Prerequisites and Considerations for Site Recovery Manager for Google Cloud VMware Engine

Overview

Site Recovery Manager on Google Cloud VMware Engine uses vSphere replication which solutions needs to be installed Configured and managed by the customer. In order to perform these actions, we need to validate the pre-requisites and plan at each steps. 

Prerequisites 

Before installing Site Recovery manager on the Google Cloud VMware Engine, you must be aware of and complete the following prerequisites:

  1. Create a private cloud in the VMware Engine portal
  2. Check SRM version compatibility with vSphere on the VMware interoperability matrix for both the primary and recovery Site. 
  3. Check the vCenter version of primary and recovery site
  4. VMware Customer Connect account to download the SRM management and replication appliances. 
  5. Decide the topology for deployment (private cloud is primary or replication site).
  6. A valid license  for SRM.
  7. Verify that your identified on-premises configuration is within the supported limits in the Operational Limits of Site Recovery Manager documentation page
  8. Sufficient network bandwidth to meet your workload size and Recovery Point Objective(RPO) requirements. For more information, see Calculate Bandwidth for vSphere Replication.

Preparing for Deployment 

After you have completed the prerequisites, you must complete the following steps in preparation for deployment:

  1. Create a new dedicated SRM network using one of the built-in Service Subnets found in the VMware Engine networking portal. Best practice is to use service subnets instead of NSX overlay networks due to the reduction in networking overhead.

More information here: https://cloud.google.com/vmware-engine/docs/concepts-vlans-subnets#service_subnets

  1. Setup connectivity between the On-prem and cloud (assuming your primary site is on-prem and GCVE private cloud is acting as recovery Site). You must use a site-to-site VPN or Cloud Interconnect. For more information, see the Google Cloud VPN documentation and the Google Cloud Cloud Interconnect documentation.
  2. Setup infrastructure services such as AD, DNS and DHCP
  3. Active Directory (AD). Identify users from your on-premises AD in your private cloud. Set up an AD in your private cloud for all users.
  4. DNS and DHCP services. To provide IP address lookup, IP address management, and name resolution services for your workloads in the private cloud, set up a DHCP and DNS server as described in Setting up DNS and DHCP services in your private cloud.
  5. DNS forwarding. The gcve.goog domain is used by management VMs and hosts in your private cloud. To resolve requests to this domain, configure DNS forwarding on the DNS server as described in Configuring DNS for management appliance access. This also lets you use fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) instead of IP addresses during the vSphere Replication appliance and SRM installation.
  6. Prepare a solution user account for installation.
  7. You must install the vSphere Replication appliance and SRM using a user with administrator privileges in the vCenter SSO domain. This helps ensure high uptime and availability for your private cloud vCenter environment.
  8. For the installation process, use one of the solution user accounts available in your private cloud.
  9. Configure firewall rules for the vSphere Replication appliance. For a list of port numbers that must be open for vSphere Replication, see SRM port requirements.
  10. Plan your Workload security which can involve but not limited firewall, routes, access restrictions etc for the period when the disaster recovery site is running the production workload. VMware NSX is a great product which can helps define these security configurations.

Deployment and Configuration Considerations

  1. Validate that the name records for replication and management appliance is resolvable on both sites.
  2. Install vSphere replication appliance on both sites and configure the same. Refer to Installing and setting up vSphere replication documentation for the detailed procedure.
  3. Install Site Recovery Manager on your private cloud. The procedure is the same as the procedure for the on-premises installation. See Deploy the Site Recovery Manager Appliance.
  4. Connect the Site Recovery Manager Instances on the Protected and Recovery Sites.
  5. Install the Site Recovery Manager License Key. See Install the Site Recovery Manager License Key.
  6. Connect the Site Recovery Manager Instances on the Protected and Recovery Sites.

 


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