HP Storevirtual 4000 Quick reference guide

HP LeftHand Storage SRA for VMware SRM
Deployment Guide
HP Part Number: AX696-96210
Published: November 2012
Edition: 2

© Copyright 2011, 2012 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

1 Using the HP LeftHand Storage Replication Adapter
Software for VMware vCenter SRM 5.x
The HP LeftHand Storage Replication Adapter Software for VMware vCenter SRM enables full
featured use of the VMware Site Recovery Manager. Combining Remote Copy replication with
VMware SRM provides an automated solution for implementing and testing disaster recovery
between geographically separated sites.
Configuring SRA
A typical SRM configuration involves two geographically separated sites with TCP/IP connectivity,
the protection site and the recovery site. The protection site is the site that is being replicated to
the recovery site for disaster recovery. Each site contains HP LeftHand Storage, ESX servers, a
Virtual Center Server, and an SRM server.
Figure 1 Typical SRM configuration with two geographically separate sites
Requirements
•SAN/iQ release 9.5 or later
•64-bit Windows OS
•.Net 3.5 will be installed if not present
•VMware vCenter running on two sites
Configuring SRA 3

Installing SRA
First install the VMware SRM at each site, and then install the SRA on the SRM server at each site.
Once the SRA is installed, the SRM can discover replicated volumes between sites by configuring
arrays in the SRM. Configuring HP LeftHand Storage arrays in the SRM requires the following:
•The IP addresses of the SAN/iQ managers. More than two addresses can be input by using
a comma or semicolon separator.
•The same user name and password in each site. This is the administrative user name and
password configured in the CMC.
The user at the recovery site must have full permissions on the management group but can be
limited to read only on all other permissions.
Installing HP LeftHand Application Aware Snapshot Manager (optional)
Install and configure the Application Aware Snapshot Manager on both Primary and Remote site
VCenter servers. For installation instructions, see the HP LeftHand Storage Application Aware
Snapshot Manager Deployment Guide
The replication schedule controls the application aware snapshot integration. If the schedule has
managed enabled then that enables the application managed snapshot integration, where in SRA
takes managed snapshots in syncOnce and reports to the SRM the recovery points with VM
snapshots using VmImageConsistencyEnabled flag. If the schedule has managed disabled then
that disables the application managed snapshot integration as no managed snapshots are taken.
Exceptions: The SRA can handle any changes in configuration, but this is a normal, baseline
scenario.
How the SRA works with VMware SRM 5.x
The SRA has three primary functions for the SRM:
•Test Failover—A Test scenario that checks failover conditions and parameters. This will create
temporary writable sources at the Backup Site. In the case of HP LeftHand Storage, SmartClone
volumes will be created.
•Failover—Transitioning production services from a Primary Site to a Backup Site, with the
Primary Site either available or not.
•Reprotect—After a Failover, planned or unplanned, transitioning production services from the
Backup Site back to the Primary Site. This entails reversing Replication so Replication goes
from Backup to Primary Site, doing a Failover in Reverse, and then reversing Replication again
so replication goes from the Primary to Backup Site.
These functions each depend on specific configuration information in a HP LeftHand Storage
management group.
Array and volume discovery
The SRM gets information from the SRA about what volumes are being replicated by the SAN/iQ
software. The SRM then compares that list to the volumes it recognizes in a VMware environment.
For normal SRM operation, a replicated volume needs to have a Remote Copy schedule with
completed remote copies at a different HP LeftHand Storage management group under a remote
volume that is not mounted at the remote site. This is a standard HP LeftHand Storage Remote Copy
configuration.
For instructions on how to configure Remote Copy schedules, see the HP LeftHand Storage Remote
Copy User Guide. The latest version of this document can be found at: http://www.hp.com/
support/LeftHandManuals. The same information is available from the HP LeftHand Storage Online
Help in the HP LeftHand Centralized Management Console.
4 Using the HP LeftHand Storage Replication Adapter Software for VMware vCenter SRM 5.x

Volumes recognized by the SRA
Volumes must be configured with scheduled remote snapshots or they will not be considered for
the SRM by the SRA. The SRA recognizes the scheduled remote snapshots as replicated LUNs for
the SRM to manage. Volumes that are being remote copied only manually are not updated
consistently enough to be useful for disaster recovery and the SRM.
If a volume has scheduled remote snapshots, and you create an ad hoc manual remote snapshot
of that volume, then the SRA will recognize the manual remote snapshot along with the scheduled
remote snapshots. Such ad hoc remote snapshots may be useful to test failover with a more recent
copy than the schedule has, or to push the latest updates to the remote site before a foreseeable
disaster occurs.
IMPORTANT: A volume in the protected site should not have two or more schedules going to
multiple volumes on the same remote management group.
Volumes ignored by the SRA
Remote snapshots within the same HP LeftHand Storage management group are ignored. These
snapshots are not considered disaster recovery copies since they are usually created to clone a
volume in the HP LeftHand Storage, and copies that reside on the same SAN are not useful for
disaster recovery.
Testing failover at the recovery site
The SRM performs test failovers at the recovery site when requested. When test failovers are
requested, the SRA performs the following steps:
1. Select the replicated volumes.
2. Identify the latest complete Remote Copy snapshot.
3. Delete any temporary writable space on that snapshot to ensure an unedited snapshot is
presented to ESX servers.
Use this snapshot to create a SmartClone volume.
4. Configure authentication for ESX servers to directly mount SmartClone volumes.
5. When testing stops, to conserve space on the SAN, delete the temporary writable space that
was used during the test.
Actual failover at the recovery site
In the event of a disaster, the SRM can perform actual failover when requested to. When actual
failover is requested, the SRA performs the following steps:
1. Select the replicated volumes.
2. Identify and remove any incomplete remote copies that are in progress and present the most
recent completed Remote Copy as a primary volume.
3. Convert remote volumes into primary volumes and configure authentication for ESX servers to
mount them.
If an actual failover does not run completely for any reason, the failover can be called many times
to try to complete the run. If, for example, only one volume failed to restore and that was due to
a normal snapshot being present, the snapshot could be manually deleted and the failover be
requested again.
Reprotect at the recovery site
After a failover, the SRM can perform reprotect when requested to. When actual reprotect is
requested, the SRA performs the following steps:
How the SRA works with VMware SRM 5.x 5

1. On the original protected site (which will become recovery site after reprotect is executed)
a. Pause any schedules going from the primary volume to the remote volume.
b. Remove any ESX Server assignments.
c. Change the primary volume to the backup volume.
2. On the original recovery site (which will become protected after reprotect is executed), create
a remote schedule with the primary volume as the target, or un-pause remote schedules.
3. Delete any SRA-created snapshots and schedules.
Troubleshooting the SRA
Table 1 Troubleshooting the SRA
SolutionCauseProblem
Install the SRA and restart the VMware
SRM Service.
The SRA might not be installed or the
SRM service has not restarted since
the SRA was installed.
The HP LeftHand Storage array does
not appear in the drop down list of
arrays for the SRM.
Create a Remote Copy schedule for all
volumes that are to be managed by the
SRM.
Volumes are only reported as
replicated to the SRM if they have a
Remote Copy schedule.
The SRM does not see the volumes that
are replicated.
Create authentication groups for any
CHAP authentication required on the
The SRM does not store or pass CHAP
passwords to the SRA. For CHAP
CHAP-authenticated ESX servers are
failing to perform test failovers or
actual failover. recovery site before running test failover
or failover.
authentication to work, the
authentication group with correct
password must be already configured
on the SAN/iQ management group.
Configure a network that can route from
the SRM servers to the HP LeftHand
SRM servers running the SRA must be
able to route TCP/IP traffic to the SAN
The SRA fails to connect to the SAN.
Storage, and verify the user account
configured in the SRM.
that is to be managed, and must have
a valid username and password.
Do not mount primary and remote
volumes at the same site at the same
time.
Both the primary and remote volume
might be mounted at the same site.
When the HP LeftHand Storage array
is discovered, an error message states
there are duplicate LUNs.
TIP: Read the messages that are displayed in the SRM UI during various functions as they provide
useful information.
6 Using the HP LeftHand Storage Replication Adapter Software for VMware vCenter SRM 5.x

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