white paper: deploying and implementing recoverpoint in a virtual machine for demonstration and...

White Paper

Abstract

This white paper explains the best practices for deploying EMC® RecoverPoint or demonstration purposes as a virtual machine under ESX server 4.01 or later using the VMware® DirectPath feature. June 2012

Deploying and Implementing RecoverPoint in a Virtual Machine for demonstration and proof of concept purposes

2 Deploying and implementing RecoverPoint in a virtual machine

Copyright © 2012 EMC Corporation. All Rights Reserved. EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice. The information in this publication is provided “as is”. EMC Corporation makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to the information in this publication, and specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Use, copying, and distribution of any EMC software described in this publication requires an applicable software license. For the most up-to-date listing of EMC product names, see EMC Corporation Trademarks on EMC.com. VMware is a registered trademark of VMware, Inc. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. Part Number h8969.3


Table of Contents

Executive summary .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Audience ................................................................................................................................................................ 4

Why Virtualize RecoverPoint? .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

VMware considerations for vRPA/D deployment .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Moving vRPA/Ds over different ESX servers ............................................................................................................ 5 vRPA/D Cluster Deployment Type ........................................................................................................................... 5 VMware DirectPath and PowerPath ......................................................................................................................... 6

Prerequisites for vRPA/D Deployment .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Pre-requisites ......................................................................................................................................................... 6

Deploying vRPA/D ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Preparing the VMware Hypervisor (ESX Server) ....................................................................................................... 8 Deploying ESX server .............................................................................................................................................. 8 Configuring VMware DirectPath devices on ESX server ............................................................................................ 8 Deploying vRPA/D Cluster using Deployment Manager ......................................................................................... 15 Moving the vRPA/D .............................................................................................................................................. 29

Conclusion ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

References .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31


Executive summary With the rapid growth of virtualization world, today’s solutions, which consist of both physical hardware and software code elements, are expected to be able to also function in the virtual cloud. RecoverPoint solution is formed of both a physical hardware which known as a RecoverPoint Appliance (RPA) and the running application code. When implemented as a virtualized instance it is known as a virtual RPA with Directpath or vRPA/D. Installing RecoverPoint as a virtual instance requires both specific hardware (which will be discussed thoroughly in the “Prerequisites for vRPA/D Deployment” chapter) and a current RecoverPoint ISO image. Deploying vRPA/D is currently intended only for demo or proof of concept (POC) purposes; EMC does not guarantee that vRPA/D performance characteristics are equivalent to RecoverPoint’s performance. The purpose of this document is to explain and demonstrate the steps involved in deploying vRPA/D, which is running the RecoverPoint software in a VMware Virtual machine using a specified QLogic HBA. This document describes the recommended way to build a vRPA/D based on research and development activities in EMC Labs. The content included in this document provides a simple to deploy guide for vRPA/D and is to be used only for demo and POC purposes.

Audience

This white paper is intended for customers, ESN certified partners and EMC internal staff that are VMware and RecoverPoint professionals or other identical trained audience.

Note: vRPA/D is to be used only for demo or proof of concept (POC) purposes, it is not intended for production usage:

• EMC does not provide any support for vRPA/D

• EMC doesn’t guarantee that the performance of vRPA/D has any relationship to the performance of a RecoverPoint appliance

• Issues will be fixed according to engineering case evaluation

Why Virtualize RecoverPoint? Virtualizing RecoverPoint can provide some new beneficial features, which arrive from VMware’s virtual consolidation environment, such as:

• RecoverPoint “Cluster in a box“ – With ESX you can run multiple RecoverPoint instances thus you can set up two RecoverPoint sites in a single VMware ESX server

• Thin provisioning of both Memory & CPU resources –multiple RecoverPoint instances can share CPU & Memory resources dynamically, without the need to pre allocate full capacity of CPU & Memory levels and utilizing VMware Thin Provisions technologies (such as Memory — page sharing, ballooning, and swapping)

• Simple RPA Backup and Snapshot – due to the fact that RecoverPoint is only a set of VM files, it is faster to clone it and even utilize VMware hot Snapshots which allows safe point in time protection of your RecoverPoint instance (for example, you might do this before changing major RecoverPoint configurations or upgrading the RecoverPoint code)


• In collaboration with RecoverPoint’s “Virtual WWN” feature, a vRPA/D can be roamed across multiple VMware ESX servers, as long as you understand the limitations that DirectPath imposes (such as identical HBA adapters are required and vMotion is not supported)

VMware considerations for vRPA/D deployment

Moving vRPA/Ds to different ESX servers

Due to VMware DirectPath feature limitations (such as the unique reservation of PCI ports on specific ESX server), there can be implications on or failures to a vRPA/D that must be understood when considering VMware based Failover scenarios. Both use cases will require additional user configuration to assure correct bindings of the new ESX server PCI slot as a DirectPath FC Adapter device. If you have such a configuration and you need additional assistance please send an email to [email protected] and we will help as time permits. If you are a customer, please have your Account Representative send this email.

• vMotion as part of the VMware Cluster failover will require manual steps with vSphere as shown in “Moving the vRPA/D” chapter

• VMware Site Recovery Manager Failover

vRPA/D Cluster Deployment Type

There can be various deployments of RecoverPoint vRPA/D clusters over VMware ESX hosts. Table 1 shows the decision matrix for the available vRPA/D deployments: Table 1 vRPA/D Deployment matrix

vRPA/D Deployment Type Configuration Pros Cons

vRPA/D

“Both Sites in a box”

Both RecoverPoint sites reside on single ESX Host

Requires a single ESX Server for both RecoverPoint Clusters

Requires high-powered hardware

The ESX server acts as single point of failure for all vRPA/Ds in both clusters

vRPA/D

“Site per box”

Each RecoverPoint Site’s vRPA/Ds are managed on their own Site ESX server

Requires only 2 ESX servers for the entire vRPA/Ds cluster

Each ESX server is single point of failure for a Site

vRPA/D Cluster

Recommended configuration

vRPA/Ds are spread among multiple ESX Hosts to ensure redundancy and performance

Best performance deployment for vRPA/Ds

Requires at a minimum of 4 ESX servers, 2 in each site

Best Redundancy for both Site and Cluster fail level

Can use commodity hardware


VMware DirectPath and PowerPath

VMware DirectPath provides the Virtual Machine with direct and exclusive access to physical Fibre Channel host bus adapters in the ESX server. These HBA’s are separate from the HBA’s that the ESX server uses to access its own fibre channel storage. When you use Direct Path you have some limitations in other VMware functions, such as:

• vMotion and Storage vMotion • Fault Tolerance • Snapshots and VM suspend • Device Hot Add

Note: vRPA/D can not be used with PowerPath/VE

Prerequisites for vRPA/D Deployment The main feature that allows RecoverPoint virtualization comes from VMware technology and was first introduced in ESX 4.01 – named as “VMware DirectPath”.

This feature utilize an offloading of server I/O devices communication into the hypervisor thus allowing virtual machines to access a specific physical I/O device (HBA or NIC) using “pass-through” communication instead of the former VMware virtualized drivers.

The RecoverPoint appliance hardware (Gen 4) specifications (A Dell R610 derived 1U server with 8GB RAM/Dual Quad-core CPU’s, two 146GB internal hard disks, and two 8Gb quad port QLA2564 FC HBA’s) introduces a high physical resource demands (to support both new features and higher storage performance) which using virtualization might consume less resources (assuming performance utilization is average and multiple vRPA/D instances are leveled correctly with overall memory and CPU load).

Following are the detailed hardware and software components that are required for a vRPA/D deployment.

Pre-requisites The following pre-requisites are necessary to deploy a vRPA/D configuration:

• Hardware for the ESX Server o Any hardware on the VMware HCL that supports the ESX/ESXi 4.0, 4.1 and 5.0

• VMware DirectPath server architecture: o Intel VT-d (Xeon 5500 systems and Nehalem processors) o AMD platforms with I/O Virtualization Technology (AMD IOMMU)

• VMware DirectPath FC HBA: o QLogic FC HBA’s – QLA24xx/25xx o Only these, others may not work.

Note: Both ESX and ESXi support a maximum of 8 VMware DirectPath supported HBA’s, which caps the maximum amount of RecoverPoint VMs per ESX server that can be installed to 8 if dual port HBAs are installed or to 16 if the quad port FC HBAs are used.

• Physical Memory: The following recommended memory settings can vary according to the total memory load of all the running vRPA/D instances in the ESX server with the help of VMware advanced memory management capabilities which requires “VMware Tools”


The following values represent recommended “minimum / optimal” values of physical memory which will be required for a given amount of deployed RecoverPoint VMs on a single ESX server:

• For 1 VM instance: 4GB / 8GB • For 2 VM instances: 8GB / 16GB • For 3 VM instances: 12GB / 16GB • For 4 VM instances: 16GB / 24GB Note: For more than 4 RecoverPoint VMs per single ESX server, you will be required to obey the hardware limitations of the running ESX Server system according to the manufacture technical specifications and the supported maximum memory per the running ESX server version

• Storage: vRPA/D only supports EMC Storage Arrays and SCSI based LUNs. Note that a VMAX 20K and 40K has FTS that enables non-EMC Storage Arrays to be attached to the VMAX. Also note that a VPLEX supports over 35 non-EMC Storage Array families.

o Choosing EMC VMAX SAN storage, an EMC VPLEX platform or EMC VNX/CLARiiON SAN storage will allow vRPA/D to support “Array based splitter” (aka the “Symmetrx Splitter”, “VPLEX Splitter” or “VNX/CLARiiON Splitter”) as well as the “Host based splitter” (aka “Kdriver”)

o Choosing non-EMC SAN storage is not possible. The SAN Array should have enough provisioned free space to allocate for RecoverPoint volumes (including two Repository volumes, the pairing LUNs and the Journal volumes according to RecoverPoint documentation and best practices)

• FC SAN Switch: o A RecoverPoint supported FC SAN based switch (with applicable installed license)

Note: If the RecoverPoint Splitter technology is “Fabric Splitter” type, then make sure that required switch configuration is configured according to RecoverPoint documentation for “Fabric Splitter” deployments

• Software: • VMware Virtual Server OS (hosting the RecoverPoint VM) can be:

o ESX 4.0.1 / 4.1 / 5.0

o ESXi 4.0.1 / 4.1 / 5.0

• EMC RecoverPoint 3.4 or 3.5 • A license for EMC RecoverPoint 3.4 or 3.5 (see the section “Requesting a RecoverPoint license”

below)

• Storage Array license: if you using the VNX/CLARiiON Array splitter then you will need to install an enabler in your VNX/CLARiiON Array to support it– see the applicable RecoverPoint documentation

• SAN FC Switch license: if you are using a Fabric based splitter then a specific license may be required to be installed in addition to supported switch firmware version– see the applicable RecoverPoint documentation


Deploying vRPA/D

Preparing the VMware Hypervisor (ESX Server)

Verifying that Virtualization is enabled in server BIOS

VMware virtualization hypervisor (VMware ESX) requires that server BIOS will be enabled for “Virtualization Technology”. Figure 1 shows this option as “Enabled” which confirm to VMware ESX server installation prerequisite Example: In DELL servers: after powering on server - hit F2 to enter the system BIOS console, navigate to “Processor Settings” section in the main BIOS screen).

Figure 1 - DELL BIOS menu to enable virtualization support by CPU

Deploying ESX server Proceed with normal installation of your ESX server setup.

Configuring VMware DirectPath devices on ESX server Upon successful completion of ESX server installation, the ESX server performs its first full reboot. At this point, the ESX server is up and running and ready to setup the pass-through option for the vRPA/D PCI devices (required for use by VMware DirectPath). Error! Reference source not found. shows VMware DirectPath maximum values for both ESX 4.x & ESXi 4.x:

Table 2 VMware DirectPath Maximum values

VMware DirectPath PCI devices per VM 2 (in 4.01) / 4 (in 4.1 and 5.0)

VMware DirectPath SCSI targets per VM 60 (Array Initiator targets, not LUNs)

VMware DirectPath Physical devices per ESX 8 (Physical HBA cards)


vRPA/D supports both a dual port and quad port HBA. It is commended that Quad Port HBAs be used since you can:

• Increase the count of available VMware DirectPath HBAs (and RecoverPoint VM counts per single ESX) on a limited PCI slot server

• Utilize ESX server for both VMware DirectPath (vRPA/D) and regular ESX to SAN connectivity (by using only 2 ports out of the 4 ports on the HBA for vRPA/D

Enabling the VMware DirectPath devices 1) Connect to the ESX server using the VI Client to the either the ESX server or the managing vCenter

server.

2) Select the ESX server in question, go to the “Configuration” tab and under Advanced “Settings”, on the far right side of the screen, choose “Configure Passthrough” .

3) A full list of the devices available for VMware DirectPath use are then presented under a pop-up window titled “Mark devices for Passthrough”.

4) Select the HBA ports as appropriate (see Figure 2 which demonstrate HBA enabling for VMware DirectPath feature)

Figure 2 - Selecting DirectPath PCI Devices for vRPA/D

5) An ESX reboot is required for this setting to take effect.

Install RecoverPoint as VM

1) Download the current RecoverPoint ISO from Powerlink, if you are a customer the operation must be performed by your Account Representative.

2) Select appropriate machine(s) that run ESX

3) Install the physical HBA card(s) into these machines

4) Deploy a “New Virtual Machine” using VMware wizard


a. Give it an appropriate name such as vRPA/D1

5) Select the VM type as “Debian GNU/ Linux 5 (64-bit)”

6) Assign the relevant virtual hardware resources to the new VM as described below:

• 8GB RAM (minimum of 4GB) • 4 vCPU (minimum if 2vCPU) • 2 x vNIC (WAN & LAN connectivity and management) • 70GB Hard disk (the initial utilized disk space for the OS is 8GB)

Figure 3 - vRPA/D VM hardware resources view

7) Attach the RecoverPoint install image/CD using one of the following options:

a. Mount a local bootable RecoverPoint DVD (mounting the physical DVD/CD Drive on the ESX Server Hardware) using a DVD image burned from the ISO you downloaded in Step 1.

b. Mount a copied bootable RecoverPoint image from the desktop you are working on (by clicking the “cd icon” in the virtual console) or also from other datastore (if you previously copied it over) using the ISO image downloaded in Step 1.

8) VMware Tools – since RecoverPoint code does not support the VMware support tools, you must skip this step.

Note: It is important to provision sufficient virtual resources or else the RecoverPoint deployment may fail to complete and errors will be triggered.

Binding VMware DirectPath ports for the vRPA/D

Once the vRPA/D has been installed as a VM, we will be required to power down this VM and “Add” a new “PCI device” from the list of the available VMware DirectPath device ports.

Figure 4 shows a Virtual Machine Properties which was configured to expose two VMware DirectPath HBAs (QLogic)


Figure 4 - Binding available DirectPath HBA into vRPA/D VM

Pre Configuring vRPA/D – RPA Network settings

The following steps will provide the minimum connectivity configuration that will later allow deploying RecoverPoint cluster using the “RecoverPoint Deployment Manager”

1) While connected through the VI Client, open a “Console” session (virtual KVM) to the vRPA/D virtual machine.

2) After logging into the RecoverPoint management console (using “boxmgmt” user), you are prompted to enter a temporary IP address, subnet and default gateway – proceed with temporary ip network settings (as shown in Figure 5)

Figure 5 - Pre Configure fresh vRPA/D installation


Note: In this environment, a default gateway was not required. RecoverPoint can then be configured either via the GUI or CLI wizards.

Pre Configuring vRPA/D – FC Port settings

1) Review current WWN’s which are registered by RecoverPoint vRPA/D using RecoverPoint CLI “Main Menu” by entering the following menu sequence:

[3] “Diagnostics” à [2] “Fibre Channel Diagnostics” à [2] “View Fibre Channel Details”

Note: Although QLogic HBA’s have their own WWN’s, the RecoverPoint appliance layers its own native WWN’s on top of those.

Figure 7 - vRPA/D Native WWN mapping

2) RecoverPoint WWN’s will also appear in the FC switch as KASHYA ports (Figure 8 reflect an example output of Brocade FC Switch)

Figure 8 - vRPA/D FC Ports view in FC Switch

Figure 6 - Review vRPA/D FC Detail menu


3) In order to review the array controllers, in the “Fibre Channel Diagnostics” menu, select Option [3] to “Detect Fibre Channel Targets”.

Figure 9 displays the WWN’s of a CX4 ports that have been zoned to the vRPA/D.

Figure 9 - Detecting target WWN via vRPA/D

Zoning the vRPA/D to the Storage Array

A vRPA/D is bounded to the splitter environment which being used (Host based or Array based)

Example: in the VNX/CLARiiON array-based splitter, the required zoning must include zoning each of each vRPA/D HBA ports to both of the EMC Array controller ports (in CLARiiON this refers to SPA and SPB).

Note: VMAX 10K support requires RecoverPoint v3.4.1 or later, VPLEX, VMAX 20K and VMAX 40K requires RecoverPoint v3.5 or later

For VNX/CLARiiON arrays the zoning should include:

• vRPA/D HBA0 ports -> Both Array controllers ports

• vRPA/D HBA1 ports -> Both Array controllers port

vRPA/D Initiator Registration & Storage Allocation

Once the vRPA/D port initiators are zoned and successfully logging into the storage array, those initiators need to be manually registered. The example below shows a CLARiiON (for VMAX please consult with Symmetrix Technical Notes in EMC Powerlink and for VPLEX Local and VPLEX Metro please consult with the VPLEX Technical Notes in EMC Powerlink) equivalent registration steps.

1) Register the newly discovered initiators as a “New Host” with its own IP address. The initiators for the vRPA/D need to be registered with an Initiator Type of “RecoverPoint Appliance” and have a “Failover Mode” equal to “4”. (Figure 10 shows an example for adding vRPA/D initiators as RecoverPoint appliance initiators


Figure 10 - vRPA/D FC port registration in Array management

2) Once the initiators are registered to the new vRPA/D, the vRPA/D can be added to a Navisphere/Unisphere Storage Group as a host in order to access the required storage/LUNs.

3) The vRPA/D(s) requires LUN Masking access in the same manner as physical RPA would require; The below bullets emphasize the core requirement for each LUN type (for further details, you are recommended to visit RecoverPoint Admin Guide available on the EMC Powerlink):

a. Journal volumes – must be exposed only to the applicable site vRPA/Ds

b. Repository volume – must be exposed only to the applicable site vRPA/Ds

c. Replicated volume copies – must be exposed to both the applicable site vRPA/Ds and the site Hosts

4) All of the masked LUNs can be easily verified using the vRPA/D “Diagnostics” menu using the management CLI of RecoverPoint code.

Figure 11 - Verifying LUN masking via vRPA/D "Diagnostics" menu

Note: Figure 11 - describes such a verification attempt for two masked LUNs (A production LUN which is 4GB and a second LUN which is 50GB) which are both being exposed correctly by the vRPA/D


Deploying vRPA/D Cluster

Upon successful configuring of vRPA/D storage and network connectivity, we can proceed into full-scale deployment of RecoverPoint Using RecoverPoint Deployment Manager wizard that provides the safest and fully automated deployment of RecoverPoint appliances

Deploying vRPA/D Cluster using Deployment Manager

A vRPA/D cluster deployment is handled in the same manner as a regular physical RPA Cluster.

RecoverPoint Deployment Manager is used for RecoverPoint deployment and provides the most automated and error free deployment method.

Below is the full procedure for vRPA/D Cluster deployment using RecoverPoint Deployment Manager Tool.

1) Execute RecoverPoint Deployment Manager Wizard, you will be asked to first log into the RP Deployment Manager.

Figure 12 - RP Deployment Manager: Authentication screen

Note: The RP Deployment Manager also contains wizards relative to RPA upgrades and replacement.

2) Select the “RecoverPoint Installer Wizard” to begin the vRPA/D network identity configuring (IP Address, Subnet Mask, Default Gateway, Management IP Addresses and the RPA Cluster details).


Figure 13 - RP Deployment Manager: Deployment wizard

3) Review the prerequisites for the installation. At this stage, after completing all of the previous steps for the vRPA/D, all of the prerequisites should be satisfied (see Figure 14).

Figure 14 - RP Deployment Manager: vRPA/D Prerequisites

4) The next screen will prompt for an installation structure file; create a new file or use an existing saved configuration file.

Note: Figure 15 shows a consolidated view of the settings required when configuring a vRPA/D cluster (i.e. number of sites, amount of cluster nodes at each site and the type of replication between sites).


Figure 15 - RP Deployment Manager: Environment Settings screen

5) Upon completion of the previous installer screen, you will be required to configure the vRPA/D networks (Management and WAN) details for vRPA/D site A, including the site’s vRPA/D instances (Figure 16 shows an example of two vRPA/Ds configuration in Site A)

Figure 16 - RP Deployment Manager: Configuring vRPA/D Site A networks


6) The next wizard screen (Figure 17) will require answering the “Advanced settings” questions that relates to splitter type in use and other environment variables specific to the storage arrays type in use.

Figure 17 - Configuring vRPA/D Sites advanced settings screen

7) Upon completion of the previous installer screen, you will be required to configure the vRPA/D networks (Management and WAN) details for vRPA/D site B, including the site’s vRPA/D instances (Figure 18 shows an example of two vRPA/Ds configuration in Site A)

Figure 18 - RP Deployment Manager: Configuring vRPA/D Site B networks

8) Upon completion of previous step, you will be instructed to approve the overall vRPA/D configuration and for which vRPA/D sites. This step will lock the required vRPA/D sites


configuration and prepare them to be applied on each of the related vRPA/D instances (see Figure 19 for this step screen).

Figure 19 - RP Deployment Manager: Applying configuration

Note: that if only one of the sites is to be installed at this stage, the wizard provides a checkbox to confirm whether or not the other site is already installed.

9) The next wizard screen will provide the installer confirmation for the previous applied settings (see Figure 20)

Figure 20 - RP Deployment Manager: result screen of applying vRPA/D Configuration

10) Upon successful confirmation in previous step, the installer will begin the vRPA/D storage configuration wizard while showing the managed vRPA/D WWN (see Figure 21)


Figure 21 - RP Deployment Manager: Site A Zoning and LUN Masking configuration

11) The wizard then runs the vRPA/D SAN diagnostics, thus providing the list of available LUNs to be used as the vRPA/D Cluster Repository volume for Site A (equivalent to traditional cluster’s Quorum disk). You will be required to select the desired LUN to act as the Site (see Figure 22)

Figure 22 - RP Deployment Manager: Site A Repository volume selection

12) Completing repository volume selection in previous step, will display the summary for the storage configuration for Site A (see Figure 23)


Figure 23 - RP Deployment Manager: Site Summary screen

13) The installer wizard proceeds through the exact sequence of the previous storage configuration details (Site A), this time for the remote/target site (Site B)

14) Upon completion of the storage configuration for Site B, a summary screen appear to indicate the success of the installer process which also allows deploying RecoverPoint Management Application through a given Site (see Figure 24)

Figure 24 - RP Deployment Manager: Success summary of vRPA/D Cluster


Configuring the RecoverPoint Splitters

Note: This procedure assumes that splitters were installed correctly. To configure the RecoverPoint splitter, perform the following steps:

1) Open “RecoverPoint Management Application”, and right click the “Splitters” object choose “Add New Splitter” target.

2) From the list of the available splitters, choose the applicable splitters which will be required to allow RecoverPoint replication (Figure 25 shows an example of discovered VNX/CLARiiON splitters for both vRPA/D sites) and click “Next”

Figure 25 - Configuring vRPA/D splitters screen

3) Proceed with the on screen instructions (For the VNX/CLARiiON-based array splitter you will be asked to provide the array “login credentials” or to select “Configure login credential later” for both sites) and upon completion of splitter information, hit “Finish” (Figure 26 shows successful summary of added VNX/CLARiiON splitters)

Figure 26 - RecoverPoint validated splitters

Configuring RecoverPoint CGs with vRPA/Ds

Configuring RecoverPoint Consistency Group (CG) using vRPA/Ds is possible due to the transparency of the virtualization layer from the Application management.


The consistency group wizard navigate through the required CG elements such as: CG name, the preferred RPA, the Policy attributes for each copy, volumes to be used as the source/replica in the Replication Sets and the relevant Journal volumes.

Once the entire consistency group configuration has been completed, a summary screen will be shown before initiating the new replication (see Figure 27)

Figure 27 - Configured vRPA/D CG summary screen

Upon completing the CG wizard, we will be able to review the replication status for the given CG. Figure 28 shows the initial synchronization completion for a RecoverPoint CLR configuration, where the “Production Source” copy has a “Direct Access”, while both replica copies (“Local Replica” and “Remote Replica” shows “No Access” state)

Figure 28 - RecoverPoint CLR replication topology

More in depth replication analysis is available through RecoverPoint’s Management GUI through the “statistics” tab (see Figure 29)


Figure 29 - RecoverPoint statistics panel to indicate replication state

Replacing a vRPA/D with the RPA Replacement Wizard

Replacing a vRPA/D within a clustered RecoverPoint configuration requires the RecoverPoint Deployment Manager Wizard.

The below procedure will guide through the needed steps to replace a vRPA/D using the Deployment Manager wizard.

1) Deploy the RecoverPoint Deployment Manager Wizard

2) Select the “RPA Replacement Wizard” option, and click “Next” (see Figure 30)


Figure 30 - RP Deployment Manager: choosing vRPA/D replacement option

Note: This procedure will import the vRPA/D into the existing configuration, providing the new vRPA/D with the same configuration and management details as the previous/failed vRPA/D.

3) Highlight the required failed vRPA/D (which is about to be replaced) as shown in Figure 31.

Note: Notice the checkbox at the bottom of the screen that prompts the user to confirm whether or not the replacement vRPA/D has been configured with required RP code and network identity to allow an automatic replacement.

4) When the new/replacement vRPA/D is online and configured with the required temporary network connectivity, check the bottom screen checkbox to allow the wizard proceed and click “Next”

Figure 31 - RPA Replacement wizard: select failed vRPA/D

5) Confirm the status of the replacement RPA, by checking the bottom screen checkbox (shown in Figure 32) and click “Next”


Figure 32 - RPA Replacement wizard: Confirm failed vRPA/D

6) The next screen will require the approval for cloning (spoofing) the failed vRPA/D WWNs configuration into the new vRPA/D. By spoofing the WWNs there is no requirement for new zoning at the SAN level.

Notice: If new WWNs are introduced then they will need to be zoned accordingly!


Figure 33 - RPA Replacement wizard: validating storage configuration

7) The wizard automatically runs through the validation process of the storage and SAN configurations (before the final “apply changes” phase for the settings on the new vRPA/D).

8) Once all of those changes have been applied then the wizard provides a summary of the steps completed as part of replacing the faulted vRPA/D and resuming cluster operations with the new vRPA/D (shown in Figure 34).

Figure 34 - vRPA/D Replacement wizard: Applying configuration screen

RecoverPoint Splitters

There are 5 options to choose from when considering the RecoverPoint Splitter

• Windows Host Splitter (for RecoverPoint/CL and RecoverPoint/EX with RecoverPoint 3.5 and with RecoverPoint/SE, RecoverPoint/EX and RecoverPoint/L with RecoverPoint 3.4)

• VMAX-based Splitter

• VPLEX-based Splitter

• VNX/CLARiiON-based Splitter

• Brocade/Cisco Intelligent Fabric Splitter

Choosing a RecoverPoint splitter is based upon many environmental scenarios. In this example, RecoverPoint is using the array based VNX/CLARiiON Splitter.

Enabling the “RecoverPoint Splitter” in the FLARE or VNX Operating Environment can enable this feature directly on the array. For a Symmetrix VMAX and VPLEX the splitter is already enabled. The following displays a list of all of the software features that are enabled on one of the CX4 arrays being used in this example


Figure 35 - RecoverPoint splitter view in CLARiiON management GUI

The Software tab under the “Properties” section of the CX4 array is the only field in which the RecoverPoint Splitter can be viewed from the Navisphere perspective. There is nothing else to tune or configure on the CLARiiON array in relation to RecoverPoint.

As with other Layered Applications, the RecoverPoint Splitter is pre-installed as part of the FLARE code, but is not visible or available to the user until the RecoverPoint Splitter enabler key is installed. This enabler key can be installed via the Navisphere Service Taskbar.

When an array-based splitter is used the maximum size volume (LUN) that can be replicated is 32TB. In environments where an array-based splitter is not being used then the maximum size for a replicated LUN is 2TB. The VMAX splitter is supported on the VMAX series, the VPLEX splitter is supported on VPLEX Local and VPLEX Metro, and the VNX/CLARiiON splitter is supported on VNX series, CX3 and CX4 arrays. (The VNX/CLARiiON splitter does not support VNXe, AX4-5 or pre CX3 storage arrays).

WWN Spoofing

When moving or replacing a vRPA/D it is possible to retain the WWN’s of the previous vRPA/D’s WWNs and apply them to the new vRPA/D.

A RecoverPoint appliance generates its own WWNs during installation, based in part on the underlying HBA WWN. The trick to enabling easy mobility of a vRPA/D is to hardcode the WWNs so that they don’t change when ported to a new set of HBAs (in the same host, or a different one).

Doing this allows a vRPA/D to move another host with different HBAs without the need for additional zoning or LUN masking. The process looks like this:

Hard Coding the WWNs

1. On the vRPA/D console (connect via SSH or via the VI Client), carry out the following steps

2. Enter the Diagnostics Menu


3. Enter the Fibre Channel Diagnostic Menu

4. Select the View Fibre Channel Details option.

5. If using SSH copy and paste the WWNs out to a text file for later use.

6. Navigate back through the menus and enter the Cluster Operations Menu

7. Detach the vRPA/D from the cluster.

8. Once detached, go into the Setup menu, and then option 1 to Modify, then specify the site of the vRPA/D you want to modify

9. Select Option 3 to set the WWN Name / Port Pair Addresses

10. Then specify the vRPA/D you want to change, and the number of HBA ports that the RPA uses

11. Using the WWN details we copied earlier, paste in the WWN and Node WWN details for each HBA port in sequence.

12. Once done, backup three levels in the menu tree and select option 5 to Apply the configuration.

13. This gives you a summary of the entire cluster configuration, and you can see the WWNs that you just hardcoded for the relevant vRPA/D.

14. Confirm that you want to apply the configuration, and then enter the site and box number to apply the details to.

15. Finally, reattach the vRPA/D to the cluster, which will cause a reboot of the vRPA/D.

16. Confirm that the cluster resumes normal operation

Moving the vRPA/D

There are can be various ways to perform vRPA/D relocation among ESX servers, as shown below:

Ø Manual move using vMotion as part of vSphere Cluster (applicable for vSphere 4.01 and later)

Ø Automated Failover using vSphere Cluster as part of HA/DRS Failover policy(valid for only vSphere 4.1 and later)

Ø Automated Failover using SRM (Compatible)

Note: it is recommended to configure your vRPA/D with spoofed WWN’s when you consider moving/failing over the vRPA/D into other ESX servers due to the fact that each ESX server has its own unique attached HBA’s WWN which can result in a failure of the vRPA/D code.

Manual move using vMotion as part of vSphere Cluster

1. Verify that the new ESX server has identical HBA (otherwise, the vRPA/D will fail to start on the new ESX server) as the old ESX (where the vRPA/D is now hosted)

2. Move the vRPA/D using a simple drag and drop in vCenter, keeping the storage locations as they were

3. Re-configure the vRPA/D to assign the correct set of physical HBAs that you want the RPA to use in the new host. A vRPA/D uses VMware DirectPath to get direct access to the required QLogic HBAs, so remove the two HBAs that were being used in the original host, and move them to the new host. On the new host assign access to two new HBAs in the new host.


4. Once complete, power on the virtual machine, and validate that the vRPA/D comes up cleanly by observing the VM state in the vSphere GUI or using the RecoverPoint GUI under the “RPA” tab.

Note: This process can be done in advance of setting up the vRPA/D cluster, or it can be done afterwards if you decide to enable this behavior at a later date.

This feature might be useful if:

• You want to do some maintenance on the physical host, and want the RecoverPoint cluster to run on all vRPA/Ds while this is happening.

• You want to upgrade the hardware that a vRPA/D runs on by moving it to another machine with better processors or faster HBAs as long as this new hardware still adheres to the support list shown above.

• If the customer wants to migrate their RecoverPoint appliances from physical to virtual, in which case they can hardcode the WWNs from the physical RPA into the vRPA/D, allowing for a quick and easy transfer.

Automated Failover using vSphere Cluster as part of HA/DRS Failover policy

In vSphere 4.1 VMware has introduced new vMotion feature named as dvMotion (which is the acronym for DirectPath vMotion) which can be used to provide an automated Failover of vRPA/D using the vMotion engine. The details are complex; if you are interested in this please send an email to the vRPA/d team at [email protected]

Note: This feature relays on the vSphere 4.1 experimental “dvMotion” feature

Automated Failover using SRM

VMware Site Recovery product enables automated failover of VMware Sites and clusters. It is highly suggested to use the compatible SRM functionality with ESX4i and later. vSphere 5 introduced improved vMotion & SRM capabilities, refer to the appropriate VMware documentation for full details.

Comments and getting help

Product and Technical support are available as follows:

Product information. For documentation and release notes, or for information about licensing and service, go to the RecoverPoint landing page on Powerlink: RecoverPoint Family or send an email to [email protected]

RecoverPoint licensing information

To request a license for your vRPA/D configuration do the following:

Go to PowerLink, and in the top-level menu navigate to Request Support - > Create Service Request.

• Mark it as “this is a: technical problem” • Enter “N/A” as the customer site ID • Enter contact name • Select product as RecoverPoint • In the Problem Summary enter “License Request for vRPA/D” • In the Problem Description enter the following information:

o "This is a license request for vRPA/D" o The version of RecoverPoint (3.4 or 3.5) required. o State if you require a RecoverPoint/SE, RecoverPoint/EX or RecoverPoint/CL license.


o State the replicated capacity that is required (1 to 300 TB). (300 TB is the maximum replicated capacity that can be requested)

o State if you need local, remote or both local and remote replication. o State how many RPAs will you need. (The number of RecoverPoint Virtual Machines) o State where will the VMs be installed. o State if this is for an internal lab or for a proof of concept.

§ If this is for a POC please provide the name of the customer. o Provide your full contact information including name, address, phone, email

• Submit.

Conclusion This white paper contains enough information to install and operate RecoverPoint as a virtual machine. If you have issues, comments, or questions about this document include the relevant page numbers and any other information that will help us locate the information you are addressing. Send comments to: [email protected]

References If you are having difficulty with vRPA/D ensure you read these references before sending an email.

EMC references

• Introduction to EMC RecoverPoint 3.5 New Features and Functions

• EMC RecoverPoint Family Overview

VMware references

• Configuration Examples and Troubleshooting for VMDirectPath

• Configuring VMDirectPath I/O pass-through devices on an ESX host

• PCI Passthrough with PCIe devices behind a non-ACS switch in vSphere

• VMware Tools Installation Guide For Operating System Specific Packages

• Performance Best Practices for VMware vSphere® 4.0

• Installing VMware Tools in a Linux virtual machine using a Compiler

• Configuration Examples and Troubleshooting for VMDirectPath

• Configuration Maximums - ESX 4.1

• Configuration Maximums - ESX 4.0