CDP Replica Seeding

[coastitltd]

I'm currently testing CDP replicas with Cloud Connect now that the feature is available in V12. I'd like to transform some existing snapshot based replicas into CDP replicas.
When trying to use the replica mapping feature in CDP Policy creation, I try to select the cloud-hosted replica but Veeam returns the error:

"Unable to use snapshot-based replica VMs for CDP policy mapping."

This leads me to wonder why the replica seeding feature even offers existing replicas as a target? If I understand correctly Veeam will only return replicas which are stored in it's configuration database as seeding targets, and by default those replicas will all be snapshot based? Or is this facility solely there to reconnect a replica to an existing CDP replica?

If anyone has any clever suggestions of how I can reuse cloud connect-hosted, snapshot based replicas as seeds for CDP replicas I'd be very interested to know. I think my only option would be to backup the cloud connect replicas to a cloud connect repository and then use the backup seed instead.

[veremin]

Hi, Chris,

Siding is actually a slightly different procedure. Siding involves creating a target machine from its backup file and then mapping policy to it.

What you are trying to achieve is called mapping.

To do this, you first need to remove the existing snapshot-based replica from the backup server configuration and then consolidate its snapshots. After performing these steps, you will be able to map the CDP policy to it.

Thanks!

[coastitltd]

@veremin thanks for the reply. Should the replica be removed from the configuration on the cloud connect server or the client server? I did a similar test the other day and the replica was no longer shown as an option for mapping selection. I'll test again when you have confirmed the correct procedure to follow.

Thanks

[veremin]

I somehow overlooked that we are talking about CDP in Cloud Connect. Can you clarify which platform we are referring to: vSphere or Cloud Director replication? Thanks!

[coastitltd]

This is Cloud Connect CDP with vSphere.

[veremin]

In that case, unfortunately, you won't be able to map to an existing replica after removing it from the configuration and consolidating its snapshots. The only way to simplify the task is to create a backup of the production machine in a cloud connect repository and then use it as a seed for the CDP replica.

Thanks!