VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) is a dedicated disaster recovery and site migration solution. SRM is an extension to VMware vCenter that provides automated replication and supports policy-based management. It works with various replication solutions, including VMware vSphere Replication, to automate the process of migrating, recovering, and failing-back VM workloads. SRM coordinates the operations of vCenter Server at two sites. This allows the VMs at the recovery site to start up when the VMs of the protected site shut down.
Because the data is replicated between the two sites, the VMs at the recovery site assume responsibility and provide the same services as the protected site. SRM enables the testing of recovery plans without disrupting operations at either site. This is important, as multiple recovery plans can be configured and tested to determine what the final solution will look like, all with no interruption to operation at the production site.
VMware SRM is deployed in a paired configuration that includes a protected site and a recovery site. The SRM software appliance is deployed at both sites. A vCenter Server instance is required at both sites.
Requirements for SRM installation include the following:
- Install the same version of Platform Services Controller (PSC), vCenter Server, vSphere Replication, and Site Recovery Manager on the protected site and recovery site.
- Use Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDN), rather than IP addresses, when you install and configure Platform Services Controller, vCenter Server, vSphere Replication, and Site Recovery Manager. Make Forward and Reverse DNS records for all the components.
- Use centralized Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers to synchronize the clock settings of the systems on all components.
- Site Recovery Manager requires a database. SRM can be installed either with an Embedded PostgreSQL Database or an external database source such as Microsoft SQL or Oracle.
- Obtain a Windows user account with the appropriate privileges to install and run SRM service.
- Obtain the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator username and password for both the protected site and recovery site.
The following figure shows a basic SRM deployment: