Azure Site Recovery VMware for Disaster Recovery Solutions

Azure Site Recovery VMware is a powerful tool for disaster recovery solutions, allowing you to replicate and failover your VMware VMs to Azure with minimal downtime.

With Azure Site Recovery VMware, you can replicate your VMware VMs to Azure in as little as 15 minutes, providing a rapid recovery time objective.

This solution supports replication of VMware VMs from vSphere 5.5 and later, and Azure Site Recovery is compatible with vCenter Server 6.0 and later.

By using Azure Site Recovery VMware, you can protect your applications and data from disasters and outages, and ensure business continuity with minimal disruption.

On a similar theme: Azure Arc Vmware

To get started with Azure Site Recovery for VMware, you'll need to sign in to the Azure portal. This is the first step in setting up your disaster recovery solution.

You'll also need to prepare an Azure account, which you can do by following the instructions provided by Microsoft. Make sure you have a valid subscription and the necessary permissions to create a recovery Services vault.

Next, you'll need to prepare an account on the vCenter server or vSphere ESXi host, to automate VM discovery. This will allow you to easily identify and protect your virtual machines.

To get started with replication, you'll need to create a recovery Services vault. This is where you'll store your replication settings and other important information.

Here are the key steps to get started with Azure Site Recovery for VMware:

To set up connectivity, you'll need to select the NIC that the in-built process server uses for discovery and push installation of mobility service on source machines, and then select the NIC that Configuration Server uses for connectivity with Azure.

You cannot change this setting after it's configured, so make sure to get it right the first time.

In the Configuration Server Management Wizard, click on Setup connectivity and follow the prompts.

Next, you'll need to select your Azure subscription, resource group, and vault in the Select Recovery Services vault section.

On a similar theme: Recovery Service Vault Azure

If you're not signed in, click on Click to Sign in to authenticate your account.

In the Install third-party software section, accept the license agreement and click on Download and Install to install MySQL Server.

If you've placed MySQL in the path, this step will be skipped.

In the Validate appliance configuration section, prerequisites are verified before you continue.

Here's a checklist of the settings you'll need to configure:

After configuring these settings, click on Finalize configuration to complete registration.

To set up Azure Site Recovery for VMware, you'll need to prepare the infrastructure on-premises. This involves setting up an Azure Site Recovery replication appliance to channel mobility agent communications.

You can download the ASR replication appliance as an .OVA template file from the Azure portal. This template will be deployed later in your on-premise vSphere environment. Make sure to select the correct NIC for the process server and configuration server during setup.

Discover more: Wix Website - Site Page to Different Webpage on Site

The configuration server coordinates communications between on-premises and Azure, and manages data replication. It's a highly available VMware VM that's set up using a prepared OVA template. To register the configuration server, you'll need to set up connectivity, select the Recovery Services vault, install third-party software, and validate the appliance configuration.

Here are the key settings to configure:

Now that you've set up the Primary Azure VMware Solution, it's time to take it to the next level by enabling replication. This will give you the end-to-end protection of VMs that you need to ensure business continuity.

The workflow diagram shows the steps to take within the Azure portal and the VMware vSphere environments of Azure VMware Solution to achieve this. Run a disaster recovery drill after enabling replication to make sure everything's working as expected.

You'll want to double-check that your replication is set up correctly, so take a moment to review the workflow diagram and verify that all the necessary steps have been taken.

Here's an interesting read: Azure Vmware Solution

To set up the replication appliance, you need to download the ASR replication appliance as an .OVA template file to deploy it later in your on-premise vSphere environment.

You should click on the Download button to download the .OVA template file. The friendly name is the name which appears in Azure, and the user you created previously in vSphere should have read-only permissions.

You can assign a drive letter to the E:\ drive if it's not already write-protected, and then click on Try Again.

The ASR appliance will use your DPortGroup-VLAN-10, which is a distributed virtual switch within the VLAN ID 10.

To enter the desired IP address for your ASR appliance, you'll need to confirm the dialog and reboot the virtual machine once during the initial boot.

You can add a vCenter Server by clicking on Add vCenter Server.

Here's a summary of the steps to set up the replication appliance:

To enable replication of VMware VMs in Azure Site Recovery, you need to select Site Recovery under the Getting Started section and click Enable Replication (Modernized) under the VMware section.

For more insights, see: Azure Backup Vmware

The pre-requisites across storage and networking must be met before proceeding.

You can choose the machine type you want to protect through Azure Site Recovery, but note that in Modernized, support is limited to virtual machines.

To select the vCenter server added to Azure Site Recovery replication appliance, registered in this vault, search for the source machine name to protect it.

The selected machines can be reviewed by selecting Selected resources.

To proceed to source settings, select Next, and ensure accurate credentials are chosen for the replication appliance and VM credentials.

These credentials will be used to push mobility agent on the machine by Azure Site Recovery replication appliance to complete enabling Azure Site Recovery.

For Linux OS, root credentials must be provided, while for Windows OS, a user account with admin privileges should be added.

A default replication policy gets created under the vault with 3 days recovery point retention and app-consistent recovery points disabled by default.

You can create a new replication policy or modify the existing one as per your RPO requirements.

Recommended read: Azure Site Recovery Provides for Virtual Machines

Here's a summary of the replication and protection steps:

SRM and ASR are two powerful tools that work together seamlessly to provide disaster recovery and business continuity for your Azure VMware Solution environment. SRM (Site Recovery Manager) helps you plan, test, and run the recovery of VMs between a protected VMware vCenter Server site and a recovery VMware vCenter Server site.

You can use SRM with Azure VMware Solution to implement different types of recovery, such as planned migration, disaster recovery, and bidirectional protection. Planned migration is an orderly migration of virtual machines from the protected site to the recovery site where no data loss is expected.

SRM supports two DR scenarios: on-premises VMware vSphere to Azure VMware Solution private cloud disaster recovery and primary Azure VMware Solution to secondary Azure VMware Solution private cloud disaster recovery. Here are the supported scenarios:

Keep in mind that only individual VMs can be protected on a host by using VMware SRM in combination with VMware vSphere Replication in Azure VMware Solution.

SRM protection, reprotection, and failback are critical components of the Site Recovery Manager (SRM) and Azure Site Recovery (ASR) solution. SRM uses vSphere Replication for protection, reprotection, and failback.

vSphere Replication is a key component of SRM, allowing you to replicate virtual machines between sites. You can use vSphere Replication with Site Recovery Manager (vmware.com) to configure replication.

Inventory mappings are also crucial for SRM protection groups. Array-Based Replication Protection Groups and vSphere Replication Protection Groups require inventory mappings to be set up correctly. You can find more information on inventory mappings in the VMware documentation (vmware.com).

Placeholder virtual machines are used in SRM to represent protected virtual machines. About Placeholder Virtual Machines (vmware.com) provides more information on how to use placeholder virtual machines in your SRM environment.

Recovery plans are another important aspect of SRM. Creating, Testing, and Running Recovery Plans (vmware.com) provides a step-by-step guide on how to create and test recovery plans.

Expand your knowledge: Azure Site Recovery Step by Step

Customizing IP properties for virtual machines is also essential for a successful failback. You can customize IP properties for virtual machines using the Customizing IP Properties for Virtual Machines (vmware.com) guide.

SRM reprotection is a critical process that involves reprotecting virtual machines after a failover. How Site Recovery Manager Reprotects Virtual Machines with vSphere Replication (vmware.com) provides more information on the reprotection process.

Note that there is a known issue with SRM 8.3.0 that affects IP customization rules. If you have defined IP customization rules, you may need to remove protection from all VMs in the Protection Group and then reconfigure protection on them prior to initiating the failback.

To deploy ASR in vSphere, you'll need to download the ASR replication appliance as an .OVA template file to deploy it later in your on-premise vSphere environment. This file is downloaded from the Azure portal after clicking on the "Prepare infrastructure" button under the VMware machines to Azure section.

You'll also need to create a friendly name for the appliance, which is the name that appears in Azure. This is done by creating a user in vSphere with read-only permissions.

After deploying the ASR appliance, you'll need to configure it by selecting the VM Network, which is the distributed virtual switch within the VLAN ID. For example, if you're using a DPortGroup-VLAN-10, you'll select that.

You'll also need to provide the IP address for your ASR appliance, which is automatically applied by the VM Customization Specification.

To finalize the deployment, you'll need to add the vCenter Server to the Azure portal.

Here's a summary of the steps:

Disaster recovery is a critical aspect of Azure Site Recovery for VMware. To prepare on-premises VMware servers for disaster recovery to Azure, Site Recovery needs access to VMware servers.

You'll want to enable RDP on the on-premises VM before failover, making sure TCP and UDP rules are added for the Public profile, and that RDP is allowed in Windows Firewall > Allowed Apps for all profiles. This will ensure you can connect to Windows VMs using RDP after failover.

If this caught your attention, see: Rdp in Azure

To connect to Linux VMs, check that the Secure Shell service is set to start automatically on system boot, and that firewall rules allow an SSH connection. On the Azure VM after failover, allow incoming connections to the SSH port for the network security group rules on the failed over VM, and for the Azure subnet to which it's connected.

Before failover, it's also essential to ensure there are no Windows updates pending on the VM, as this can prevent you from signing in to the virtual machine until the update completes.

Here are the prerequisites for failback:

To set up disaster recovery to Azure for on-premises VMware VMs, start by selecting the Recovery Services vault and then selecting Site Recovery and Prepare Infrastructure.