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Use vSphere Replication in a Shared Recovery Site Configuration on page 92
You can use vSphere Replication with SRM in a shared recovery site configuration in the same way
that you do in a standard one-to-one configuration.
Limitations of Using SRM in Shared Recovery Site Configuration
When you configure SRM to use a shared recovery site, SRM supports the same operations as it does in a
standard one-to-one configuration. Configuring for a shared recovery site support is subject to some
limitations.
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You cannot reconfigure an existing one-to-one SRM installation to use a shared recovery site. You can
only configure new SRM installations to use with a shared recovery site.
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For each shared recovery site customer, you must install SRM Server once at the customer site and
again at the recovery site.
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You must specify the same SRM extension ID when you install the SRM Server instances on the
protected site and on the shared recovery site.
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You must install each SRM Server instance at the shared recovery site on its own host machine. You
cannot install multiple instances of SRM Server on the same host machine.
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Each SRM Server instance on the protected site and on the shared recovery site requires its own
database.
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You can create a shared protected site by registering multiple SRM Server instances with a single
vCenter Server instance on the protected site. This configuration creates a single point of failure on the
protected site, so this configuration is not advisable in production environments. Setting up shared
protection sites might be useful for testing in a lab environment.
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Both sites must use the same authentication method. If you use certificate-based authentication, the
certificates on both sites must be configured in the same way. If you use credential-based
authentication, both sites must specify the same values for the Organization and Organization Unit. The
value that you specify for the Organization in the VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager Plugin
Identifier page of the SRM installer has no relation to the value that you specify for the Organization
when you configure credential-based authentication. See Chapter 4, “SRM Authentication,” on page 27.
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A single shared recovery site can support a maximum of ten protected sites. You can run concurrent
recoveries from multiple sites. See KB 2008061 for the number of concurrent recoveries that you can run
with array-based replication and with vSphere Replication.
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When connecting to SRM on the shared recovery site, every customer can see all of the SRM extensions
that are registered with the shared recovery site, including company names and descriptions. All
customers of a shared recovery site can have access to other customers’ folders and potentially to other
information at the shared recovery site.
SRM Licenses in a Shared Recovery Site Configuration
If you configure SRM to use with a shared recovery site, you can assign licenses individually on the shared
recovery site. You can also share a license between all SRM Server instances on the shared recovery site.
In a shared recovery site configuration, you install SRM license keys on each of the protected sites to enable
recovery. You can install the same license key on the shared recovery site and assign it to the partner
SRM Server instance to enable bidirectional operation, including reprotect. You can use the same license key
for both SRM Server instances in the SRM pair, in the same way as for a one-to-one configuration.
Alternatively, you can install one SRM license key on the shared recovery site. All SRM Server instances on
the shared recovery site share this license. In this configuration, you must ensure that you have sufficient
licenses for the total number of virtual machines that you protect on the shared recovery site, for all
protected sites.
Chapter 11 Installing SRM to Use with a Shared Recovery Site
VMware, Inc. 85