VBR with CDP/VAO and vSphere architecture

[davidmk]

Hello,

We are looking into the new CDP features along with the VAO and have a few questions regarding the vsphere and Veeam server environment architecture setup for a DR scenario.

1. From reading over the forums, VBR dedicated for replication using CDP and VAO for orchestration should be located in the DR site to facilitate the replication and failover during a DR/DR testing scenario?

2. Does CDP and VAO require vcenter servers located at primary site as well as DR site if we have our Veeam for replication setup like in Step 1? During a DR/ DR test, the network communication between the primary site and DR site will be disconnected. In order for VAO to orchestrate the failover, does it need a vcenter connection that holds the esxi hosts cluster at the DR site to do the failover?

[HannesK]

Hello,
and welcome to the forums.

1. Correct. That's scenario 1 in https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/vao/u ... tml?ver=40 . If you lose the VBR server in the production site, it would take longer to power-on the machines in the DR site.

2. There must be a VCenter available to failover. Classic replication can also work some kind of without VCenter (orchestration would fail, but at least manual start of the VMs is possible). For CDP, the VMware VAIO filter api requires a functional vCenter (without Veeam & VCenter, the VMs cannot be powered on). VCenter at source is not required for classic replication or CDP. But in many cases it probably makes sense to have to independent environments (at least I would prefer independent environments)

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backu ... ml?ver=110

VM replicas can be powered on only using the failover operation; manual power on is disabled.

Best regards,
Hannes