Disaster Recovery solution for Broadcom (VMware) with Veeam (formerly known as Veeam Cloud Connect Replication)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Description
Features
Requirements
Important Notes
Setup Procedures
Test Failover to Performance Cloud VMware
(Planned) Failover to Performance Cloud VMware
- Remove the replication components
  - Delete Replication Job to Performance Cloud VMware and Failover Plan
  - Delete the Service Provider
- Contact us
(Emergency/Unplanned) Failover to Performance Cloud VMware
References

Description

This guide describes the steps to setup a disaster recovery solution for your existing VMware on-premises environment to Performance Cloud VMware (NSX-T) using Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR).

Features

Same portal to access, manage and configure your disaster recovery environment as our Performance Cloud VMware Infrastructure as a Service (or “IaaS”) platform.

That includes an easy deployment for deploying VPN tunnels or virtual network appliance (or “NVA”) for your disaster recovery environment via the Performance Cloud VMware portal (if necessary).
You can choose to replicate between two (2) different storage policies in Performance Cloud VMware: Premium SSD or Standard HDD.
Same billing model for your disaster recovery environment as our Performance Cloud VMware infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform.

Only pay for resources you enable in your Cumulus account management portal. Add or increase CPU, RAM, storage or backup add-ons when needed. Also, reduce or remove them when resources are not needed.

Requirements

To allow the connection of your Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) server to the Sherweb’s Cloud Connect environment, the outbound network traffic to draas.ca.vspc-cloud.com on port TCP 6180 must be allowed. The outbound network traffic to HTTPS (TCP 443) must also be opened to validate certificates.
If not already deployed, deploy your Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) server and connect your VMware environment. Validate that the destination machine meets all requirements: https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/vsphere/planning.html?ver=120

A Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) Standard Edition license or higher must be used. Veeam Backup & Replication Community Edition is not supported.
A Performance Cloud VMware tenant has been enabled in your Cumulus account management portal for the destination of virtual machines to replicate. Please make sure to enable the proper number of storage add-ons to cover your storage needs. See this article for guidance.

Note: If you are already using Veeam Cloud Connect Backup and/or Veeam License Rental with Veeam Service Provider Console (VSPC) for the organization you want to protect with the Disaster Recovery solution, a new dedicated organization must be created for this purpose in your Cumulus account management portal.

Important Notes

Only Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) v12.x and newer versions are supported.
Please avoid to manually start virtual machines in Performance Cloud VMware as it may result in unwanted deletion of virtual machines and loss of data.
Some limitations may apply on Linux-based virtual machines.

Setup Procedures

Step 1: Create a vApp in your cloud environment

Follow this article to create a vApp in your virtual data center.

Step 2: Create required network(s) in your cloud environment

Follow this article to create routed networks. (These networks will be destination networks of the replicated virtual machines with Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR))

In this example, we will re-use the existing IP configuration (The subnet 192.168.2.0/24 with 192.168.2.1/24 for the default gateway address)

Step 3: Configure the Edge Gateway (Firewall and NAT rules)

Follow this article to pre-configure necessary firewall and NAT rules in your Edge Gateway

If required, you can also setup your own a Network Virtual Appliance (NVA). See this article for details.

Pre-Configure VPN tunnels in the Edge Gateway (if required)

VPN tunnels can be pre-configured if required. After a failover, it would only remain to enable the VPN tunnel. See this article for details.
Note: This step does not apply if you want to deploy a NVA (Network Virtual Appliance).

Step 4: Integration of Performance Cloud VMware to Veeam Cloud Connect services

Contact us to obtain your Veeam Cloud Connect configuration needed for the replication.
Wait until you receive an email from the Sherweb team confirming that your new Veeam Cloud Connect tenant is linked to your Performance Cloud VMware account. (This can take up to two (2) business days)

Step 5: Add the service provider in Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR)

Log in to your Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) server and open the Veeam Backup & Replication console.
Go to BACKUP INFRASTRUCTURE.
Do a right-click on Service Providers and select Add Service Provider
Enter the server address provided by the Sherweb team, enable the management of the Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) server and click Next.

Click on Add.

Enter your Performance Cloud VMware portal credentials in this format: organization\username

Note: Instructions to connect are in the email sent by Sherweb. The organization name is also written in the Data Centers section in the Performance Cloud VMware portal.

Example:

Click on Apply.

Click on Apply again.
Click on Next.

Click on Finish.
Click on Close.

Your Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) server is now linked to your Performance Cloud VMware tenant.

Step 6: Configure a Replication Job aiming to Performance Cloud VMware

While still in your Veeam console, go to HOME.
Add a replication task for virtual machines working with VMware.

(Do a right-click on Jobs and select Replication, then Virtual machine, then VMware vSphere)

Specify a name and description for your job. Select Network remapping. Then, click on Next.

Notes : Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) does not support re-IP rules for virtual machines in this scenario.
Click on Add, then add virtual machines you want to replicate.
Once virtual machines to replicate are added to the job, click on Next.
In Destination, select the following:
- Host or cluster: choose Cloud host and select your Performance Cloud VMware virtual datacenter (VDC)
- vApp: it will offer Cloud Connect by default.
  Click Choose and select the vApp you initially created (since that vApp is already connected to required networks)
- Storage policy: Select the desired storage policy for replicated virtual machines (if more than one (1) is available).

Once parameters of the destination are set, click on Next.
Click on Add to add a network mapping.

Select your source on-premises network and the target network (the one you initially created in the procedure)
Once network mappings are set, click on Next.
Select an on-premises backup repository to hold replica metadata. Configure a suffix if required and choose the number restore points to keep. Then, click on Next.

In this example, we kept the default 7 points and removed the suffix name so the replicated virtual machines in Performance Cloud VMware have the original name. Advanced settings can be configured if required.

On the next screen, keep default settings and click on Next.

Configure the Enable application-aware processing option if needed and click Next.

Configure a schedule based on your requirements and the capabilities of the infrastructure. Then, click on Apply.

For this example, we chose to replicate every six (6) hours as our virtual machines do not have a high data change rate.

You can check the box to run the job immediately and click on Finish. Otherwise, you can wait until the replication schedule starts the job automatically.
Make sure the replication job is successful.

Step 7: Validation

Go to the Performance Cloud VMware portal and click on your virtual datacenter.
Go to Compute -> Virtual Machines
You can see your virtual machines with the network assigned on them.

Step 8: Create a failover plan

Go back to your Veeam Backup & Replication(VBR) console
Go to HOME -> Replicas
Then, click on Failover Plan -> Cloud Connect (vCloud)

Enter a Name and Description and click on Next.
Click on Add VM.

Select virtual machine(s) to add to the failover plan and click Add.
Set the proper boot order and delays according to your requirements.
For example, a domain controller should be started first.
Once you are satisfied with the plan, click on Next.

Click on Finish.
Repeat steps to create additional failover plans if needed.

Test Failover to Performance Cloud VMware

Add the required number of CPU and memory add-ons in your Cumulus account management portal to cover your failover needs. See this article for guidance.

Example:
1. Before:
2. After:
Log in to your Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) console.

Go to Home -> Replicas -> Failover Plans.

Right-click on your Failover Plan and select Start.
Wait until the execution plan has completed successfully.
Log in to Performance Cloud VMware portal
Click on your Virtual Datacenter and go to Compute -> Virtual Machines.

You can see your virtual machines are up and running.

Perform tests to make sure that everything is working as expected in the DR environment: DNAT rules, SNAT rules, VPN tunnels (if it applies), etc.

Example to test outgoing traffic:
Once you’ve confirmed that everything is working properly, go back to your Veeam console and undo the failover plan.

Replicated virtual machines are now powered off.
Remove the unused CPU and memory add-ons in your Cumulus account management portal. See this article for guidance.

(Planned) Failover to Performance Cloud VMware

This scenario works if the on-premises VMware environment and Veeam backup server are available.

It is mandatory to follow all the steps below. A failure to follow all the steps in this guide may result in unwanted deletion of virtual machines and loss of data.

Add the required number of CPU and memory add-ons in your Cumulus account management portal to cover your failover needs. See this article for guidance.
Once you are ready to failover, shutdown the original on-premises virtual machines.

Note: Whenever it is possible, we recommend turning virtual machines off prior to doing the last replication job. This will ensure that there is no data change between the last replication job and the failover.
Log in to your Veeam Backup & Replication Console.
Go to Home -> Replication and start a last replication job to have the latest data replicated into Performance Cloud VMware.
Wait until the replication job complete successfully.
Go to Replicas -> Failover Plans.

Right-click on your Failover Plan and select Start.
Wait until the execution plan has completed successfully.
Log in to Performance Cloud VMware portal
Click on your Virtual Datacenter and go to Compute -> Virtual Machines.
You can see your virtual machines are up and running.
Perform tests to make sure that everything is working as expected (DNAT rules, SNAT, VPN if required, etc) in the DR environment.
Once you’ve confirmed that everything is working properly, go back to your Veeam console in Replicas -> Active.
Select your replicated virtual machine, right-click and select Permanent Failover.
Click Yes.

Wait until the permanent failover task completes.
Repeat steps 14 to 17 for the rest of virtual machines to permanently failover other virtual machines.
Once done, you should have no more active replicas.
Proceed with any required changes in your public DNS entries to aim to the Edge Gateway external IP address

Remove the replication components

Delete Replication Job to Performance Cloud VMware and Failover Plan

Log in to your backup server and open the Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) console.
Go to HOME -> Jobs -> Replication.
Select the replication job, right-click and select Delete.
Confirm the deletion by clicking on Yes.
Go to Replicas -> Failover Plans
Select the Failover Plan that you created, right-click and select Delete.
Confirm the deletion by clicking on Yes.

Delete the Service Provider

Log in to your backup server and open the Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) console
Go to BACKUP INFRASTRUCTURE -> Service Providers

Right-click on the service provider and click Remove

Click Yes

Contact us

Make sure you have completed all the failover steps as this could result in unwanted deletion of virtual machines and loss of data.

(Emergency/Unplanned) Failover to Performance Cloud VMware

In this scenario, we assume the on-premises VMware environment and the Veeam backup server are NOT available (on-premises server(s) crash or site crash).

Add the required number of CPU and memory add-ons in your Cumulus account management portal to cover your failover needs. See this article for guidance.
Log in to the Performance Cloud VMware portal.
Click on your Virtual Datacenter and go to Compute -> Virtual Machines.
Manually power on virtual machines in the desired order with the desired delay.
For example, a domain controller should be started first.
Perform tests to make sure that everything is working as expected in the DR environment: DNAT rules, SNAT rules, VPN tunnels if it applies, etc.
Proceed with any required changes in your public DNS entries to aim to the Edge Gateway external IP address
Make sure to not bring the original Veeam Backup and Replication (VBR) server back as it may result in unwanted deletion of virtual machines and loss of data.
Add the required number of backup add-ons in your Cumulus account management portal to cover your backup needs. See this article for guidance.
Now that production is running in Performance Cloud VMware, configure virtual machine backups. See this article for guidance.
Contact us so we can do a cleanup of your Veeam Cloud Connect configuration.

References

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/cloud/ports.html?ver=120

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/cloud/cloud_connect_user_guide.html?ver=120

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/cloud/creating_replication_jobs.html?ver=120

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