Configuring a Replication Group for Live Sync I/O

Configure a replication group for Live Sync I/O to provide information about the source, destination, and recovery options.

Before You Begin

Define a server plan that controls backup operations for the source VMs.
Install VAIO filters on the source and desination ESX clusters.
Create a replication target for the destination site.
If a source VM has independent disks, the backup fails and the source VM cannot be replicated.

Procedure

From the navigation pane, go to Configuration > Replication > Replication groups.

The Replication groups page appears.
Click Configure replication group, and then select Virtualization.

The Configure replication group page appears.
Click Live Sync I/O.

The Configure replication group wizard opens.
On the Content page, provide the following information:
- From the Hypervisors list, select the hypervisor for the source VMs.
- For Select VMs, click Browse to select source VMs for replication, and then click Add.
- From the Plan list, select a server plan that controls backups for the source VMs.
Click Next.
On the Target page, provide the following information:
- From the Target list, select a replication target for the ESX server at the destination site.
  
  The ESX server must have VAIO filters installed, and must meet the other requirements that are listed in System Requirements for Live Sync I/O.
- Under Recovery options, from the Type list, select Live or Granular.
  
  Live: Only maintain the most recent copy of the source VM at the destination site.
  
  Granular: Maintain multiple recovery points at the destination site.
  
  Additional options appear when Granular recovery is selected:
  - RP Store: Select the Recovery Point Store on the destination site where journal entries for each recovery point are stored.
  - Crash-consistent recovery points interval: Select this option to create crash-consistent recovery points, and then specify the time interval at which recovery points are created.
  - Application-consistent recovery points interval: Select this option to create application-consistent recovery points, and then specify the time interval at which recovery points are created.
    
    When this option is selected, source VMs are quiesced to create application-consistent recovery points for destination VMs.
  - Change journal retention interval: Select this option to specify how long journal entries for a recovery point should be retained.
    
    After this time period, the accumulated change history for recovery points is pruned from the RP Store and written to the destination VMDKs.
  - Merge recovery points older than: Select this option to combine older recovery points into larger recovery points that span a longer time range (for example, daily instead of hourly), and then specify the number of days that more frequent recovery points are retained.
  - Recovery point interval at the end of retention: Select this option to specify the time interval between the oldest recovery points in the RP Store.
    
    As recovery points get older and are merged, the interval between them grows larger. This option configures the maximum allowed interval for the oldest recovery points.
  - Switch to Live Recovery if RP Store is offline for more than: Use this option to switch to live replication if the RP Store on the destination site is inaccessible for the time interval you specify.
    
    If you specify this option, the replication service abandons the RP Store if it does not come back online within the specified period. The replication service resyncs the destination VMDK with the source VMDK, and switches to live replication instead of granular replication. When this option is used, and the RP Store comes back online after the specified interval, all changes in the RP Store are erased and all accumulated recovery points in the RP Store are discarded.
    
    If you do not specify this option, the replication is paused, and the change journal accumulates on the source until the RP Store comes back online.
    
    With this option, you can choose whether to a) preserve the changes in the RP Store, but not apply them to the destination VM while the RP Store is offline; or b) continually update the destination VM, but lose all granular recovery points.
  - Prune and merge changes during off-peak time only: Use this option to specify whether to transfer updates for the oldest recovery points to destination VMDKs during off-peak hours.
    
    If you specify this option, recovery point updates are transferred to the RP Store only during off-peak hours, providing better replication performance during peak hours.
    
    If you do not specify this option, recovery point updates are transferred to the destination VMDK on an ongoing basis, based on the value specified for the Change journal retention interval option.
    
    With this option, you can prioritize a) replication speed or b) reclaiming space in the RP Store.
Click Next.
On the Override options page, click Yes to change settings for a specific VM:
- From the Virtual machine list, select a source VM.
- Under General settings, you can specify the following options:
  - In the VM display name box, type a new name for the destination VM.
  - For Destination host, click Browse to select a different ESX server for the destination VM.
  - From the Datastore list, select a datastore for the destination VM.
  - From the Resource pool list, select a destination resource pool.
- Under Network settings, click Add to create a mapping between a source VM network and a network on the destination site.
  
  For the source network, you can select Any Network to map all source networks to a different destination network.
  
  For the destination network, you can select a network, or select Not Connected to replicate the destination VM without a network connection.
- IP address settings: Not supported.
Click Next.
On the Summary page, review the specifications for the replication group, and then click Finish.