Forum Discussion

Alex13's avatar
Alex13
Level 3
7 years ago

replication of hyper-v server

Hello, I have 2 server that are hosting number of virtual machine using Hyper-V. I want to replicate number of this hyper-v server to a third host, so that in case of host failure I could immediate...
16
BE16
Hyper-V
Replication
Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Colin_Weaver's avatar
    Colin_Weaver
    7 years ago

    You don't replicate the VM - you just start it from the latest backup set so the frequency depends on your backup job's frequency and the speed of power up will depend on the performance of your BE server's storage, the performance of the BE server's OS and the network between the BE srever and the hyper-visor host. Typically it would be slightly longer than the original power on of the virtual server was prior to your disaster.

     

    The running VM should not be affected in a noticeable way during the backup process.

     

    BTW Backup Exec is not a replication product so if you truely are after contiunuous realtime replication of all changes in the VM then you are looking at the wrong product and should be looking a High Availability / Replication Products for the Hypervisor itself and not be looking at "Backup" products - although you will still need a backup product as human errors get replicated and therefore need recovery from a system that is not part of replication. (bear in mind that whatever form of replication gets implemented may need to be confirmed as supported by whichever backup product is in use , for instance if if VSS is affected by replication then this might limit adversely affect a backup product or vice-versa)

  • Colin_Weaver's avatar
    Colin_Weaver
    7 years ago

    I don't think a backup product will help you, you need to look at other types of software. I believe Veeam is a backup product so whilst it might work differently from Backup Exec it may have similar limitations/concepts.

    Something like Veritas Storage Foundation might help you as per:

    https://sort-static.veritas.com/public/documents/sfha/6.0/windows/productguides/pdf/SFW_VCS_HyperV_Solutions_60.pdf

     

    However please note I have no actual training on Storage Foundation and you will have to post any further questions to a more appropriate community forum.

     

    You should probably be aware that what you are trying to do is typically a high end enterprise feature - which kind of means significant hardware and software costs to implement a solution and would normally mean a consultant should be engaged implement a suitable design.

CraigV's avatar
CraigV
Moderator

Hi,

Do you want to replicate VMs from 1 H-V host to another? Or the config of the one H-V server to the other? In this case, Hyper-V would start up VMs on surviving nodes so you might not want to replicate VMs as it's going to cause unnecessary resource usage.

If you want to replicate the config, your question might be more for a Microsoft forum.

Thanks!

Alex13's avatar
Alex13
Level 3
7 years ago

Thanks for you reply!

I want to have 2 copies of the vm (the vhd and the config) and replicate it to another host where the VM will be off until I need to fail it over.

I know you can use the HYPER-V Replication option but I wonder if there is a better option using the BE.

I hear about the dedup but didn't fully understand what I get from this.

 

My main goal is to have a DR for my 4 crucial servers that in case of a host failure have the minimal downtime.

 

Thanks again!

  • LegAEI's avatar
    LegAEI
    Level 5
    7 years ago

    Replication is not a disaster recovery option. Whatever you end up doing, make sure you create actual backups (3-2-1 rule) so you have something for actual disaster recovery.

    • Alex13's avatar
      Alex13
      Level 3
      7 years ago

      Thank you for your reply!

      I do have backups running, I don't know what is the 3-2-1 rule, if you will explain this or point me to an replication it will be great!

      I need a live replication for a minimal down time to our main server and I think the best way is a live replication, also I will have  VM backup with option to an instant vm recovery.

      Any suggestions will be appreciated :robothappy:

      thanks!

       

      • Colin_Weaver's avatar
        Colin_Weaver
        Moderator
        7 years ago

        the 3-2-1 rule is

        Always have 3 copies of your data

        Store the copies on 2 different media types

        Keep at least one copy offsite

        --------

        And to explain why backups are important even if you do replication - think of this scenario.

        An employee modifies the contents of some files incorrectly, also deletes some that should not be deleted. (this could be accidental or in some cases malicious behavior)

        This activity is not immediately noticed and all these changes are therefore not only made to the original files but also to all replica copies.

        Eventually the problems start to be noticed - how do you recover your original data if you have not backed it up in addition to replication.

        Also with replication products make sure you know how to stop replication as we have seen scenarios where a disk is replaced with replicatioon still enabled - and the 'empty' content of the replacement disk replicates over all the replicas of the original disk and deletes the data