System information

Using vSphere Replication and VMware Virtual SAN Storage with
Site Recovery Manager
You can use VMware Virtual SAN storage with vSphere Replication and Site Recovery Manager.
Replicating a Virtual Machine and Enabling Multiple Point in Time Instances
You can recover virtual machines at specific points in time (PIT) such as the last known consistent state.
When you configure vSphere Replication on a virtual machine, you can enable the retention of multiple
point in time (PIT) instances in the recovery settings. vSphere Replication retains a number of snapshot
instances of the virtual machine on the target site based on the retention policy that you specify.
vSphere Replication supports maximum of 24 snapshot instances. After you recover a virtual machine, you
can revert it to a specific snapshot.
During replication, vSphere Replication replicates all aspects of the virtual machine to the target site,
including any potential viruses and corrupted applications. If a virtual machine suffers from a virus or
corruption and you have configured vSphere Replication to keep PIT snapshots, you can recover the virtual
machine and then revert it to a snapshot of the virtual machine in its uncorrupted state.
For example, you can use the PIT instances to recover the last known good state of a database.
NOTE vSphere Replication does not replicate virtual machine snapshots.
Figure 2‑3. Recovering a Virtual Machine at Points in Time (PIT)
vSphere Web Client
VR Appliance
t1
VM
VM VM VM
t3t2
vSphere Web Client
VR Appliance
VM
Replication
Source Site
Target Site
t0
Site Recovery Manager only recovers the most recent PIT snapshot during a recovery. To recover older
snapshots, you must enable the vrReplication > preserveMpitImagesAsSnapshots option in Advanced
Settings in the Site Recovery Manager interface. See “Change vSphere Replication Settings,” on page 110.
To recover a virtual machine from an older PIT snapshot, you must manually revert the virtual machine to
that snapshot after the recovery. See “Recover a Point-in-Time Snapshot of a Virtual Machine,” on page 50.
If you recover a PIT snapshot of a virtual machine for which you have configured IP customization,
Site Recovery Manager only applies the customization to the most recent PIT snapshot. If you recover an
older PIT snapshot of a virtual machine with IP customization, you must configure the IP settings manually.
Using Array-Based Replication and vSphere Replication with
Site Recovery Manager
You can use a combination of array-based replication and vSphere Replication in your
Site Recovery Manager deployment.
To create a mixed Site Recovery Manager deployment that uses array-based replication and
vSphere Replication, you must configure the protected and recovery sites for both types of replication.
n
Set up and connect the storage arrays and install the appropriate storage replication adapters (SRA) on
both sites.
Chapter 2 Replicating Virtual Machines
VMware, Inc. 27