vCenter DR

[hafeezpashamoha]

we are almost ready to deploy much anticipated vSphere 4 cloud at work. got few questions in mind so would appreciate if i get those answered before we start the actual install.

1) We wish to deploy vCenter 4 Update 1 and use SQL cluster for DB. As there is a limitation of single VMDB instance accessed by vCenter server. If we have a vCenter crash (we decided to use single vCenter 4 server), how easy it is to build a new server and point to same database and would it bring our infrastructure to same level just before crash.

2) Having this in mind, we decided to use primary vCenter on physical hardware and use a DR instance as VM so if we had situation as stated in Point 1, we could turn on Virtual DR vCenter and point to our database instance so we are up and running. Is this possible and does it work?

Appreciate your response.

[AndreTheGiant · Accepted solution]

You can create a new vCenter with the existing DB data without problem.

For other solutions see also:

Andre

[joshp]

The back-end cluster database design and disaster recovery approach you are taking for vCenter is very good. In the worse case scenario where you need to build a brand new vCenter server it would only take a couple minutes (assuming you had a Windows server available) to install vCenter. The installation only takes a couple minutes and by pointing to the existing clustered vCenter database you will be up and running in less than 30 minutes with all previous settings intact.

VCP 3, 4

www.vstable.com

[jadelzein]

as the others have said - attaching a replica vCenter to an existing database (or backup of the database) is quick and easy. make sure you keep the VM configuration in step with the physical vCenter (OS and vCenter updates, etc). I asume the VM copy will be a P2V of the physical server -- same hostname, domain membership, IP, etc. This is required if you want prevent having to reattach the hosts during a recovery.

that all said, and depending on the size of your environment, I would highly recommend you look at VMware's vCenter Server Heartbeat product. You can use this tool to create a replica of the vCenter configuration and database. http://www.vmware.com/products/vcenter-server-heartbeat/

JE