recoverpoint for vms 4.3 sp1 frequently asked questions · pdf filerecoverpoint for vms 4.3...

RecoverPoint for VMs 4.3.1 FAQ of 7

February 2016

RecoverPoint for VMs 4.3 SP1 Frequently Asked Questions

4.3.1 Release

ABSTRACT This document summarizes the frequently asked questions for RecoverPoint for VMs 4.3.1 release.

February, 2016

Contents

• Solution Design • Deployment • Orchestration • License • Upgrade

• Advanced


February 2016

Solution Design Question: How do I know that RecoverPoint for VMs is the right solution for me?

Answer: If you have a virtual workload or a need for VM-level protection, it is likely RecoverPoint for VMs is the right solution for you.

Question: Can I try RecoverPoint for VMs prior to purchasing?

Answer: RecoverPoint for VMs offers a trial version free of charge, with no functional or time limitation.

The trial version is for non-production use and without EMC support.

Answer: A RecoverPoint for VMs license for 15 VMs is included as part of HCIA, VNX2 ESSPAK bundle and VNXe3200 base software bundle.

Question: How is RecoverPoint for VMs different from RecoverPoint?

Answer: RecoverPoint for VMs is a hypervisor-based data protection tool that protects virtual machines (VMs) with per- VM granularity. In contrast, RecoverPoint protects storage arrays and replicates data at the storage LUN level.

Question: What are the components of RecoverPoint for VMs?

Answer: There are three components: RecoverPoint for VMs splitter, RecoverPoint virtual appliances (vRPA) for replication, and the RecoverPoint VMware vCenter plugin for management and orchestration.

Question: Which versions of vSphere are supported by RecoverPoint for VMs?

Answer: vSphere versions 5.1 U1, 5.5 and 6.0 and later updates with vCenter Web client are supported.

Question: What storage types are supported by RecoverPoint for VMs?

Answer: RecoverPoint for VMs is storage-agnostic. Any storage supported by VMware (including FC, iSCSI, NAS, DAS and VSAN) is supported by RecoverPoint for VMs. Note: Independent, shared, and non-persistent disks are not replicated.

Question: Does RecoverPoint for VMs support RDM?

Answer: Yes. RecoverPoint for VMs can replicate source RDMs (Raw Device Mappings) to target VMDKs and source VMDKs to target RDMs, making RecoverPoint for VMs an excellent conversion solution for RDM to VMDK and vice versa. The target VMs can be created automatically or manually. When replicating VMDKs to RDMs, the target VM must be created manually so you can define the RDM.

Question: Does RecoverPoint for VMs work with VMware SRM (Site Recovery Manager)?

Answer: No. RecoverPoint for VMs provides integrated management and orchestration with VMware vCenter Server at no additional cost. SRM should only be used with RecoverPoint replication for storage arrays.

Question: Is the RecoverPoint for VMs journal virtualized?

Answer: Yes. The RecoverPoint for VMs journal is virtualized (i.e. the journal is a VMDK).

Question: Does RecoverPoint for VMs support Multi-site protection?

Answer: Yes. RecoverPoint for VMs supports up to 4 replica copies for each protected virtual machine, enabling concurrent local and remote replication, or multiple remote copies.


February 2016

Deployment Question: What’s new in 4.3.1 release deployment flow?

Answer: 4.3 SP1 release features an improved deployment flow that is fully guided and monitored. The new deployment flow consists of the following 3 main steps:

1. Create the virtual RecoverPoint appliances (vRPAs) by deploying the OVA file.

2. Use the new “RecoverPoint for VMs Deployer” tool to easily create the vRPA cluster. For remote replication, use the Deployer tool to connect the clusters on production and DR sites.

3. Enter the RecoverPoint for VMs plugin and register all the ESXi clusters on which you wish to run protected VMs and the VMs’ replicas.

Question: Can I automate the RecoverPoint for VMs deployment process?

Answer: Yes, RecoverPoint for VMs provides a full deployment API, enabling deployment flow automation.

Question: Can a vRPA cluster replicate the contents of more than one ESXi cluster?

Answer: Yes. Each vRPA cluster can be connected to up to 4 ESXi clusters. This allows you the flexibility to locate the vRPAs on the same ESXi cluster, or on a separate ESXi cluster than the protected VMs.

Question: How do I connect ESXi clusters to the vRPA cluster?

Answer: Using 4.3.1 release, you can easily register the ESXi cluster under the desired vRPA cluster tab, enabling protection of VMs running on that ESXi cluster. The registration automatically installs the splitters across all the ESXi hosts and verifies iSCSI connectivity is set up properly.

Register all ESXi clusters that run protected VMs or the VMs’ replicas and any additional ESXi clusters on which you wish to enable vMotion and provide HA of the protected VMs or the vRPAs. (Note: Replicated VMs and vRPAs cannot be migrated to ESXi hosts without a splitter installed.)

Question: Does RecoverPoint for VMs support automatic provisioning?

Answer: Yes. RecoverPoint for VMs supports automatic provisioning of target VMs as well as journals. In addition, users can also manually select existing VMs as the target VM (VMDK or RDM) or existing data-store pools for the journal virtual disks.

Question: What connectivity interfaces are required for RecoverPoint for VMs?

Answer: RecoverPoint for VMs uses iSCSI for communication between its components (Splitter, vRPA) only. For replication, RecoverPoint for VMs uses IP communication.

Question: How does RecoverPoint for VMs scale?

Answer: RecoverPoint for VMs can either scale up (by including 2 to 8 vRPAs per cluster), or scale out (by adding another vRPA cluster, up to the maximum of 8 vRPA clusters for 4.3.x releases).


February 2016

Orchestration Question: Can I use RecoverPoint for VMs to failover a single VM?

Answer: Yes. RecoverPoint for VMs works at the consistency-group level. If your consistency group only contains one VM, you can fail over that VM without affecting other workloads.

Question: Can I failover multiple VMs that are logically dependent upon one another, while retaining data consistency?

Answer: Yes. To do so, group all VMs in one consistency group.

Question: Can I use RecoverPoint for VMs to fail over or migrate the entire site?

Answer: Yes, using RecoverPoint for VMs Group Set. Group sets allows you to group together multiple consistency groups up to a full site. You can also test, fail over, and recover production on a group set containing your entire production site in one operation.

Question: Can I pre-define the power-up sequence in case of Failover or Failback? Answer: Yes, RecoverPoint for VMs 4.3 provides extensive tools for configuring the power-up sequence. The

available tool set Includes:

• Setting the boot order of virtual machines within the same consistency group

• Setting the boot order of consistency groups within the same group-set

• Include external scripts and user prompt messages before/after each VM power-up sequence

• Network Configuration and Re-IP on failover

Question: Does RecoverPoint for VMs support Microsoft VSS for application-consistent bookmarks?

Answer: Yes, RecoverPoint for VMs 4.3 supports Microsoft VSS for creating application-consistent bookmarks.

Question: What is the relationship between VMs and consistency groups?

Answer: Consistency groups are used to protect VMs. RecoverPoint for VMs consistency group can contain a single VM or multiple VMs.

Question: Does RecoverPoint for VMs support Virtual Volumes (VVOLs)? Answer: Yes, RecoverPoint for VMs is out-of-the-box VVOLs ready. The 4.3.1 release has been tested with

VVOLs supporting EMC storage arrays (vVNX & VMAX3) to protect VMs running on top of VVOLs.

Note: vRPA datastores and journals should not run on top of VVOLs.

Question: Are target VMs powered off during replication?

Answer: Yes. To save resources, target VMs are not registered. A lightweight shadow VM is created per target VM. The shadow VMs are used as an interface to the target VMs.


February 2016

License Question: What are the ordering and licensing options for RecoverPoint for VMs?

Answer: RecoverPoint for VMs is ordered and licensed according to tiers, based on the number of VMs that you need to protect. The minimum quantity is 15 VMs and there are several price tiers based on purchase volume.

The tiers increase in VM number progressively from 15 to 99 VMs, 100 to 249 VMs, 250 to 499 VMs, 500 to 999 VMs, 1,000 to 1,999 VMs and 2,000+ at the highest tier. RecoverPoint for VMs is ordered by choosing the appropriate tier that represents the total number of production VMs.

Question: How many VMs are supported per vCenter?

Answer: RecoverPoint for VM version 4.3.x can protect up to 2,000 VMs in a single vCenter.

Question: Why was the locking ID for RecoverPoint 4.3 changed?

Answer: The license locking ID for RecoverPoint v4.3 was changed to vCenter ID for the following reasons:

• Provide the customer a higher flexibility in allocating VM protection to different clusters, license is locked to the production vCenter ID and can be used by all clusters managed by the production vCenter

• Provide multi-site protection at the same cost as a single protection copy, as licenses are counted by number of protected production VMs

• Allow partial activation when there are multiple production vCenter

• Changing replication direction does NOT require additional licensing action

Question: How do I move the purchased VM quantity between systems?

Answer: RecoverPoint 4.3 licenses are managed from a license pool per production vCenter. When you deploy a new RP4VM cluster the licenses are pulled from the license pool available per production vCenter and when you remove RP4VM cluster the licenses are returned to the license pool.

Question: How do I move the purchased VM quantity between vCenters?

Answer: You can move the purchased VM numbers among the multiple production vCenter by re-hosting on the ELMS.

Question: Is RecoverPoint for VMs customer-installable without an EMC Professional Services engagement?

Answer: Yes. See the EMC RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Installation and Deployment Guide for the installation procedure, available in the community page.


February 2016

Upgrade Question: Is RecoverPoint for VMs customer-upgradable without an EMC Professional Services engagement?

Yes.

Question: How do I upgrade RecoverPoint for VMs 4.3.0.x to 4.3 SP1?

Answer: Licensed customers: Download the 4.3.1 “Upgrade & Maintenance” kit from the EMC support site to run a non-disruptive upgrade (NDU) flow from 4.3.0.x to 4.3.1. Note: The upgrade flow is performed using the old “Deployment Manager” tool included within the kit.

Try & Buy environments: Remove the existing 4.3 environment; then run a new installation of 4.3.1. Use the RecoverPoint for VMs 4.3.1 Installation and Deployment Guide available in the community page, follow the “environment clean-up” procedure, then follow the “Installation” procedure.

Question: Can I upgrade RecoverPoint for VMs 4.2.x to 4.3 SP1?

Answer: Yes. Upgrading 4.2.x to 4.3.1 is possible; however, this requires first upgrading 4.2.x to 4.3.

See the EMC RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Installation and Deployment Guide for the Upgrade to RecoverPoint for VMs 4.3 procedure.

The upgrade procedure from 4.2 to 4.3 requires pausing vRPA replication jobs for the duration of the upgrade process, but the RecoverPoint for VMs system setting and consistency groups’ journal history are saved and available when the upgrade for RecoverPoint for VMs 4.3 is completed.

Question: What if I prefer EMC experts to conduct the upgrade of my production site RecoverPoint for VMs system for me?

Answer: Licensed RecoverPoint for VMs environments with active maintenance contract can be upgraded by EMC with no additional cost.

In order to schedule the upgrade by EMC service team, please open SR request for upgrading to 4.3.1.

Question: How do I upgrade 4.2 or 4.3.0 licenses to a 4.3.1 license?

Answer: The 4.2 license upgrade is a manual process for re-claiming previously purchased licenses (Legacy Customers Transition). All 4.2 Local and Remote protection licenses can be upgraded to 4.3.1 protected VMs based license.

Please open an SR on https://support.emc.com/ for upgrading the RP v4.2 licenses.

Answer: 4.3.0 Licenses are valid with the 4.3.1 release, and there is no need to upgrade these licenses when upgrading to 4.3.1.

Question: What is the Locking ID for RecoverPoint for VMs license?

Answer: RecoverPoint for VMs 4.3.1 license is locked to the vCenter ID. The vCenter ID is indicated as the “Serial Number” field in the plugin Administration vRPA Clusters vCenter Servers tab.

Answer: For the 4.3 release, login to any VC and check out the “InstanceUid” value at:

https://<IP>/mob/?moid=ServiceInstance&doPath=content%2eabout

(User and password entry is required)

Question: Can I upgrade my existing RecoverPoint licenses to RecoverPoint for VMs?

Answer: No. RecoverPoint for VMs is a separate product from RecoverPoint and uses a different license.


February 2016

Advanced Question: Can I extend the journal?

Answer: Yes. The first VMDK will be provisioned automatically by RecoverPoint for VMs. You can then add a second VMDK using the RecoverPoint for VMs web client plugin. The total size of the journal is limited to a maximum of 10TB.

Question: Can RecoverPoint for VMs co-exist with VMware snapshots?

Answer: Yes. Snapshots can be taken of target VMs, but only during image access.

Question: Can RecoverPoint for VMs co-exist with SRM+VR?

Answer: Yes, under the limitation that each solution is used to protect different VMs.

Question: Is VMware linked clone supported?

Answer: No. VMware linked clones are currently not supported.

Question: Is protecting a VM with fault tolerance supported?

Answer: No. VMs with fault tolerance enabled are not supported.

Question: Is PowerPath VE supported with RecoverPoint for VMs?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Is VMware vMotion supported with RecoverPoint for VMs?

Answer: Yes. vMotion is supported for both the protected VMs and RecoverPoint for VMs virtual appliance

Question: Is VMware Linked vCenters supported with RecoverPoint for VMs?

Answer: Yes. Linked vCenters is supported by RecoverPoint for VMs 4.3

Question: What is vROps RecoverPoint for VMs Integration?

Answer: VMware admins can now monitor RecoverPoint for VMs topology and resource metrics within VMware’s vRealize Operations (vROps, formerly known as vCOps), or its “storage-only” version offered by EMC.

Question: How do I purchase the RecoverPoint plugin for EMC Storage Analytics integration?

Answer: The RP plugin for ESA integration is available for free downloading for all RecoverPoint for VM customers through EMC support site. Customer need to purchase vROps separately.

RecoverPoint for VMs download page:

http://www.emc.com/products-solutions/trial-software-download/recoverpointforvms.htm

RecoverPoint community page:

https://community.emc.com/community/products/recoverpoint

http://www.emc.com/products-solutions/trial-software-download/recoverpointforvms.htm

https://community.emc.com/community/products/recoverpoint

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