Upgrading from standard license to Enterprise, have question

[ashman70]

I am upgrading a couple of my clients from standard to enterprise for the express reason of using the virtual lab and the ability to automatically spin up backups and replicas to test them. I have just upgraded one client and configured everything correctly, I think.

In a basic environment where there are two VMware hosts at the same location, one is the primary production host the other is used for replicas, where would or should I put the virtual lab? What requirements in terms of disk space and memory are required for the virtual lab?

When I create a virtual lab job for replicas, I see that I should spin up domain controllers first, then application servers such as exchange second so that services start up after detecting domain controllers, is that where the linking jobs feature comes into play? Do I create separate jobs, one for each vm, or lump them all together in one job?

Do I have to run a sure backup job every night to test my backups, what do most folks do? I know it up to me, just curious.

How do I create a sure replica job to spin up replicas to test them?

I am continuing to do research so I may find answers on my own however I'd still appreciate input, thanks.

AM

[PTide]

where would or should I put the virtual lab

Then I'd recommend placing the virtual lab at replica host - running the lab will require extra CPU (more details on that later).

what requirements in terms of disk space and memory are required for the virtual lab?

No disk space required - SureBackup runs VMs from backup files utilizing vPower NFS. The amount of RAM given to each VM in an AppGroup can be limited in Startup Options. CPU resources are provided based on Virtual Lab Pool's (which is automatically created when creating a new Lab) settings. You can edit those Pool's CPU settings options manually but you'll need to do that via VMware console.

How do I create a sure replica job to spin up replicas to test them?

You just add an existing replica to your AppGroup ("Add Replica" button right under the "Add Backup" button). Next, you add that AppGroup to SureBackup Job. It is also possible to mix backups and replicas in one verification job. For details please refer to this guide.

I know that's a brief explanation and you probably still have questions so don't hesitate to ask.

Thank you.

[foggy]

Do I have to run a sure backup job every night to test my backups, what do most folks do? I know it up to me, just curious.

More logical would be to run it for every restore point created, to provide restoreability of every backup you have.

[PTide]

is that where the linking jobs feature comes into play? Do I create separate jobs, one for each vm, or lump them all together in one job?

No need to do that - VMs in the list are specified in the order of their boot priority which can be changed by "Move Up", "Move Down" buttons.