Dell PowerVault MD Series VMware Storage Replication Adapter (SRA) Installation and Configuration Manual (Web Client)

VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager (SRM) interacts with the storage arrays by using the Storage Replicator Adaptor (SRA) to discover and replicate storage Logical Unit Numbers (LUNs), or virtual disks, between Disaster Recovery (DR) sites. Also, the SRA interacts with the storage array to provide failover and test failover capabilities to the SRM allowing automated failover between DR sites. SRAs are developed and provided by the storage array vendors.

Figure 1. SRM Architecture

There are several tasks that you must complete to configure SRM. Some of these tasks are completed only for vSphere Replication (VR) or for array-based replication. If your environment uses both types of replication, consider all tasks, but if not, you may have to only complete a subset of the total possible set of tasks.

The set of tasks are as follows:

1. Obtain the latest SRM software and any required patches.
2. Configure the SRM databases at each site.
3. Install SRM at the protected site.
4. Install SRM at the recovery site.
5. Pair sites.

If you are using array-based replication, complete the following tasks at both sites:

1. Install SRAs
2. Configure array managers

After you have established the required infrastructure, complete the following steps:

1. Configure inventory mappings.
2. Configure placeholder datastores.
3. If you are using VR, configure datastore mappings.
4. Create protection groups.
5. Protect virtual machines (VMs).
6. Create recovery plans.