VMware DR-Site with Veeam Replication

[wavemaker]

Hi,
I want to build up a DR-Site for an existing environment:

Datacenter A:

• 3x vSphere 7 host (dual-CPU) with Essentials Plus licensing, ~50VMs
• 1x SAN storage, ~30TiB
• 1x physical Veeam v11 Server with 6 CPU licenses

Datacenter B (new DR-DC):

• Single vSphere 7 host (dual-CPU) with internal discs
• replicated VMs and few running VMs (Veeam, Domaincontroller, Fileserver-Replica, Firewall-Appliance, ...) but no Backup needs to be done here
• the Veeam-VM will be used for proper handling of replicated VMs

I read several topics and guides and came to this conclusion:

• Additional Veeam licenses are not needed -> only source hosts need to be licensed
• I Do not need to manage the DR-Host with the same or any vCenter -> just a single standalone host
• Additional VMware licenses are needed as there are running VMs on the DR-site. I don't need Features like HA, vMotion, etc. here because it is just a standalone host. Is "essentials" or "essentials plus" required for Veeam Replication to work or can i go with the free esxi?
• Is WAN Accelerator a good idea as the datacenters are geographically separated? At what bandwidth-minimum is it needed? I do not expect a uncommonly high change-rate and the initial transfer will be done in the same DC
• The replication works as an incremental forever -> so only incremental updates

Are my conclusions correct? Any other potential pitfalls I am currently not aware of?


Best regards,
Bernd

[veremin]

Additional Veeam licenses are not needed -> only source hosts need to be licensed

Correct

I Do not need to manage the DR-Host with the same or any vCenter -> just a single standalone host

Correct

I don't need Features like HA, vMotion, etc. here because it is just a standalone host. Is "essentials" or "essentials plus" required for Veeam Replication to work or can i go with the free esxi?

A paid vSphere license should be assigned to target host, free edition is not supported for such scenarios.

I do not expect a uncommonly high change-rate and the initial transfer will be done in the same DC

Then, you can start without WAN acceleration and enable it, if replication cycles don't end in the allotted time period.

Thanks!

[wavemaker]

Looks good!

I understand that I need a paid license. Would a "vSphere Essentials Kit" be sufficient?

[veremin]

It will, but you need to check with a VMware representative whether the second Essentials license is allowed. Thanks!

[albertwt]

Hi @wavemaker,

Let us know how you go with the required licenses. I'm curious to know it as well.