What is vSphere Replication and How to Configure it Step by Step?

A complete disaster recovery plan and the preventable measures it contains help to minimize potential damage and rapidly resume business operations when an interruption occurs. A standard DR workflow streamlines IT processes and reduces human errors, so it is essential for the data loss prevention strategy of any organization.

VMware launches a plethora of tools to prevent data loss and vSphere Replication is one of them.

What is vSphere Replication?

vSphere Replication is an asynchronous and hypervisor-based VM replication solution in a vSphere environment, which integrates with VMware vCenter Server and the vSphere Web Client.

There are two main elements of the utility, an agent which is central to the installation package, and vSphere Appliances downloaded from vCenter. The former transfers the modified data from a running VM to another while the appliances make sure that the remote VM's offline disk files get the replication and give the admins visibility to manage the replication process.

vSphere Replication can work independently or use with VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) for VMware data recovery. It is a storage-based alternative free for vSphere Essentials Plus, vSphere Standard, vSphere Enterprise, vSphere Enterprise Plus, and vSphere Desktop.

The most recent version is vSphere Replication 8.5 for:

• vSphere 7.0 U3, 7.0 U2, 7.0 U1, 7.0, 6.7 U3, 6.7 U2, 6.7 U1, 6.7.0;

• ESXi 7.0 U3, 7.0 U2, 7.0 U1, 7.0, 6.7 U3, 6.7 U2, 6.7 U1, 6.7.0;

• vSAN 7.0.3, 7.0.2, 7.0.1, 7.0, 6.7.3, 6.7.2, 6.7.1, 6.7.

Features:

• Replicate data from the source site to a running target site with both vCenter Servers installed.

• Replicate data from one cluster/datastore to another different one in a single site.

• Replicate VMs to multiple vCenters or to a shared target from multiple locations with Appliance for each vCenter installed.

• Work with any storage type and allow users to copy VMs among those types like from SAN to vSAN.

• Provide a flexible RPO (Recovery Point Objective) between 5m to 24h, which admins could set up on a per VM basis or enable a number of recovery points.

• Use the snapshot to save only incremental changes to the target virtual disks after a full replication of the VM.

• Allow admins to access the virtual appliance via the web for simple configurations for up to 2,000 VMs.

• Support Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service and Linux File System Quiescing for seamless cooperation of users and backup programs.

• Integrate with vSphere components and leverage its functions like vMotion, DRS, Distribute Power Management, and more.

What’s new in 8.5:

• Change the replica disk storage policy on the target data store.

• Support for Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS).

• Monitor and report the VM quiescing status.

• Display the target site name on the configure replication validation page.

• vRealize Operations Management Pack.

• vRealize Orchestrator Plug-In.

Limitations:

• vSphere Replication offers easier management and disaster recovery for VMware users but it does have some drawbacks:

• Snapshots for replication create additional operational overheads.

• Consumes bandwidth to meet its network requirements.

• Only replicate running VMs and cannot replicate templates.

• Limited 24 recovery points support.

• Cannot replicate FT-protected VMs, MSCS clusters, disks in multi-writer mode, and vCenter vApps.

• Drop the disaster recovery ability by creating too many Multiple Points in Time.

How to install and configure vSphere Replication step by step?

1.     Download vSphere Replication from my.vmware.com, or mount the ISO file on a system or extract its bin directory content.

2.     Log in to the vSphere Client, choose Hosts and Clusters on the home page.

3.     Right-click the host and choose Deploy OVF Template.

4.     Choose URL to deploy or if you mount the ISO image on a system, go to Local file> Browse for the in directory and select files vSphere_Replication_OVF10.ovf, vSphere_Replication_OVF10.cert, vSphere_Replication_OVF10.mf, vSphere_Replication-system.vmdk, and vSphere_Replication-support.vmdk

5.     Specify a unique name and location for the OVF.

6.     Choose a cluster or host to run the template.

7.     Review the appliance details and accept the license agreement.

8.     Choose the number of vCPUs depending on your environment. Choose 2 vCPUs if you are uncertain.

9.     Choose the datastore and disk format.

10.  Choose a network and set the IP allocation and protocol for the appliance.

11.  Enter required values for template customization such as IP address or hostname of NTP server, VM hostname, root password, etc.

12.  Choose the binding service for the appliance and ensure it and the vCenter or PSC are in the same network.

13.  Review the details and click FINISH to complete.

14.  Power on the appliance, note its IP address and log out of the Client.

Register vSphere Replication in vCenter

1.     Open the vSphere Replication configuration page at https://IP-Address:5480 and log in with admin credentials.

2.     Navigate to the Configuration tab and add vCenter information. Enter the LookupService address, click Save and Restart Service. Leave the default for incoming traffic IP address unless you have a different network. Leave the SSL Policy disabled if you are using the self-signed certificate unless you have an internal certificate authority certificate.

3.     Confirm SSL certificate.

4.     Log out and log in to the vCenter again, and refresh the browser.

5.     Start vSphere Replication by clicking Home or Menu> Site Recovery shortcut.

Upgrade to 8.5

1.     Click Upgrade Path.

2.     Choose VMware vSphere Replication from the Select a Solution page.

Full VMware data protection with Vinchin Backup & Recovery

The combination of vSphere Replication and Site Recovery Manager enhances the data security of VMware environments and brings RTO down to a minimum.

But that’s not enough because threats are everywhere and they lurk in the dark to attack organizations for money or being famous.

Backup is always the safety net for disaster recovery. Vinchin Backup & Recovery offers complete VMware (and other 11 virtualizations like oVirt/RHEV, Xen, OpenStack, RHV, etc.) easy backup, recovery, and worry-free migration.

Worry-free backup: enable automated, fast, and agentless backup under schedules through CBT-supported incremental backup via SAN/HotAdd/LAN after being reduced by 50% of data size.

Heterogenous management: simplify management and reduce the workload to administer 12 virtualizations, NAS, Physical Servers, and 6 databases from one console.

Multiple recovery options: offer full, file-level, and instant recovery for different uses. Instant recovery restores the VM in 15s for shorter RTO.

Easy V2V migration: migrate VMware to another 10+ hosts and vice versa without any tools and conversion tools for the multi-hypervisor environment or data transfer.

You can also get a free offsite backup copy that Vinchin saves in another location in case of disasters and a proven security guarantee with Vinchin's anti-malware Backup Storage Protection to protect both data and the backup server.

Download a 60-day free trial of Vinchin Backup & Recovery if you are interested.

Conclusion

vSphere Replication is a hypervisor-based replication solution in the vCenter infrastructure that enables individual VMs replication between supported storage types. It is used for VMware data recovery with vSphere Site Recovery Manager.

You can deploy and upgrade it in your environment for data protection, but do not forget to back up your business-critical data with Vinchin Backup & Recovery at an extremely reasonable price.