Veeam VM replication using built-in WAN accelerators); can we use VMware instant clone on replicated VMs?

[cerberus]

Hello,

When replicating VMs using Veeam Replication, if we use SureBackup or SureReplica job to bring up the VMs in D/R we can't leave them running for very long as this would prevent nightly replication jobs from running. This makes it very difficult if we want to use D/R for testing some changes in that we are constrained by time.

One option is to clone the replicated VMs and use that for lab work, this would ensure the replication jobs can continue to run.

The issue with cloning is that its a very expensive process in terms of storage requirements and the length of time it takes to clone large VMs. In vSphere 6.7 VMware introduced https://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2018/04 ... art-1.html functionality, this is a faster alternative to traditional cloning process.

Unsure if this is supported for replicated VMs? Will this prevent replication from running and/or potentially locking issues with replica retention policies?

[HannesK]

Hello,
interesting idea, but I wouldn't do it with production VMs.

Once retention is reached, the replicated VM changes to warning state "consolidation is required"



Best regards,
Hannes

[cerberus]

I was trying to edit my original post, I was actually referring to Linked Clones (New-VM -Name SQL_new -VM SQL_replica -ReferenceSnapshot "Restore Point 4-12-2021 4:29:15 PM" -LinkedClone).

According to VMware, a linked clone is a copy of a virtual machine based on a specific snapshot of VM.

It seems to work in that I get a cloned VM instantly out of the _replica VM, daily replication job continues to work without issues. I reduced the number of replicas to keep down to 1 and things seem to run fine without any consolidation warnings (the snapshot originally used in the -LinkedClone was consolidated as part of the replication job retention policy).

When things "just work" is when I get worried and start questioning things. This is purely to get a DR lab up from _replica VMs without locking nightly replication (avoiding full clone perf. hit).

This may be more of a VMware question at this point, but figured I'd post here to see if anyone else attempted this or red flags to be worried about.

[HannesK]

yes, edit is only possible for a certain amount of time. the alternative is just posting an answer to your own thread

I used the instant clone as described in the blog post

Code: Select all

New-InstantClone -SourceVM $SourceVM -DestinationVM $newVMName -CustomizationFields $guestCustomizationValues