need help with replication

[pkuczynski]

Hey everyone!
So we have one SAN and 2 vmware, vsphere4 hosts. About 30 virtual machines. We use Veeam version 4.

We recently received a second SAN.

In the event of a hard san failure, such as a power supply failure, we would like our second SAN to automatically pickup where the first one left off?

Would replication take care of this? If so, how would we implement it?

Right now, Veeam tells me that the Replica Destination, destination host and storage is not selected ???

Peter

[Gostev]

In the event of a hard san failure, such as a power supply failure, we would like our second SAN to automatically pickup where the first one left off?

Peter, this sounds like you need hardware (SAN-level) replication. It should be easy to setup if both SAN are from the same vendor, but you should consult with your vendor directly on how to do this.

Veeam Backup is cheaper alternative to SAN replication, and can replicate between any storage (not necessarily same vendor). However, with Veeam replication you will have some data loss (depending on how ofter you have your replication schedule set). While with SAN replication, the second SAN will naturally "pick up" from exactly the moment where first SAN failed (very little dataloss).

[pkuczynski]

Understood, thanks. I will ask my SAN vendor.

Is there a how-to document for setting Veeam to do SAN replication?

I don't understand why Veeam dosnt see any target host. Perhaps I need to specify it somewhere, but I just dont know where.

Peter

[Vitaliy S.]

Peter,

You can find out how to configure Veeam backup server to work in SAN mode at the sticked F.A.Q. section. Basically, to choose destination hosts you should add your target host to Veeam backup console, in the same way you've added source vCenter/ESX/ESXi.

Thank you!

[pkuczynski]

I also dont understand by what you mean by "hardware SAN replication".
Peter

[Vitaliy S.]

Peter,

Hardware SAN replication, which Anton mentioned, is about hardware mirroring SAN data between two similar SAN models, so this is high cost single vendor storage solution. You can google for more information on all the aspects of SAN based replication, there are a lot of articles about that.

Thank you!

[pkuczynski]

Ok, thank you very much, I'll look into it. But in all honesty, such a solution will be too expensive for us.

We purchased a second SAN with the expection to use Veeam, to replacate our vm's to, from our first production SAN to the backup SAN, so in the event of a san failure, we would import the vmx file and start up the vm's from the second san.

So what you are also telling me, is in order for me to use Veeam replication, I need to have another host to replicate to and not a san? I cant use another SAN to replicate to using Veeam?

I just want to be clear on this.

[Vitaliy S.]

Peter,

You DO have an ability to replicate VMs to the same host but place them on a different storage. What I was referring to was that in anyway you need to choose a target host to perform a replication.

I've seen some of our customers using the same scenario as yours. This scenario covers only SAN failures, but what if your host goes down? For this reason it is not so commonly used one, but it will definitely work in case of the primary SAN failure. Additionaly, using Veeam replication jobs you don't have to manually add replicated VMs to inventory, this is already done for you automatically.

Thanks!

[pkuczynski]

I keep seeing "replica destination" not selected and "datastore" not selected.

When I hit "choose" I get a blank window.

what am I doing wrong

Vsphere4 has the existing iscsi san lun mounted and the san lun that I want to replicate to mounted as well. The Veeam backup server, located outside of the san, a windows 2003 dc, sees vcenter, and the datastore, and both san's.
BTW in answer the the above question ">This scenario covers only SAN failures, but what if your host goes down?" We use HA on 2 hosts, so no worries. I'm mainly concerned with the single point of failure, the SAN.

Peter

[Vitaliy S.]

Peter,

Could you please tell us if you're trying to replicate to ESXi host? Also what is the exact version of Veeam Backup and Replication you're currently usuing (4.0 or 4.1) ?

[pkuczynski]

>if you're trying to replicate to ESXi host?
NO, I AM REPLICATING TO A SAN LUN

>exact version of Veeam Backup and Replication you're currently usuing (4.0 or 4.1)
4.0

PETER

[Vitaliy S.]

Peter,

That's right, but to choose a SAN LUN you should choose a destination ESX/ESXi hosts it is connected to. And in case your SAN LUN is mounted to ESXi host, you should upgrade your Veeam backup sever to version 4.1, as replication to ESXi host is only available in this very version.

Thank you!

[pkuczynski]

THANK YOU.
Is there a free upgrade to 4.1 ? or do I need to go to 5 ?

Peter

[Gostev]

All upgrades are free for customers with maintenance agreement in force.
Version 5 is not released yet, current generally available release is 4.1.1

[pkuczynski]

im going to contact our reseller, thanks!

Why is there a replication feature in 4.0 if it dosnt work!!!!

P

[Gostev]

Why is there a replication feature in 4.0 if it dosnt work!!!!

Replication feature in 4.0 works, but for ESX targets only (not ESXi). When replication functionality was orginally implemented, ESXi did not exist. And even today, Veeam is the only vendor to support image-level replication to ESXi (competitive solutions only support ESX targets).

[pkuczynski]

Ok, I got 4.1 to work...

The only error I seem to be getting now ,s a changed block tracking error regarding virtual hardware version 7.
I'm running vsphere4 and Veeam 4.1, backing up ubuntu 7. and 8. servers, as well as some 2003 servers.

Can you clue me in as to why I might be getting this error. Is it outdated vmware tools perhaps?

Peter

[pkuczynski]

I am using virtual machine version 4

[pkuczynski]

I think I answered my own question.

The new machines I build have version 7, but the older one's do not.
I will need to upgrade the older machines to 7.

Peter

[Vitaliy S.]

Peter,

Yes, you should have VM hardware version 7 for your VMs to be able use VMware CBT.

Thanks!

[pkuczynski]

as an update, we upgraded to 4.1 and are awaiting version 5 release. Replication is working fine!
Peter