Conducting usable recovery tests with VMware Site Recovery Manager

1. FUNCTIONAL SRM
RECOVERY TESTING
VMworld 2012 #vBrownBag Tech Talks
Dan Barr
@vDanBarr

2. SRM Testing
• Run Recovery Plans in Test mode
• Storage & network isolation so production
environment is not affected
• SRM “Test Bubble”
• Storage isolation: SRM takes snapshots of replicated
LUNs/Volumes & mounts to the recovery hosts. Storage
replication is not interrupted.
• Network isolation: use isolated port groups to prevent
duplication issues in production environment

3. SRM Test Bubble Network Isolation
• Define Test Networks in Recovery Plan settings
• Two Options:
• Auto – SRM creates temporary vSwitch & port groups during test
• Existing Port Groups – pick already-defined port groups

4. “Auto” Option for Test Networks
Temp vSwitch
“srmvs-recovery-plan-xxxx”
Temp Port Group
“srmpg-recovery-plan-xxxx”
Recovery Host
Temp vSwitch
“srmvs-recovery-plan-xxxx”
Temp Port Group
“srmpg-recovery-plan-xxxx”
Recovery Host
Temp vSwitch
“srmvs-recovery-plan-xxxx”
Temp Port Group
“srmpg-recovery-plan-xxxx”
Recovery Host
• SRM creates vSwitch & Port Group, with
NO physical adapters
• VMs on same host & PG can communicate
• VMs cannot communitate across hosts

5. VLAN-Backed Test Networks
• Pre-create SRM Testing Networks backed by pNICs and VLANs
• NO gateway for testing VLANs on physical network – maintain isolation
• VM Communication can cross hosts, but NOT VLANs – no router
vSwitch or dvSwitch
PG1
VLAN X
Recovery Host
PG2
VLAN Y
vSwitch or dvSwitch
PG1
VLAN X
Recovery Host
PG2
VLAN Y
vSwitch or dvSwitch
Recovery Host
PG2
VLAN Y
PG3
VLAN Z

6. Routing inside SRM Test Bubble
• Add a virtual router inside the test bubble
• 1 vNIC connected to each SRM Testing PG, assign gateway IPs
• No connections to “real world”
• Options: Vyatta, BSD/Linux, Windows RRAS, etc.
• Now you can test multi-tier apps
vSwitch or dvSwitch
PG1
VLAN X
Recovery Host
PG2
VLAN Y
vSwitch or dvSwitch
PG1
VLAN X
Recovery Host
PG2
VLAN Y
PG3
VLAN Z
vSwitch or dvSwitch
Recovery Host
PG3
VLAN Z
PG1
VLAN X

7. Other Testing Considerations
• Windows Environments need AD inside the test bubble
• Should not be replicating DCs – versioning issues (Google “USN Rollback”)
• Clone a live DC from your recovery site, edit settings to put in an
appropriate SRM Test Network BEFORE powering on (very important)
• To keep from getting stale, do this for every test more than a day or two
apart, otherwise issues w/computer account passwords
• If you absolutely need Internet access from test bubble:
• I don’t recommend breaking test isolation, BUT…
• You can connect a vNIC on your SRM test router to the outside
• Use NAT, ACLs, etc. to prevent unwanted traffic flows
• BE CAREFUL!