Need help with replication testing / changing

[electricd7]

Hello,

I finally got most all of my VMs replicated to our DR site and have them updating nightly. Now I would like to change the jobs so that the networks are remapped to an isolated VMnetwork that didn't exist when I setup the jobs. Am I able to just edit a replication job and change the network within that job and it will change the far end VMX the next time it runs? Will it do the same for RE-IP if I choose?

Secondly, I need a way to "test" the replicated DR site. Is there an easy way to fire up all the machines in DR to be sure they come on and work and then power them all back off without making any real changes to the DR site? Thanks in advance!

ED7

[foggy]

Am I able to just edit a replication job and change the network within that job and it will change the far end VMX the next time it runs? Will it do the same for RE-IP if I choose?

Yes, the changes should be reflected on target VM during the next job run.

Secondly, I need a way to "test" the replicated DR site. Is there an easy way to fire up all the machines in DR to be sure they come on and work and then power them all back off without making any real changes to the DR site? Thanks in advance!

There is a huge existing topic regarding testing replicas, please review: Testing Replica (B&R 6.0 and later).

[electricd7]

Thanks for the reply. I have read the thread and understand the testing of the replicas now. My last remaining question is that in the event of a true DR event, my production would be offline and my Veeam server is virtual as well. I do not have this server replicated to DR (is this possible?), so how would I perform a failover or failback as the production veeam server would be unreachable. I could easily power on my DR site and have access to all my VMs but wouldn't be able to get back to production when it came back online using a wizard. Can someone suggest the best practice solution for this scenario?

[johnlong]

I have a second veeam server in my DR site that performs replication. Then in the event I failover to the DR site I have a repository large enough that I can create backup jobs in the DR site.

[Vitaliy S.]

I do not have this server replicated to DR (is this possible?), so how would I perform a failover or failback as the production veeam server would be unreachable.

Yes, you can replicate this server or install a completely new instance of Veeam B&R server to manage replication jobs.

I could easily power on my DR site and have access to all my VMs but wouldn't be able to get back to production when it came back online using a wizard

You would still be able to failback in this scenario, but not with the Veeam built-in functionality. Creating new replication jobs targeted to the main site should solve this problem.

Can someone suggest the best practice solution for this scenario?

Run a secondary Veeam B&R server on the remote site and manage your replication jobs from that location. This option is widely used among our existing customers.

Thanks!

[veremin]

Also, you might want to deploy Enterprise Manager in order to have necessary visibility across two VB&R instance. Thanks.

[electricd7]

Running a secondary Veeam B&R server sounds like a good option, but would I need to purchase license for the far-end hosts then using this scenario? That would be out of the question for this install as that server wouldn't be used unless there was an actual DR event.

[foggy]

You can temporarily revoke licenses from the hosts that are down manually after the failover and reuse them for the hosts you run the jobs against.