Best way to add a second NAS to an existing ESXi 5.1 Cluster for high availability

[mlcooper54]

I'm new to VMware and to these forums so my terminology may not be exact.

We have a new cluster set up by a consultant consisting of the following:

2 Production hosts

2 Test hosts

2 Gb switches

1 NAS containing 5 datastores set up with 5 iSCSI targets (terminology??)

vCenter Server running on a virtual Server 2008 R2

HA is configured

VDP virtual appliance

We purchased an identical NAS to add to the cluster so we can failover from the primary NAS to the backup NAS.

I don't quite know where to start on setting up the second NAS.

Do we set up 5 iSCSI targets on the second NAS and name them datastoreF - datastoreJ (originals are datastoreA - datastoreE) and have VDP (or Veeam or Unitrends) replicate the VM's to the new datastores?

Is there a way to automatically failover to the second NAS? (assuming replication is working properly)

Both NAS units are QNAP TS-869U-RP with 8 identical HDDs each (WD Red 3 TB), for a total of a little over 16 TB of storage each. Both NAS units are RAID6.

On NAS1 we have:

DatastoreA = 4.05 TB

DatastoreB = .24 TB

DatastoreC = 3.81 TB

DatastoreD = 4.05 TB

DatastoreE = 4.05 TB

The VDP Appliance is on DatastoreC.

I'm looking for best practices, pointers on what documentation to read, etc.

Thanks in advance,

Mark Cooper

[tomtom901]

It really depends on your needs. You can look at something like vSphere replication (or something like Veeam) and do a replication between VM's. You can also configure the QNAP's to replicate to eachother. But, because they are offer their services on different iSCSI IP's you can't do something like an automatic failover for as far as a datastore goes. In this case, if your primary NAS goes down you need to remove and reimport the VM's into the inventory using the other storage. That might, or might not be something that is acceptable in your situation.

Also, when your NAS goes down, are you still able to connect to vCenter or is that functionality lost as well?

I would personally go with configuring the new NAS as new datastores and do some kind of replicating via rsync between the NAS devices. If the primary storage goes down, you need to remove the invalid VM's from the inventory and re add them using the other datastore. If you don't want this, then replicating on the VM level is your best choice.

Hope this helps,

[mlcooper54]

tomtom901,

Thanks for the reply. vCenter is running on a VM on the primary NAS so I would expect vCenter to disappear if the NAS breaks.

At this point I don't know what I want other than to keep downtime to a minimum should the primary NAS break. I also don't want to lose any data.

We purchased VDP so I'm playing around with it along with the free versions of Veeam and Unitrends.

Thanks again,

Mark

[tomtom901]

You could also try vSphere replication, it should also be free if you have the correct vSphere licenses.

[mlcooper54]

Our license does include replication. I'm reading the vSphere Replication Administration guide right now. It discusses replicating to a different site. At this point I want to replicate to a different datastore (located on the new NAS) in the same cluster in as close to real time as possible.

Thanks,

Mark

[tomtom901]

See: vSphere replication

Hope this helps,

[mlcooper54]

tomtom901,

Thank you!. That's a big help. One more question: does replication work in real-time via CBT or do you configure replication to update every x number of minutes/hours?

There is so much vSphere documentation it's hard to figure out where to start.

Thanks again,

Mark

[tomtom901]

You configure it with a sync interval. I'd say you've got some reading to do.

[mlcooper54]

Just a little bit of reading<g>. Virtualizing was a sudden decision on management's part.

We purchased VDP with our acceleration kit before we were entirely sure what we needed. We came close to getting Veeam, but now after reading some virtualization posts on Spiceworks, Unitrends is looking really good. Our office is near Columbus Ohio so Veeam has an added attraction.

What do you use for backup and replication? I know, each situation is different.

Thanks for all your help,

Mark

[tomtom901]

We mostly use Veeam, and tried VDP (in an early version). That wasn't a great success but perhaps 5.5 is better, I'll take a look in my lab soon. I've not heard of Unitrends before, which product of them are you looking at? I see they have some interesting NFR options for us VCP's and MCP's.

Might be nice to check this out. Thanks!

[mlcooper54]

tomtom901,

I downloaded the UEB (Unitrends Enterprise Backup) Virtual Appliance free version. Fully functional software with a limitation of 4 VMs. What I like about Unitrends and Veeam is I can backup my VMs to network shares (a NAS in another building and a removable USB HDD dock mounted to a VM). Price on UEB for me is extremely attractive at under $400 per socket. UEB is even more attractive because it's a self-contained appliance, whereas Veeam requires a Windows host.

I just got into VMware this August and am totally self-taught at this point, so backup and replication in the virtual world is totally new. I don't have too many preconceived notions (or legacy software) except I don't like anything Symantec. We had Acronis Backup and Restore for our physical servers prior to virtualization. Thinking we'd probably go with Hyper-V we upgraded Acronis to Hyper-V. Then it turned out VMware was a better fit for us. Acronis wouldn't convert our license to VMware, so they're on my blacklist also. We didn't do enough due diligence and ended up purchasing VDP at the same time we purchased our VMware license. Both Veeam and Unitrends are environment agnostic and look much, much more flexible.

Lots to read today. I'm burning in the new NAS for a week or so before plumbing it in to our system. Thanks to your pointers I have a pretty good idea of how to get everything working.

Thanks again,

Mark

[tomtom901]

Hi Mark,

Not a problem, you can mark helpful answers if you'd like.

[mlcooper54]

Oops. Done. I'm new to the forum and didn't notice you could mark replies like that.

Thanks,

Mark

[vMariaL]

mlcooper54 wrote:

We purchased VDP with our acceleration kit before we were entirely sure what we needed. We came close to getting Veeam, but now after reading some virtualization posts on Spiceworks, Unitrends is looking really good. Our office is near Columbus Ohio so Veeam has an added attraction.

What do you use for backup and replication? I know, each situation is different.

Hi Mark, thank you for considering Veeam! From what you've described, it sounds like Veeam Backup & Replication would be a good fit since you can use it for a local backup as well as replicating to another host, and archiving off to removable media. Veeam also offers NFR licenses.

Please let me know what questions I can answer for you about Veeam, and good luck in your search.

----

Veeam Community Manager

[mlcooper54]

vMariaL,

I've downloaded the free version of Veeam Backup and Replication and have played with it. Like I said earlier in this thread it looks really good. I have Rick Vanover scheduled to give a presentation to a group of Ohio local government IT folks I work with. I'm the hardware/network guy at a company just outside of Columbus. Our software guy has been in communication with Veeam and has said that Veeam is significantly more expensive than Unitrends for a 4 socket license. Veeam also requires a Windows machine to run, whereas Unitrends is a self-contained virtual appliance.

Tell me more about these NFR licenses...

Thanks,

Mark

[Gortee]

Mark,

Fun questions.  Always good to hear from another Columbus Ohio based VMware user.  You should join the local VMUG (Vmware User group)  we have lots of good discussions like this.  

So when it comes to replicating storage to another array there are lots of different ways:

1. Storage to storage replication - if your array (sorry not familiar with yours) supports it -> this is a great option but also will likely cost a lot of you are not already licensed plus I doubt the scale you are using would make it worth the expense

2. VMware replication - this would be a perfect solution in your case just present the additional lun's to your vsphere and let CBT replicate every 15 minutes to the other lun's - btw this is included with every version of Vcenter now so you should have it.  You just have to install the appliance and go.

3. Third party software - The king of software / options here really is veeam they have been around forever and simply rock.  Other players like VDP, UEB are not bad... they all have advantages.  

One thing to consider is what you are trying to achieve.  If you want another copy of the vm's on another array in case the first fails it might be worth buying a better array but since the array is already on the flood that option is gone.  With option 3 you get a backup and replication options.  You can replace your traditional backup with one of the products in 3 and still have replication.   So it really depends on what your business needs are...  

I would be happy to discuss these options in person at lunch around Columbus or on the phone if you need a real human to talk to...  just PM me and we can talk.

Thanks,

J