5.0

4 Configure general replication settings.
a Use the Recovery Point Objective (RPO) slider or enter a value to configure the maximum amount of
data that can be lost in the case of a site failure. The available range is from 15 minutes to 24 hours.
For example, a recovery point objective of one hour seeks to ensure that the virtual machine loses no
more than one hour of data during the recovery. For smaller RPOs, less data is lost in a recovery, but
more network bandwidth is consumed keeping the replica up to date.
NOTE Every time that a virutal machine reaches its RPO target, SRM records approximately 3800
bytes of data in the vCenter Server events database. If you set a low RPO period, this can quickly
create a large volume of data in the database. To avoid creating large volumes of data in the vCenter
Server events database, you should limit the number of days that vCenter Server retains event data.
See Configure Database Retention Policy in the vCenter Server and Host Management Guide.
Alternatively, set a higher RPO value.
b Select a Guest OS Quiescing configuration.
The available quiescing types are determined by the virtual machine's operating system. Microsoft
Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) quiescing is supported for Windows virtual machines running
Windows Server 2003 or newer. VR does not support quiescing for Linux and older versions of
Windows such as Windows XP or Windows 2000. For Windows 7 and Windows 2008 and newer
virtual machines file-system level quiescing is supported, but application level quiescing is not.
c If no target file location is specified or to override the default determined by the datastore mappings,
click Browse to select a target location for the virtual machine. If this option is selected, an empty,
blank replica disk is created. To use non-blank disks, see “Replicate Virtual Machines Using Physical
Couriering,” on page 64.
Either select a datastore or a folder within a datastore:
n
Browse to select a datastore and click OK.
n
Enable Specify datastore folder, browse to a datastore, click Browse, browse to find the desired
folder in the Browse Datastores window, then double-click the desired folder.
5 Select a replication destination for each media device for the virtual machine. Repeat this step for each
device in the virtual machine.
The next pages are created dynamically. They might include multiple virtual drives, all of which you can
configure uniquely. Configurable settings include whether the virtual drive is replicated, the virtual
drive's replication destination, and information about how the replicated virtual drive is configured. If
the disk is to be replicated, select a replication destination before proceeding.
6 Accept the automatic assignment of a VRS, or select a particular server.
7 Review the settings and click Finish to establish replication.
Configure Replication for Multiple Virtual Machines
Multiple virtual machines can be protected by vSphere Replication.
Prerequisites
To replicate virtual machines using VR, establish the VR infrastructure at both sites. A minimal VR
infrastructure requires one vSphere Replication Management Server (VRMS) at both sites and at least one
vSphere Replication Server (VRS) on the recovery site. SRM servers at each site must be paired, and VRMSs
must be paired as well. If a virtual machine is powered off, replication begins when the virtual machine is
powered on.
Chapter 6 Creating Protection Groups and Replicating Virtual Machines
VMware, Inc. 63