Datacenter Migration

[mjah]

Hello,

We are in the proces of migrating 2 datacenters to a central environment.( 4TB on static VM's )
Between the new central datacenter and the other datacenters there is a 100mbit VPN connection both sites.
We are evaluating Veeam Backup and Replication to give us a help with getting all the VM's over and keep all the changes replicated 1 or 2 times a day for 1 or 2 months

I got a couple of questions regarding Backup & replication:

- Do i only need to install Backup & replication in the NEW datacenter (i can connect to the vcenters on the old sites)
- Do i need to make a backup job first before i can use the replication function? or are these seperate components
- If i choose to use constantly replication does it snapshot non-stop?
- Is it possible to first make a local backup and then replicate it to the new datacenter (snapshot will be hold long because of the transfer time). And do i need Veeam on both locations for it?
- is it possible to replicate on datastore level instead of VM
- What is the best and most secure (migration) way to use Veeam to accomplish my wish?
- Do i need the VMware Enterprise edition for Veeam to use the VMware Storage API ?

hopefully someone already did some sort of migration like we are going to do and can give me some tips using Veeam.

Regards

[Vitaliy S.]

- Do i only need to install Backup & replication in the NEW datacenter (i can connect to the vcenters on the old sites)

I would rather deploy Veeam B&R server on the source site and used Virtual Appliance mode to get best performance.

- Do i need to make a backup job first before i can use the replication function? or are these seperate components

Those are independent options, you can either start with replication or backup jobs.

- If i choose to use constantly replication does it snapshot non-stop?

In this case, the next run of a replication job will be started once the previous one is complete, maintaining your replica always in the most recent state. Snapshots will be created and removed during each replication job cycle.

- Is it possible to first make a local backup and then replicate it to the new datacenter (snapshot will be hold long because of the transfer time). And do i need Veeam on both locations for it?

Could you please clarify your question?

Provided that you need to replicate backup files offsite, you can use rsync. If you need to perform replication job locally, then move VM files to the second site and then continue replication job with transferring changes only, then it is also possible. Please review our F.A.Q. topic for more details.

- is it possible to replicate on datastore level instead of VM

You can use datastores as containers to replicate VMs.

- What is the best and most secure (migration) way to use Veeam to accomplish my wish?

You can use initial replication over removable storage to replicate VMs quickly, but basically your setup is fairly simple (for me), just install Veeam backup server on the source site, configure it with VA or SAN mode (if possible) and use replication jobs. Backups can be performed locally for DR purposes as well.

- Do i need the VMware Enterprise edition for Veeam to use the VMware Storage API ?

No, in order to use Veeam B&R you need to have the "lowest" VMware paid license.

[mjah]

Thank you Vitality for your answers (i made my post to fast as i have found lots of questions on the form already )..

still 3 questions:

- You say that i need to install the Veeam Server on the Source site. What is the exact reason for this and why not in the New datacenter(old DC will close down)? Does this has to do with the virtual appliance mode?
- The source site is ESX 3.5 and the destination is 4.1. Does this make any differents for the scenario u are describing? Will it still work?
- after we copied the latest changes to the new datacenter what is the best way to put the VM's online, failover mode is not an option i think because changes won't get saved?

thank you.

[Vitaliy S.]

- You say that i need to install the Veeam Server on the Source site. What is the exact reason for this and why not in the New datacenter(old DC will close down)? Does this has to do with the virtual appliance mode?

It is for both, Virtual Appliance mode and initial replication over removable storage option. Though having a 100 Mbit link between the sites, will allow you to replicate VMs fairly quickly even from the target site.

The source site is ESX 3.5 and the destination is 4.1. Does this make any differents for the scenario u are describing? Will it still work?

Yes, that will work. Provided that you have ESX 3.5 on the source site, your original scenario is also fine, but you initial replication over removable storage will not be available.

- after we copied the latest changes to the new datacenter what is the best way to put the VM's online, failover mode is not an option i think because changes won't get saved?

Just power new VMs up with the vSphere Client and your production should be up and running again.

[mjah]

Hi Vitaliy,

If i do an initial replication to a NAS device. And then move the NAS to my new DC.
What are the steps to take to import the VM's into the DR VMware and continue delta replication?

Is it possible to relocate them to different LUN''s? Or do i need to create 1 big LUN that fits the total size of all VM's?
I cannot find any procedure/documentation what to do next after initial replication is completed.

hope you can help me out.

[Gostev]

The steps are outlined in the readme.txt produced during seeding and stored next to seed files. You may also want to review the corresponding section of the User's Guide section for more info on prrocedure.

You need 1 LUN per replication job.

Thanks.

[mjah]

Thank you Gostev,

Do u have any idea what the maximum number of replication jobs is that i can create?
The reason i am asking is that i want to build a 1 on 1 LUN situation on both DC's.

[Gostev]

As many as you want also note that with v5, you can even create datastore-based jobs (by adding datastore container to the job). Any VM with VMX file residing on the selected datastore will be automatically picked up by the job, so this gives you true "set and forget" configuration for your planned LUN to LUN replication setup.

[mjah]

wow that is nice .

It is probably not possible to change the default replication path right?

Now it is LUN\Veeambackup\VMname(vm126).
i know i can vstorage when replication is done to LUN\VMname but we do not have the vstorage license so i need to shutdown all the VM's and Move them to the right path.
It is a cosmetic thing but it would be nice

thnx

[Gostev]

Yes, right now it is not possible to change this path. This will be addressed with our next release. Thanks.