NEW vSphere Replication Enhancements & Best Practices

Lee Dilworth, VMware, Inc.

Rahul Ravulur, VMware, Inc.

INF-BCO1436

#vmworldinf

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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

• 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

source target

vSphere vSphere

5

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

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What has changed?

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vSphere Replication Changes

Included with most vSphere Editions

Per-VM replication “out of the box”

Integrated with vSphere 5.1

source target

vSphere vSphere

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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?

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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

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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

Doesn’t 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

• ROBO use case: single VR Appliance & vCenter

• Two site use case: vCenter & VR Appliance per site

Deployment Flexibility

• Up to 500 protected VMs managed by single VR Appliance

• Existing vSphere Replication environments can be upgraded

Upgrade and Scalability

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Replication Between Two Sites

“Source” Site “Target” Site

Storage Storage

vSphere Client vSphere Client

(VMDK1) (VMDK2)

Storage

VMDK1 VMDK2

vCenter Server

ESXi

VRA

vCenter Server

ESXi

NFC

ESXi

NFC

ESXi

VRA

ESXi

VRA

VR

Appliance

VR

Appliance

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Replication for Remote Office Branch Offices (ROBO)

“Target” Site

Storage Storage

vSphere Client

(VMDK1) (VMDK2)

Storage

VMDK1 VMDK2

vCenter Server

ESXi

VRA

ESXi

NFC

ESXi

NFC

ESXi

VRA

ESXi

VRA

VR

Appliance

“Source” Site

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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 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

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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

• 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

vSphere

vSphere

vSphere

VM VM

VR Appliance

vCenter

VR Agent

VR vSCSI Filter

VM

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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

A B C D E A C

Source Disk Seed Disk tcp/31031

B D E

A B C D E

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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

A B C D E

Source Disk Target Disk

A C D

tcp/44046

• Ongoing I/O not penalized when replication active

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

A B C D E AII B CI DI E AII B CI DI E

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Secondary Site Disk Layout in Detail (ongoing transfers)

Target VM Disk Folder

Consistent Disk(s)

1

LWD’s

Port 44046

A B C D E

Current Disk Image

Redo Log

2

3

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 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

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VR Network Traffic is highly variable!

Number of transfers per

day

• 1440 minutes per day / RPO in minutes

Size of data per transfer

• Based on change rate of data

• Unique data churn / number of transfers = average LWD size

Transfer time

• Dependent on transfer size and network pipe

• Size of data transfer / throughput = transfer time

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 VM’s in either direction

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Simple replication between sites (detail)

“Source” Site “Target” Site

Storage Storage

vSphere Client vSphere Client

(VMDK1) (VMDK2)

Storage

VMDK1 VMDK2

vCenter Server

ESXi

VRA

vCenter Server

ESXi

NFC

ESXi

NFC

ESXi

VRA

ESXi

VRA

VR

Appliance

VR

Appliance

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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

Storage Storage

vSphere Client

(VMDK1) (VMDK2)

Storage

VMDK1 VMDK2

vCenter Server

ESXi

VRA

ESXi

NFC

ESXi

NFC

ESXi

VRA

ESXi

VRA

VR

Appliance

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

“Source & Target” Site

vSphere Client

Storage Storage

VMDK1 (VMDK1)

vCenter Server VR

Appliance

ESXi

NFC

VRA

ESXi

NFC

VRA

ESXi

NFC

VRA

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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

Storage Storage

VMDK1 (VMDK2)

vCenter Server VR

Appliance

ESXi

NFC

VRA

ESXi

NFC

VRA

ESXi

NFC

VRA

Storage Storage

VMDK2 VMDK3

ESXi

VRA

ESXi

VRA

ESXi

VRA

Storage Storage

VMDK4

ESXi

VRA

ESXi

VRA

ESXi

VRA

(VMDK3) (VMDK4)

“Remote” Sites

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Moving to SRM

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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

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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

• 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

VMware vSphere

VMware

vCenter Server

Site Recovery

Manager

VMware

vCenter Server

Site Recovery

Manager

VMware vSphere

Site A (Primary) Site B (Recovery)

Servers Servers

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SRM 5.1 Architecture with vSphere Replication (VR)

“Protected” Site “Recovery” Site

Storage Storage

vSphere Client vSphere Client

VMFS VMFS

Storage

VMFS VMFS

SRM Server vCenter Server

VR

Appliance

SRM Plug-in

ESXi

VRA

SRM Plug-in

SRM Server vCenter Server

ESXi

NFC

ESXi

NFC

ESXi

VRA

ESXi

VRA

VR

Appliance

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Summary

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vSphere Replication – Key Takeaways

vSphere Replication: resilient, reliable & efficient protection of VMs

Available as part of most vSphere 5.1

editions

Protect your VMs

irrespective of storage

Selectable Recovery Point Objectives per

VM

Non-intrusive, snapshot-free

copies, ready to be recovered

Recover VMs in 4 clicks!

Upgrade path to SRM

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Thank You

FILL OUT

A SURVEY

EVERY COMPLETE SURVEY

IS ENTERED INTO

DRAWING FOR A

$25 VMWARE COMPANY

STORE GIFT CERTIFICATE

NEW vSphere Replication Enhancements & Best Practices

Lee Dilworth, VMware, Inc.

Rahul Ravulur, VMware, Inc.

INF-BCO1436

#vmworldinf