI Filter
Runs in ESXi kernel Attached to the virtual device, intercepts
all I/O to the disk
vCenter VR Appliance

Each replica corresponds to a

lightweight snapshot

Bitmap of changed blocks is maintained

between replications (backed by on disk state file)
VM VM VM
VR Agent

VR Agent
Runs in Host Agent
Implements configuration of replication
in primary site
VR vSCSI Filter vSphere vSphere vSphere

Manages VMs replication process Interposes on operations that impact

replication
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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

E B D E

Source Disk

tcp/31031

Seed Disk

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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

AII

B B

CI

DI

E E

AII A

CI

DI

A C D

Source Disk

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tcp/44046

Target Disk

Ongoing I/O not penalized when replication active

Light-weight deltas (LWDs) not same as VM snapshots

Secondary Site Disk Layout in Detail (ongoing transfers)

1
Consistent Disk(s)
Target VM Disk Folder

2
A B C D E

LWDs Port 44046

Redo Log

3
Current Disk Image

Immutability of target disk preserved through redo log use

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VR Sizing is highly variable!

Per Protected VM
Small CPU/Network/Disk utilization increases during initial sync

Per Host running Protected VMs

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 VMs max supported with VR During initial sync VRS-to-NFC data traffic needs to be taken into account

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VR Network Traffic is highly variable!

Dependent on transfer size and network pipe Size of data transfer / throughput = transfer time

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!

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Example Use Cases

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Simple replication between sites

Each site has own vCenter Replicate VMs in either direction

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Simple replication between sites (detail)

Source Site
vSphere Client

Target Site
vSphere Client

VR Appliance

vCenter Server

vCenter Server

VR Appliance

ESXi VRA

ESXi VRA

ESXi VRA

ESXi NFC

ESXi NFC

Storage Storage
VMDK1 VMDK2 (VMDK1) (VMDK2)

Storage

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Local site replica

Single vCenter Single VR Appliance Local may = Remote from you, simply connect to vCenter via WAN Fast VM recovery

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Local site replica (detail different target host(s) & datastore)

Source & Target Site
vSphere Client

VR Appliance

vCenter Server

ESXi VRA

ESXi VRA

ESXi VRA

ESXi

ESXi

NFC

NFC

Storage Storage
VMDK1 VMDK2 (VMDK1) (VMDK2)

Storage

33

Local site replica (detail same target host(s) & datastore)

Source & Target Site
vSphere Client

VR Appliance

vCenter Server

ESXi VRA NFC

ESXi VRA NFC

ESXi VRA NFC

Storage Storage
VMDK1 (VMDK1)

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Remote & Branch office protection

Single vCenter at main site Single VR Appliance at main site

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Remote & Branch office protection (detail)

Target Site
vSphere Client ESXi

Remote Sites
ESXi ESXi

VRA

VRA

VRA

VR Appliance

vCenter Server

Storage Storage
VMDK2 VMDK3

ESXi VRA NFC

ESXi VRA NFC

ESXi VRA NFC

ESXi
VRA

ESXi
VRA

ESXi
VRA

Storage
VMDK1

Storage
(VMDK2) (VMDK3) (VMDK4) VMDK4

Storage Storage

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Moving to SRM

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When to use Site Recovery Manager (SRM)?

Number of protected VMs has increased significantly
Scale

Need for greater automation in our DR solution

Automation

Reliability

Requirement to have automated non-disruptive testing, migration, failover and failback

Need ability to perform automated recovery customization (IP changes, Inter-VM dependencies, Custom callout scripts/steps) Need to have ability to create protected groups of VMs Requirement for repeatable, built-in recovery plans to failover subsets of protected VMs or all protected VMs

Customization

Application Support

Repeatability

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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

Choice of replication options for SRM

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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
Grouping of protected VMs
Site A (Primary)
VMware vCenter Server Site Recovery Manager

Site B (Recovery)
VMware vCenter Server Site Recovery Manager

Built in recovery plans Recovery customization (Custom

scripting, IP customization)

VMware vSphere

VMware vSphere

Non-disruptive testing
Servers Servers

Full or partial failover workflows

Support for array replication

Audit Trail / Reporting API

vSphere Replication is simply protection, SRM is disaster recovery

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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 ESXi VRA ESXi VRA ESXi VRA

VR Appliance ESXi NFC ESXi NFC

Storage Storage
VMFS VMFS VMFS VMFS

Storage

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Summary

42

vSphere Replication Key Takeaways Available as part of most vSphere 5.1 editions Protect your VMs irrespective of storage Non-intrusive, snapshot-free copies, ready to be recovered

Selectable Recovery Point Objectives per VM

Recover VMs in 4 clicks!

Upgrade path to SRM

vSphere Replication: resilient, reliable & efficient protection of VMs

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Thank You

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FILL OUT A SURVEY

EVERY COMPLETE SURVEY IS ENTERED INTO DRAWING FOR A $25 VMWARE COMPANY STORE GIFT CERTIFICATE

INF-BCO1436

NEW vSphere Replication Enhancements & Best Practices

Lee Dilworth, VMware, Inc. Rahul Ravulur, VMware, Inc.

#vmworldinf