Need help in choosing the VMware DR SAN technology

[AlbertWT]

Hi All,

I am investigating the of which one is the most preferable choice for DR environment ?

between SAN based replication technology or 3rd party application (Veeam Backup and replication or VMware Site Recovery mgr.)

my current situation is that I have running mostly VMware ESX virtual environment like the following:

1. production environment that is mixed of HP DL 380 and Blade servers with EMC Clariion CX4-500 FC-SAN
2. planning for DR environment that uses the same server model but still thinking of which SAN technology that we could use for the replication between the two sites. The DR site is not necessarily to be as fast as the current production and the SAN doesn't have to be EMC

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[bulletprooffool]

I personally go with matching storage on either end where posisble.

This means deduplication of replicated data is consistent, scripting against the storage is always macthing, I cna what performance I am likely to get on either end of the solution and lastly, I am able to speak to 1 single vendor where there are replication errors (rather than having two vendors blame each other for any faults and negate to take accountability)

At worst, I'd say stick with the same vendor, but possibly a lower specc'ed unit?

good luck

[AndreTheGiant]

The advantage of virtualization is that you do not need the same hardware model for the hosts.

But about the storage is a little complicated...

If you want storage replication you need another Clariion (or an AX) and MirrorView license.

Or you can use RepliStor, but still it is related to EMC solution.

Or you can look at some VM replication solution (like Veeam Repicator or Vizioncore vReplicator) or solution like DoubleTake.

In this case you can choose the SAN that you prefer.

Andre

[idle-jam · Accepted solution]

you will need almost the same model in order to perform SAN replication using the inbuilt SAN storage function. If this is not possible you might need to virtualize the SAN so that both are the same type. one way is by using HP Lefthand VSA or Falconstore.

[AlbertWT]

Ah yes, many thakns guys for your reply and suggestion.

with the HP left hand VSA - http://h18006.www1.hp.com/products/storage/software/vsa/trial/index.html I can deploy that on top of other SAN hardware between prod - DR and then implement software replication (sounds complex to troubleshoot later on).

with the same brand of SAN from EMC, maybe just get the smaller Clariion CX4-200 to replicate it between the 10 MB WAN link after the initial in site copy is a good idea at least.

[AlbertWT]

Thank you for your response Andre,

Does EMC RepliStor can do the replication between

Production EMC Clariion CX4-55 into DR EMC Celerra ?

[AndreTheGiant]

Does EMC RepliStor can do the replication between

Production EMC Clariion CX4-55 into DR EMC Celerra ?

Never testes, but I suppose yes.

Celerra has a Clarrion part.

Andre