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Recommendation for DR setup with Hyper-V and PS4000's
Still getting my feet wet with Equallogic/asm/snapshots...etc. so bear with me. We have a 2 node cluster using R710's and a PS4000 with a CSV volume. We have another R710 and a PS4000 we'll be using for DR purposes at a remote location with limited bandwidth b/w the sites (right now 3Mbps but looking at increasing). Right now the config is all our Hyper-V VM's are residing on one large CSV volume...some of these VM's aren't priorities for DR purposes. Reading in another thread, hyper-v replicas aren't supported by ASM/ME right now. Our DR goal isn't to be up and running instantly after an issue...we just want to make recovery easier at the remote location in case of disaster (we're also currently backing up using BE 2010). So...what's the best way to handle this type of situation? I'm assuming replicating one huge volume isn't going to work...so do I stop using a CSV? Split up the VM's onto their own volumes? How can I best utilize ASM/ME (if at all) in this scenario?
DELL-Joe S
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April 26th, 2011 15:00
Bruce,
Hi, it's Joe with Dell EqualLogic. Not sure if you reviewed this document: http://www.equallogic.com/resourcecenter/assetview.aspx?id=7787. Also, the ASM/ME user guide https://www.equallogic.com/support/download_file.aspx?id=1053 (login required), talks about Hyper-V and using CSV's.
Every environment is slightly different, so it's hard to answer what is your best option for recovery. The best advice is to do a test recovery, and at that point, modify your game plan to meet your recovery SLA.
Regards,
Joe
brucefan
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April 26th, 2011 18:00
Joe,
Thanks but the first link just shows how to set up a CSV on an Equallogic with Hyper-V which we already have done...the 2nd is just a user guide for ASM. I'm more looking for best practices or an opinion for our type of situation. We can't test a recovery until we know how to set one up. I'm at a loss on what we'd use ASM/ME for if we only use the PS4000 for hyper-v and ASM smart copies aren't supported for replicas on CSV clusters. That's the type of advice I'm looking for...not necessarily a step by step instruction...just an opinion on a strategy.
DELL-Joe S
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April 27th, 2011 13:00
Bruce,
Sorry, I must have miss-read your post. Splitting up the VM’s into separate volumes and using ASM/ME will give you the best consistency for your replication/snapshots. As you pointed out, there are some limitations to using ASM/ME on CSV’s and setting the VM’s in to a state where they are consistent (queuing all the VM’s on one volume into a crash consistence state), but the latest build does address some of these issue. Also, you are correct in that replicating a large volume is not recommended.
Regards,
Joe
kristofvm
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August 16th, 2012 08:00
Joe,
Whats the word on using ASM/ME to accomplish (app consistent) replication of CSV volumes in a Hyper-V multi-site failover cluster. Or even using 'normal' EQL replication in a HyperV geocluster, but then this will only be crash consistent, right?!
What are the guidelines and best practices for EQL replication in a HyperV geocluster? Can this be done with CSV volumes or not (yet)?
Kind Regards,
Kristof
Anonymous
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August 16th, 2012 11:00
From the HIT 4.0 guide
The following Smart Copy operations are available for CSV-enabled clusters:
You can create Smart Copies (snapshots, replicas, or clones) of VMs residing on CSVs. Replication operations of Hyper-V VMs are only supported for VMs on CSVs.
You can create Smart Copies of CSVs themselves. A single Smart Copy of a CSV will copy every VM that resides on the CSV.
You can create CSV collections and then create Smart Copies of those collections.
You can create schedules for the above Smart Copy operations.
Smart Copies of CSVs or VMs residing on CSVs are file system consistent and not application consistent. If Hyper-V is running on a standard cluster or standard or non-CSV volume, Smart Copies will remain application consistent because the operation still relies on the Hyper-V VSS writer.