replicate remote branch office to main data center seed?

[chamdor]

Hi,

The VM I would like to replicate exists at a remote site ESXi (licensed) with just local VMFS, and I want to replicate TO the main data center ESXi local VMFS (licensed), where Veeam Backup and Replication is installed. My vCenter in the main datacenter manages both ESXi. This seems the inverse of what the manual assumes of going from the data center to a remote DR site.

To do the initial "seed" in this scenario, how can it be done? If from the main data center in Veeam Backup should I choose a remote server with the attached removable storage that exists at the branch site, and will Veeam then go direct from the remote ESXi server there to the remote storage there ( e.g. not try to move any data over the WAN ? ). I could then drive out, unplug the remove drive from the remote server, bring it back and copy it up per the readme.txt?

[Gostev]

Hello, unfortunately seeding is not possible in this scenario, because with ESXi, the replication agent works on Veeam Backup server instead of actual ESX host, so direct operation is not possible and data will have to go through WAN. Your scenario is valid, but only for "fat" ESX.

[chamdor]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply. So as long as I have full blow ESX at the branch office, then it will work as I described then, go straight from ESX to the the remote storage. That is fine I can re-load the server at the branch office with ESX.

[Gostev]

Hello, I was talking about replication between ESX hosts above. So, both source and target hosts for initial replication within branch office need to be "full" ESX, plus you will need to use "Network" processing mode (3rd option on the mode selection page) with service console agents enabled. In that case replication will be direct between hosts, local to that site.

Once the first replication is complete, you will need to disable the job, move the produced replica files to new target ESX host, then edit the job and specify new target (ESX host you have moved files to). Then enable the job and all should be well.

Still there is one issue I can see - if you decide to switch to more efficient vStorage API processing mode for changed block tracking (I assume you have ESX 4), that would still require at least one full pass across WAN.

So for best results and less pain of managing this in the long run (resyncs etc.) I would definitely go for installing Veeam Backup locally in branch office instead (virtual installation will be fine). Remember that you will be able to manage both Veeam Backup deployments easily via Enterprise Manager console, and it does not require additional licenses to use multiple Veeam Backup servers on the same ESX hosts.