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22 Dell EMC SC Series: Disaster Recovery for Microsoft SQL Server Using VMware Site Recovery Manager | CML1018
4.5 Performing a disaster recovery test
SRM provides the ability to test the recovery process without performing an actual failover. Virtual machines
can be brought online in an isolated environment at the disaster recovery site. Because the test environment
is isolated, recovered virtual machines can have the same name or IP address as production virtual
machines. The production environment is not impacted by the test.
To perform a disaster recovery test failover, perform the following:
1. In the vSphere web client, open the SRM plug-in.
2. On the left side of the client, double-click Recovery Plans.
3. Under the Objects tab, select the recovery plan that needs to be tested.
4. Under the Actions drop-down menu (or the green arrow icon), select Test.
To clean up after the test is complete, perform the following:
1. In the vSphere web client, open the SRM plug-in.
2. On the left side of the client, double-click Recovery Plans.
3. Under the Objects tab, select the recovery plan that was tested and needs to be cleaned up.
4. Under the Actions drop-down menu (or the broom icon), select Cleanup.
When performing a disaster recovery test, consider the following:
• By default, the Replicate recent changes to recovery site option will be checked in the Storage
Options pane of the Test dialog box. If this option is selected, the test will create new crash
consistent snapshots at the primary site and recover the volumes using those snapshots once they
have been replicated to the recovery site. For an accurate disaster recovery test, uncheck this option.
Snapshots created by Replay Manager will not be used if this option is selected.
• SC Series storage will not be accessible from inside the recovered virtual machines. The test
environment is isolated from the network.
4.6 Performing a disaster recovery
When a disaster is declared, SRM can be used to efficiently move virtual machines from the primary site to
the disaster recovery site. A fully automated recovery plan can greatly reduce the recovery time while also
preventing costly mistakes.
To perform a disaster recovery failover, perform the following:
1. In the vSphere web client, open the SRM plug-in.
2. On the left side of the client, double-click Recovery Plans.
3. Under the Objects tab, select the recovery plan that needs to be run.
4. Under the Actions drop-down menu (or the red circle with white arrow icon), select Run.
5. In the Recovery Confirmation pane, check the box I understand that this process will
permanently alter the virtual machines and infrastructure of both the protected and recovery
datacenters.
6. In the Recovery Type pane, select the Disaster Recovery option .
7. Click Next.
8. Click Start.
9. If there are multiple recovery plans, repeat the process for each recovery plan.