Setting up two host replication

[DennisV]

I have a environment with two vSphere4 hosts without SAN.
I would like to replicate the VM's from host A to B and visa versa.

Preferably all the needed servers are VM's. But if I would place the Veeam VM on 1 server and that server fails,
how do I start my VM's on the second site..... I've read you can't replicate the Veeam VM itself and there is no
supported way of syncing the databases using SQL Express.
The same applies to using a third server. If that server would fail my replications are no longer functional and
I would need to resetup the entire replication environment. Having a sync would be so much easier.

Any suggestions how I should setup this environment ?

[Gostev]

Hello, actually you can start VMs without Veeam VM (albeit latest state only). In worst case scenario (if disaster strikes during replication), you may end up with one VM having inconsistent disk image (due to VMDK update aborted), and without ability to failover to earlier point in time, you would have to restore that single VM from backup.

If you want full functionality (ability to failover to any point) available at any time and in any disaster scenario, the only way is to ensure SQL availability during disaster one way or another. So, you would need SQL edition that allows for syncing databases. Or, using highly available remote SQL to host Veeam DB.

Thanks!

[thuizenga]

I guess i am a little confused when you say "need SQL edition " Are you talking about a product from Veeam or a higher version of Veeam backup? Or are you just talking about normail SQL replication / Clustering?

I am assuming that if you have your SQL database avaiable on another server you can install veeam point it to that database and have all your settings back? Or have veeam on another system ready to start with the database?

Thanks,

[Vitaliy S.]

Travis,

Anton was referring to a regular SQL replication (built-in Microsoft SQL feature).

Yes, that's right if you've already saved Veeam configuration DB, you can simply point to that database during the installation process. That will keep all your configuration settings safe and you would be good to go using new backup server with old configrations.

Thanks!

[Gostev]

I am assuming that if you have your SQL database avaiable on another server you can install veeam point it to that database and have all your settings back? Or have veeam on another system ready to start with the database?

Absolutely correct. Remote SQL is a better option than local for this very reason.

Or have veeam on another system ready to start with the database?

Yes, that's another possibility. See here for more information on setting up this scenario.

[thuizenga]

Thanks a lot!