Disaster Recovery and migration using VMware vCloud Availability. Part 1

Hello everyone!

Today we will talk about working with VMware vCloud Availability (vCAV). This product helps to organize Disaster Recovery (DR) and migration within several platforms of the cloud provider or move / recover to the cloud of the service provider from on-premise platforms. vCAV is integrated into the vCloud Director panel, which allows public cloud clients to independently manage the DR and migration of their virtual machines from the familiar interface.

In this article I gave a case study of how we migrated a client between our sites in Moscow and St. Petersburg using vCAV. Today, I’ll show you step by step how to configure recovery and migration of virtual machines.



For example:

• configure VM recovery from the NORD site to the OST site;
• we will migrate a virtual machine from St. Petersburg to Moscow.

For example, we created three resource pools in vCloud Director for three sites: two in Moscow and one in St. Petersburg.

How vCAV Works

For virtual machines for which you need to organize migration or DR, replication to the backup site is configured. If there are problems with the main site, the client starts the replica on its own and switches to it.

VCAV runs replication at the software level, rather than hardware replication, as is the case with other DR solutions, such as the classic disaster- proof cloud. But the client fully manages the process and is more affordable at a price (reserve capacities are charged according to the PAYG model).

In cases of DR and migration, you need to take care of the organization of the network part on the backup site in advance. I wrote about the main ways to connect to the cloudhere.

Configuring DR between different sites of the same cloud

In this example, we will configure DR on the OST site for a virtual machine in NORD. In this case, we will have one organization with separate resource pools at each site.

1. In the vCloud Director menu, go to vCAV.
   
   
   
   
2. We get to the vCAV main page, which provides basic information about the state of the replica. Go to the Outgoing Replications - to Cloud tab.
   
   
   
   
3. Create a replication job from NORD to OST. Choose vApp or VM. Click New protection.
   
   
   
   
4. At the NORD site, we select a virtual machine for which we will configure replication.
   
   
   
   
5. We select the site where the selected virtual machine will be replicated.
   
   
   
   
6. We select a resource pool on a reserve site. In our case, this is OST.
   
   
   
   
7. Configure security settings:
   
   • RPO The minimum RPO available is 5 minutes.
   • Storage Policy. , . , : SSD, – SATA.
   • Retention policy. . 24 .
   • Enable quiesce. .
   • Advanced. - .
   
   
   
   
   
8. Finish.
   
   
   
   
9. . Replication state .
   
   
   
   
10. , . Failover.
    
    
    
    
11. :
    
    • – Consolidate VM disks;
    • vApps – Power on recovered vApps;
    • – Connect all VMs to network.
    
    
    
    
    
12. .
    
    
    
    
13. Finish.
    
    
    
    
14. OST. , .
    
    
    
    
15. , Failover Reverse.
    
    
    
    
16. OST NORD. NORD .
    
    
    
    
17. , OST, – NORD.
    
    
    
    
18. , Test Failover.
    
    
    
    
19. OST.
    
    
    
    
20. , , Test Cleanup. .
    
    
    
    
21. .
    
    
    
    

Now we are migrating the virtual machine from the Moscow site to St. Petersburg.

1. To do this, in the vCAV interface, click New Migration.
   
   
   
   
2. We select VM in OST, which will move to the site in St. Petersburg.
   
   
   
   
3. Choose a cloud in St. Petersburg.
   
   
   
   
4. Select the resource pool.
   
   
   
   
5. Choose the type of disk.
   
   
   
   
6. We check the settings and click Finish.
   
   
   
   
7. The task is ready. Click Migrate.
   
   
   
   
8. We mark the required options. Everything is the same as when setting up DR. The only thing is that the virtual machines that we are migrating will be turned off after a successful move.
   
   
   
   
9. Click Finish.
   
   
   
   
10. The migration process has begun.
    
    
    
    
11. After the migration is completed, our VM appears in the cloud of St. Petersburg.
    
    
    
    
12. At the OST site, the shutdown VM remains.
    
    
    

That's all. In the next part, we will consider DR configuration and migration from on-premise client sites to the provider's cloud.