Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Tips for use of VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager

There are various ways to deliver Backup & Disaster Recovery for your enterprise. Backup, which is a necessary requirement for Disaster Recovery includes tape, local disk, remote disk, or some other means of storing your data in case of IT equipment failure or loss. For Disaster Recovery,  PTS Data Center Solutions has presented solutions which include all-in-one appliances, co-location disaster recovery service providers and Storage Area Network or SAN replication. VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager (SRM) is an excellent approach to consider given:
  • Automated migration and site recovery
  • Integration with your virtualized environment if you already leverage VMware solutions
  • Non-disruptive testing on the site recovery environment
  • Simple recovery plan management 
vCenter SRM will require replication of your server and storage environment offsite at a secondary, disaster recovery site. However, with the right expertise and experience, the control and consistent failover results in a manageable disaster recovery plan. VMware provides a series of technical tips for consideration when you are ready to move forward:
  1. Start small with a single application or service before implementing across your entire enterprise
  2. Learn and address application dependencies to confirm applications are available at the recovery site for the services that must run there
  3. Determine the best replication tool (VMware or a 3rd party) for your situation
  4. Load the recovery environment with data even if it is slightly stale to synchronize quickly.
  5. Organize data by logical failover groups
  6. Make sure storage replication adapters are up to date
  7. Orchestrate the sequence in which VMs start at the recovery site to prioritize key groups and their dependencies
  8. Build multiple recovery plans with common protection groups that fail over together
  9. Make sure your VMware software is up-to-date at all times
  10. Perform frequent recovery plan testing, particularly in advance of any storm warnings
To learn more, contact PTS or download the VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager Tech Tip (registration required).