Ok, here is my scenario.
Source Network/Details:
-- 2 Windows Server 2008/64bit Virtual Servers at a Datacenter in the US
-------- 1 Guest is Exchange Server 2007 with 3 large databases around 20GB each (total size of data is around 110GB)
-------- 1 Guests is Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (with WID/SQL database) – data is about 30GB
-- VMWare host is ESXi (no VCB)
-- Internet throughput is decent
Destination Network/Details:
-- VMWare host is ESXi (but could be ESX and VCB if necessary)
-- Internet up is 3MB, down is about 6MB
The Reason for Asking:
I no longer trust the hosting facility/platform. We’ve had reason to want to move for some time due to various issues, one of which is that we can’t ‘physically’ *touch* these servers and we are at the mercy of the datacenter response time when problems occur. I need these servers running locally
The Challenges:
-- I only have a 24 hour window in which these servers can be *down* to make this move happen
The Solution – Proposed but I’m seeking feedback and expertise):
-- Implement VEEAM Backup and Replication and run the console from the destination host
-- Perform a full replication of the two Virtual guests (Exchange Server and SharePoint Services Server) – let this take as long as it takes – 5 days, 2 weeks, whatever – just get the first replica
-- Once the first replica finishes, target a weekend to complete a ‘follow-up snapshot’ of changes
-- Once the follow-up snapshot completes, re-point DNS for all clients to go to the new systems, at the destination location
Questions/Concerns
-- Am I nuts? Over two weeks, Exchange Databases would be modified quite a bit, assuming I’m depending on VSS (I am right?), it should just be changes to the data and not complete re-copies of the databases, right?
Any and all comments, feedback, guidance and warnings appreciated.
