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RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.2.2 adds the capability to protect VMs directly to Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) using proprietary snap-based replication with an RPO of 15 minutes.
Use RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines to protect production VMs while an instance of the Cloud DR Server (CDRS) is deployed to Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) to manage the cloud copies and run orchestrated recovery flows to native Amazon EC2 instances.
Optionally, deploy the Cloud DR Add-on appliance to fail back from Amazon Web Services (AWS) to an on-premises vCenter server or to VMware Cloud on AWS. If the source VMs or sockets are licensed in the same way as a non-cloud solution, the CDRA is a no-cost option with RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines.
By implementing the RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Cloud Solution, you can:
The HTML5 plug-in for RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.3 cannot configure and manage the RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Cloud Solution. Manage the Cloud Solution through the RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.3 Flex plug-in for vSphere vCenter servers supporting FLEX or the RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines RESTful API.
Replicating to AWS using the RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines cloud solution offers the benefit of cost reduction. RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines replicates data on a CG basis, and therefore the replication topology is decided on a CG basis.
A combination of the following use cases is permitted:
The following Cloud DR server orchestration features are available for RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines copies.
The rehydration and conversion process is slow. Using Rapid Recovery Copies (RRCs) mitigates this as follows:
The DR plan can customize the VM power-up order, and configure network and private IP details, cloud instance type, and security group association.
The following table shows the Cloud DR scalability values:
Table 76. RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines Cloud DR scalability values
Item | Number |
CDRS deployed on AWS | 1 |
S3 buckets on AWS | 1 |
Maximum number of non-cloud replicas copied per CG | 2 |
Maximum number of CGs protected by a single vRPA cluster (replicating to AWS cloud) | 128 |
Maximum number of CGs per vRPA cluster (hybrid, including up to 128 AWS cloud copies) | 256 |
Maximum VM size | 5 TB |
Maximum VMDK size | 4 TB |
Total size of CG | 60 TB |
For optimal performance when replicating to AWS cloud, adhere to these best practices:
Table 77. Throughput and latency with 32 CGs
vRPA profile | I/O size or pattern | Snap interval | Throughput IOPS | Added latency (milliseconds) |
4 vCPUs and 8 GB RAM (Silver)
| 64 K random | 1 hr | 250 MB/s | 3.1 |
8 vCPUs, 8 GB (Gold) | 8K random | 1 hr | 15 K IOPS | 1.5 |
Number of virtual machines | Virtual machine size | Recovery process (minutes) |
1 | 150 GB | 65 |
20 | 150 GB | 100 |
64 | 150 GB | 280 |
128 | 150 GB | 360 |
Sizing a solution based on RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines replication to AWS is different to sizing a non-AWS continuous replication solution.
RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines can achieve an RPO as low as 1 second for asynchronous replication in an on-premises solution. An RPO of 0 seconds is achievable with synchronous replication. The RPO parameter whose default value is 25 seconds is only used for monitoring to validate the required RPO.
The Snap Replication interval plays a large part in sizing a RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines cloud solution. This is because it impacts the replication frequency, the number of PiTs, the storage required on S3, and more.
For replication to AWS, the periodic Snap Replication interval is the minimum achievable RPO. The minimum selectable RPO is the snap interval plus 30 minutes. For example, a snap interval of 15 minutes gives a minimum selectable RPO of 45 minutes. The maximum selectable RPO is one day. The RPO parameter is also used for monitoring.
When replicating to AWS, the best practice is to size the production journal at 3 GB per CG.
When sizing the snap replication volume, ensure that the maximum size the volume can consume per CG is 40 percent of the total size of all production VMDKs in the CG. Two snap replication volumes protect each CG during replication to the cloud. When a snap replication volume is full, a replication cycle starts automatically, regardless of the timing.
Perform a realistic sizing calculation with the help of a Certified Data Protection sizing specialist. Use the following formula:
Volume size = 2 x ((CG Size in GB x Daily Change Rate in %) / (1440 minutes / Interval in minutes))
where
A calculation of the required number of vRPAs requires the snap-based interval and the amount of data to be replicated during each interval. When calculating the required number of vRPAs to use for replicating to AWS, Dell Technologies recommends using the Gold profile (8 vCPUs/8 GB RAM). This profile can sustain a maximum throughput of 250 MB/s of 64 K random IOs.
Use the following formula for this exercise:
Required number of vRPAs = 1 + Round (((Change Rate in GB * 1024) / (Interval in min * 60)) / Max Throughput)
where
For more information, look for the latest versions of the following documents on the Dell Technologies Support website: