Creating a Protected Group for VMware VMs

Prerequisites

• At least one production site has been created.
• A vCenter server and storage array have been added to the production site. A vCenter server and storage array have been added to the DR site.

Context

The protected objects belonging to one protected group reside on the same storage device.

When the asynchronous replication (NAS) DR technology is used, ensure that all the remote replication pairs are either not or in one remote replication vStore pair.

Procedure

1. In the menu bar, Choose Protection.
2. Click Create.
3. Select a protected object.
   

   1. Select Production Site, vCenter, and Protection Type.

      Select a Protection Type based on the used DR technologies.

      • When the datastores where the VMs managed by vCenter reside uses the synchronous replication (SAN), asynchronous replication (SAN), or asynchronous replication (NAS) DR technology, select Array-Based Replication.

        Employ remote replication of storage devices to implement protection.

      • If the datastore where the VMs managed by vCenter reside uses the HyperVault technology provided by the storage, select HyperVault.

        HyperVault retains multiple snapshot copies of service data within a storage system or on different storage systems, enabling DR protection at the storage layer.

   2. If Protection Type is set to Array-Based Replication or HyperVault, select the datastore group where the VMs to be protected reside.

      The system automatically protects all VMs in the selected datastore group.

      

      A datastore group is a set of VMs on the vCenter. After a vCenter server is added, the system will calculate the number of datastores on the vCenter, the VMs on a remote replication pair or consistency group will be allocated to a datastore group.

4. Click Next.
5. Set a protection policy.
   1. On the Protection Policy page, the system automatically matches supported protection policies. Select a policy based on your data protection solution.
      • When the synchronous replication (SAN) DR technology is used, select Array-Based Replication (Synchronous):Active-Passive DR solution.
      • When the asynchronous replication (SAN) or asynchronous replication (NAS) DR technology is used, select Array-Based Replication (Asynchronous):Active-Passive DR solution.
      • When the HyperVault DR technology is used, select HyperVault:Active-Passive DR solution.
        

        • If there are suitable protection policies, you can select a protection policy based on your data protection solution and modify the time policy of the protection policy.
        • If there is no suitable protection policy, check whether the storage devices used by protected objects have been configured as planned. If the storage devices have not been configured, configure them as planned. After configuration, perform the following operations: On the menu bar, select Resources. Select a node under the management server. In the site node, click Storage, in the line where the storage device resides, click Refresh to refresh the storage device information under the site. Then, recreate the protected group.
   2. Click Set to set the protection policy for the protected group.
      • For the Array-Based Replication (Synchronous):Active-Passive DR solution protection policy,
        1. Click Replication Policy tab to set the remote replicate rate between storage arrays. Table 1 lists related parameters.

           

           Table 1 Replication policies

           Replication Policy	Description
           Default configuration	The remote replication rate is the default one set on the storage array.
           Manual configuration	Users can set the remote replication rate for each time segment. Configure the automatic remote replication rate of the storage based on the pre-set replication rate of time period. Select Manual configuration. Click a time color block to modify the replication rate during a time segment.

        2. Click OK.
      • For the Array-Based Replication (Synchronous): Active-Passive DR solution protection policy,
        1. Click the Scheduling Policy tab. In the Time Policy area, set the time policy for the protected group. Table 2 lists related parameters.

           

           Table 2 Time policies

           Time Policy	Description
           On-demand scheduling	Manually starts protection tasks.
           Period-based scheduling	Automatically starts protection tasks based on a period set by the system. NOTE: For Period-based scheduling, you can set Scheduling Priority and Execution Priority. Scheduling priority: If a protection plan is not executed within the execution period of a protected group, the system stops the protection task one minute before the next scheduling period to ensure that the next scheduling task is executed on time. Execution First: If a protection plan is not executed within the execution period of a protected group, the system does not stop the protection task. To ensure data consistency, the execution timetable for a protected group policy template must be set. You are advised to set the execution time to off-peak hours. Tasks can be executed at multiple time points of a day, a week, or a month. Alternatively, at a specific time segment of a day, a week, or a month with a fixed frequency. It is recommended that the starting time of the validate period is set to a time later than the completion of the initial synchronization. If daylight saving time (DST) is enabled on the eReplication management server, a DR protection task whose trigger time point falls within the DST shift period cannot be executed at the scheduled time. Details are as follows: (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (United States and Canada) is used as an example. The DST starts at 2016-03-12 02:00:00, and ends at 2016-11-06 02:00:00. If the start time of the protection policy falls within the first hour (2016-03-12 02:00:00 to 03:00:00) after the DST starts, for example, 2016-03-12 02:30:00, the protection group will be automatically executed with a delay of one hour, that is 2016-03-12 03:30:00. If the start time of the protection policy falls with the last hour (2016-11-06 01:00:00 to 02:00:00) before the DST ends, for example, 2016-11-06 01:30:00, the protection group will be executed after the DST ends for half an hour.

        2. When the Scheduling Policy is set to Period-based scheduling, in the Expected RPO area, if you select Enable PRO Requirement Satisfaction Check, the actual RPO is check against the configured RPO. If the actual RPO exceeds the expected RPO, the system generates an alarm, indicating that the RPO requirement is not satisfied.

           

           Expected RPO can be set to 0-31 days, 0-23 hours, and 5-59 minutes.

           

           If days and hours are not set, the Expected RPO is 15 minutes by default.

        3. Click the Consistency Policy tab and select Generate quiesced snapshot.

           If Continue after quiesced snapshot creation failure is selected, the process is not affected if the silent snapshot fails to be created. However, the silent snapshot information will not be restored when the recovery plan is executed.

           

           • To generate a quiesced snapshot, you need to install VMware Tools or Open VM Tools on the VM.
           • When the Time Policy of a protection policy is set to Seconds, you cannot select Generate quiesced snapshot.

           vCenter is used to generate quiesced VM snapshots for VM consistency protection. After quiesced snapshots are generated, the system enables the client in the startup state to be in the quiesced state during DR protection, that is, the VM pauses temporarily and the data in the memory of the VM will be updated to a disk. After the replication starts, the vCenter Server is notified to delete these quiesced snapshots.

        4. Click Replication Policy tab to set the remote replicate rate between storage arrays. Table 3 lists related parameters.

           

           Table 3 Replication policies

           Replication Policy	Description
           Default configuration	The remote replication rate is the default one set on the storage array.
           Manual configuration	Users can set the remote replication rate for each time segment. Configure the automatic remote replication rate of the storages based on the pre-set replication rate of time period. Select Manual configuration. Click a time color block to modify the replication rate during a time segment.

        5. Click OK.
      • For the HyperVault:Active-Passive DR solution protection policy,
        

        Set both the local backup protection policy and the remote backup protection policy.

        1. Click the Scheduling Policy tab. In the Time Policy area, set the time policy for the protected group. Table 4 lists related parameters.

           

           Table 4 Time policies

           Time Policy	Description
           On-demand scheduling	Manually starts protection tasks.
           Period-based scheduling	Automatically starts protection tasks based on a period set by the system. NOTE: To ensure data consistency, the execution timetable for a protected group policy template must be set. You are advised to set the execution time to off-peak hours. Tasks can be executed at multiple time points of a day, a week, or a month. Alternatively, at a specific time segment of a day, a week, or a month with a fixed frequency. It is recommended that the starting time of the validate period is set to a time later than the completion of the initial synchronization. If daylight saving time (DST) is enabled on the eReplication management server, a DR protection task whose trigger time point falls within the DST shift period cannot be executed at the scheduled time. Details are as follows: (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (United States and Canada) is used as an example. The DST starts at 2016-03-12 02:00:00, and ends at 2016-11-06 02:00:00. If the start time of the protection policy falls within the first hour (2016-03-12 02:00:00 to 03:00:00) after the DST starts, for example, 2016-03-12 02:30:00, the protection group will be automatically executed with a delay of one hour, that is 2016-03-12 03:30:00. If the start time of the protection policy falls with the last hour (2016-11-06 01:00:00 to 02:00:00) before the DST ends, for example, 2016-11-06 01:30:00, the protection group will be executed after the DST ends for half an hour.

        2. When the Scheduling Policy is set to Period-based scheduling, in the Expected RPO area, if you select Enable PRO Requirement Satisfaction Check, the actual RPO is check against the configured RPO. If the actual RPO exceeds the expected RPO, the system generates an alarm, indicating that the RPO requirement is not satisfied.

           

           Expected RPO can be set to 0-31 days, 0-23 hours, and 5-59 minutes.

           

           If days and hours are not set, the Expected RPO is 15 minutes by default.

        3. Click the Consistency Policy tab and select Generate quiesced snapshot.

           If Continue after quiesced snapshot creation failure is selected, the process is not affected if the silent snapshot fails to be created. However, the silent snapshot information will not be restored when the recovery plan is executed.

           

           • To generate a quiesced snapshot, you need to install VMware Tools or Open VM Tools on the VM.
           • When the Time Policy of a protection policy is set to Seconds, you cannot select Generate quiesced snapshot.

           vCenter is used to generate quiesced VM snapshots for VM consistency protection. After quiesced snapshots are generated, the system enables the client in the startup state to be in the quiesced state during DR protection, that is, the VM pauses temporarily and the data in the memory of the VM will be updated to a disk. After the replication starts, the vCenter Server is notified to delete these quiesced snapshots.

        4. Click the Reservation Policy tab. Set Latest duplicate and the duplicate retention policy. Table 5 describes related parameters.

           

           Table 5 Retention policies

           Retention Policy	Description
           Latest duplicate	The number of duplicates cannot exceed the maximum number of snapshots that can be taken for a storage resource such as a LUN or file system.
           Duplicate retention	The duplicate retention policy defines the retention policy of duplicates generated during the protected group protection. When the system starts duplicate maintenance, expired and invalid duplicates will be deleted based on the duplicate retention policy. By default, the time to maintain duplicates is the 39th minute of every hour. NOTE: After a user resets Latest duplicate, the duplicate maintenance will be triggered immediately. You can set the minimum number of duplicates to be retained. The system will not delete valid duplicates until the number of invalid duplicates exceeds the minimum number of duplicates you set. The value range for a daily policy is 0–365. The default value is 0, meaning to retain no duplicates. The value range for a weekly policy is 0–52. The default value is 0, meaning to retain no duplicates. The value range for a monthly policy is 0–60. The default value is 0, meaning to retain no duplicates. When determining the number of retained duplicates, consider the following: Data importance and DR requirements. If data of the latest five months must be retained, you are advised to set the retention period by month. Available storage space of a storage device. If the available space of a storage device is sufficient, you are advised to retain more duplicates that are more important. NOTE: For example, if the current time is 2017/4/11 08:40:00, configure the protected group as following: Set the execution policy to be performed at every hour exactly. Set the retention policy to keep five latest duplicates, three daily duplicates, two weekly duplicates, and one monthly duplicate. If the protected group is under the automatically scheduled protection for a long time, the duplicates retained are as follows after the duplicate maintenance is complete at the current time: Latest duplicates were generated at: 2017-04-11 08:00, 2017-04-11 07:00, 2017-04-11 06:00, 2017-04-11 05:00, and 2017-04-11 04:00. Daily duplicates are generated at: 2017-04-10 23:00, 2017-04-09 23:00, and 2017-04-08 23:00. Weekly duplicates were generated at: 2017-04-09 23:00 and 2017-04-02 23:00. The monthly duplicate was generated at: 2017-03-31 23:00. NOTE: If the duplicate maintenance is not triggered, or daily, weekly, or monthly duplicate retention is configured, the number of retained duplicates may exceed the number of latest duplicates being retained.

        5. Click OK.

6. Click Next.
7. Set Name and Description of the protected group.
   • Name: contains 4 to 32 characters, including letters, digits, underscores (_), and hyphens (-), but cannot start with a hyphen (-).
   • Description: contains 0 to 255 characters.

8. Optional: If you do not want to manually create a recovery plan for the protected group, select Automatically create a recovery plan after creating protected groups in the lower left corner.
9. Click Finish.
10. Click OK.

Related Operations

• If the protected objects of a protected group or their used storage devices change. On the menu bar, select Resources. And refresh resources or storage devices where the protected objects reside. Then go to the protected group page and refresh protected objects of the protected group by clicking More > Refresh. After the command for refreshing information is sent, you can view details about the command execution in Background Task.
  

  If a recovery plan has been created for a protected group, you can refresh protected objects only when the recovery plan status is Ready, Clear completed, Rollback completed, or Reprotection completed.

• To ensure that information about protected groups is refreshed successfully, you must refresh information about storage devices and hosts at both the production site and DR site.
  

  In the active-passive, geo-redundant, HyperMetro (using HyperMetro SAN or mixed HyperMetro SAN and snapshot SAN), and local protection DR scenarios, refresh operations on the storage device. On the menu bar, select Resources. choose the site in the management server and in the site node, click vCenter Server. Click Refresh in the operation area of the vCenter server to refresh information about the vCenter server. Then, the information about the protected group is automatically refreshed.