5.5

n
Two virtual machines share a raw disk mapping (RDM) device on a SAN array, as in the case of a
Microsoft cluster server (MSCS) cluster.
n
Two datastores span extents corresponding to different partitions of the same device.
n
A single datastore spans two extents corresponding to partitions of two different devices. The two
extents must be in a single consistency group and the SRA must report consistency group information
from the array in the device discovery stage. Otherwise, the creation of protection groups based on this
datastore is not possible even though the SRA reports that the extents that make up this datastore are
replicated.
n
Multiple datastores belong to a consistency group. A consistency group is a collection of replicated
datastores where every state of the target set of datastores existed at a specific time as the state of the
source set of datastores. Informally, the datastores are replicated together such that when recovery
happens using those datastores, software accessing the targets does not see the data in a state that the
software is not prepared to deal with.
Protecting Virtual Machines on VMFS Datastores that Span Multiple LUNs or
Extents
Not all SRAs report consistency group information from the storage array, because not all storage arrays
support consistency groups. If an SRA reports consistency group information from the array following a
datastore discovery command, the LUNs that constitute a multi-extent VMFS datastore must be in the same
storage array consistency group. If the array does not support consistency groups and the SRA does not
report any consistency group information, SRM cannot protect virtual machines located on on the multi-
extent datastore.
Create Array-Based Protection Groups
You create array-based protection groups to enable the protection of virtual machines in datastore groups
that you configure to use array-based replication.
SRM computes the datastore groups when you configure the array pair or when you refresh the list of
devices.
After you create a protection group, SRM creates placeholder virtual machines and applies inventory
mappings for each virtual machine in the group. If SRM cannot map a virtual machine to a folder, network,
and resource pool on the recovery site, SRM sets the virtual machine in the Mapping Missing status, and
does not create a placeholder for it.
You can organize protection groups in folders. Different views in the Recovery interface display the names
of the protection groups, but they do not display the folder names. If you have two protection groups with
the same name in different folders, it might be difficult to tell them apart in some views in the Recovery
interface. Consequently, ensure that protection group names are unique across all folders. In environments
in which not all users have view privileges for all folders, to be sure of the uniqueness of protection group
names, do not place protection groups in folders.
When you create protection groups, wait to ensure that the operations finish as expected. Make sure that
SRM creates the protection group and that the protection of the virtual machines in the group is successful.
Procedure
1 Click Protection Groups in the SRM interface, and click Create Protection Group.
2 On the Select a Site and Protection Group Type page, select which site to protect and select Array Based
Replication.
3 Select an array pair, and click Next.
Chapter 3 Creating Protection Groups
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