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RML
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Replicating to remote site via Fiber connection

Post by RML »

We have a production and backup site connected via a 50MB Metro Ethernet connection and a 2GB dark fiber connection. Each site has an IBM XIV FC SAN. For DR purposes, the 2GB fiber connection is now used for SAN to SAN replication (not Veeam replication) of a storage pool which contains our nightly Veeam backup files. We are backing up approximately 80 VM's of various sizes. We are also starting to use Veeam replication between sites, which will allow easier and quicker failover. These replications are going across the 50MB ethernet connection. We would like to use Veeam replication more extensively, especially with V6. Do you know if it is possible for us to configure Veeam/VMware so that the replication traffic will use the fiber link instead of the ethernet link in order to segregate backup traffic from other network traffic? Thanks.
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Re: Replicating to remote site via Fiber connection

Post by Gostev »

Hi - unfortunately, unlike SAN replication, Veeam replicates over Ethernet only.
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Re: Replicating to remote site via Fiber connection

Post by tsightler »

That really depends on whether the 2GB dark fiber is being used as an IP network connection or as a dedicated FC extension. Veeam requires IP network connectivity between the proxy servers so as long as you can route IP across the connection, then it's a simple matter of configuring your network/routing to send Veeam traffic over this alternate link.

I guess even if the dark fiber link is FC you could put a physical proxy on the target side and it could pull data over the FC link from the source, which would still accomplish your goal. Or map the VMFS volumes from the source site to the ESXi systems at the target and use a virtual appliance proxy with hotadd.

In other words, it's really not a Veeam question so much as an architecture question. Veeam doesn't really care what link it uses and isn't even really aware of it, it simply access disks and networks in whatever way they have be presented to the host OS. If you want Veeam to use specific network connectivity you simply architect the OS environment on which you will install Veeam to leverage that infrastructure.
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Re: Replicating to remote site via Fiber connection

Post by RML »

Thanks for your responses. We will explore these techniques.
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Re: Replicating to remote site via Fiber connection

Post by ssrjazz »

Um.... "Dark" fiber doesn't have -anything- going over it....no light...hence, 'dark'.

If you've got a 2GB FC connection running over it, it's not 'dark'.

You could invest in FCoE equipment and then use that fiber for ethernet/ip traffic at a much higher rate and run both your FC (via FCoE) across it as well as do replication. You could even get CDWM boxes and run multiple networks across that fiber. CWDM boxes from blackbox aren't too expensive, but FCoE equipment isn't cheap. Just depends on how much money you want/can spend. At that point, however, you would no longer need the metro ethernet unless you wanted to keep it for internet access in general.
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Re: Replicating to remote site via Fiber connection

Post by tsightler »

Actually, the term "dark fiber" is regularly used to describe fiber that is leased from a LEC or other service provider that is not connected to any LEC/service provider provided transmission equipment, i.e. it's not "lit up" by the service provider thus they call it "dark fiber". It's probably more accurately called "dark fiber service", but it's pretty common to simply say "dark fiber" and leave it at that. Since he mentioned that his XIV's were already using this link it seemed likely they had already "lit up" the fiber themselves.
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Re: Replicating to remote site via Fiber connection

Post by Gostev »

I am learning something new every day from you Tom :D
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Re: Replicating to remote site via Fiber connection

Post by Clustor »

tsightler wrote: I guess even if the dark fiber link is FC you could put a physical proxy on the target side and it could pull data over the FC link from the source, which would still accomplish your goal. Or map the VMFS volumes from the source site to the ESXi systems at the target and use a virtual appliance proxy with hotadd.
I did some testing as well with a setup using a proxy in appliance mode (hotadd). When the ESXi machine hosting the proxy has access to the source datastores, thereplication seems to be completely LAN-free using this mode. Automatic mode and Direct SAN mode both result in sending over the LAN instead of the FC infrastructure.

I was planning to test the same thing using a physical veeam proxy at the target side. This off course requires this proxy to be in "Direct SAN access" mode. It's not clear to me how the data flows in this setup.
Does the physical proxy retrieve over the FC SAN and write back over the LAN to the target ESXi host? Or can a physical proxy with SAN access to the target datastore write directly to that target datastore ?

I would be able to offload the replication traffic to a physical host and at the same time use it as a backup repository.
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Re: Replicating to remote site via Fiber connection

Post by foggy »

In the case where backup proxy VM is registered on the host that has access to both source and target datastores, the backup proxy will be able to use the Virtual Appliance (hotadd) mode for both reading data and writing replica to target through ESX I/O stack. But if the backup proxy is physical, the Network transport mode will be used to write replica files to target. Proxy type and available data access modes are detected by Veeam B&R automatically.
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