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CCIE17603
Contributor
Contributor

SRM in an actual disaster

Hi Everyone,

I have somewhat of a basic question so please bear with me...

In the case of an actual disaster where the entire primary site is unavailable, how does SRM 5.1 recover remotely? My question is based on the fact that you need to have 2 VCenter servers communicating to orchestrate the recover process, correct? What happens if the two VCenter servers can't communicate. Can you start the recovery process from the Failover side somehow, and if so.. how exactly? I finally have SRM 5.1 working perfectly for my environment and if there is a way to do this, it's not something I want to do try based on trial-and-error. Surely VMWare thought of this when developing the product, right?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

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TomHowarth
Leadership
Leadership

The failover is instancated from the failover site, that is the whole purpose of having two vCenters and SRM servers they have a heartbeat between themselves. and failover can be automatic or manual.

Tom Howarth VCP / VCAP / vExpert
VMware Communities User Moderator
Blog: http://www.planetvm.net
Contributing author on VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing ESX and the Virtual Environment
Contributing author on VCP VMware Certified Professional on VSphere 4 Study Guide: Exam VCP-410
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hosterman_cody
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hello,

I will be out of the office on vacation from Thursday, November 22nd through Friday, November 30th. I will have no access to email and voicemail throughout so responses will be delayed until I return.

For urgent matters, please email my manager Radhakrishnan Manga at radhakrishnan.manga@emc.com or contact me on my cell phone at (508) 868-4108. Thank you for your patience.

As always, if this is a support related question, please contact EMC support. Thanks in advance!

Thanks and regards,

Cody

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

Two VCs are needed to orchestrate the protection process.

In the case of an actual disaster an authorized personnel needs to login only to the functioning Recovery Site and work with Recovery Plan(s).

Did you see the ability to "Test" a Recovery Plan?

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Josh26
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

As much as people like to talk about "automation", DR should be manual.

HA is already automated. By the time there's a DR event, you've had a flood/fire/meteor, and according to any well written business policy, you've gone and had the authorized DR officer declare a "disaster" and begun "enacting the plan".

Having the system guess that for you doesn't follow that process.

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sparrowangelste
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

CCIE17603 wrote:

Hi Everyone,

I have somewhat of a basic question so please bear with me...

In the case of an actual disaster where the entire primary site is unavailable, how does SRM 5.1 recover remotely? My question is based on the fact that you need to have 2 VCenter servers communicating to orchestrate the recover process, correct?

No only the destination site is needed in a DR situation. if the primary site is up its a nice to have to replicate final changes but not needed.

What happens if the two VCenter servers can't communicate. Can you start the recovery process from the Failover side somehow, and if so.. how exactly?

You start the recovery process and the vms that are replicated turn on in your dr site

I finally have SRM 5.1 working perfectly for my environment and if there is a way to do this, it's not something I want to do try based on trial-and-error. Surely VMWare thought of this when developing the product, right?

I would suggest using the test function to bring the vms up in a test sandbox so you get a feel for srm 's recovery features

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

--------------------- Sparrowangelstechnology : Vmware lover http://sparrowangelstechnology.blogspot.com
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CCIE17603
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for everyone's answers.

I have executed the test plan and an actuall recover & reprotect to see how it would all work out. I did all of these from the Primary site VCenter. I was just wondering how I would execute this if the Primary site was unavaiable. ie) how I would activate the recovery from the DR site VCenter.

Thanks everyone.

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