Using Converter/VMotion for Disaster Recovery

[caster]

I'm going to be getting my first vmware esx server and iscsi array shortly. With this project I was looking at getting Symantecs Backup Exec System Recovery for some physical server's. After reading some documentation I believe some people are using Converter/VMotion as a diasaster recovery program. Does any use Converter/VMotion with a PHYSICAL Exchange Server, Active Directory server and SQL server as a diaster recovery plan? How are you using it if so?

Thanks

[schepp]

well, you could for example clone the physical server to a virtual machine, to have a backup if the physical hardware fails.

only thing you'd need to do is keep the data synced.

[caster]

Syncing it would be a problem I supposed. Say I want to just have a copy that I can flip on in esx or would I be able to restore this to a physical server at some point?

[schepp]

The virtual machine would only be a copy to power on if the physical server fails. restoring the system itself won't be possible, but you can of course migrate the new produced data on the virtual machine to the physical host, after it has been repaired.

[JoeLyons]

Hi,

VMotion wont help you in a DR scenario unless you just need to move to a new host.

Convertor could make a copy of your exchange but it will be out of date instantly. You would need an MS Cluster or 3rd party tools to stay up to date.

I think you need to look at standard Exchange backup procedures. You could have a compatible VM ready to restore Exchange into but you had better test it hard before relying on it.

If you host your exchange in a VM you could do things like keep the info stores on seperate VMDK files, that way the an offline exchange server could pick them up if only the OS got corrupted.

It's a hugh area with lots of options so do your research. :smileygrin:

Joe

Remember to back EVERYTHING up before you change ANYTHING

[caster]

Joe,

After getting some feedback and looking at my concerns and budget, possibly a full disaster recovery isnt what I should be trying for. What im really seeking is if a physical server fails I can get back up and running quickly. The symantec product did what I wanted with bare-metal and just thought I can utilize ESX this way

[JoeLyons]

You could restore the server into a VM using the symantec recovery option.

It would save you having a physical server lying around but again you need to test this and think about performance, disk usage etc.

Remember to back EVERYTHING up before you change ANYTHING

[caster]

That is what I like about the symantec recovery. I thought there might be a way to do this all thru ESX and save on the licensing the symantec