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Rapid Recovery 6.7 - User Guide

Introduction to Rapid Recovery The Core Console Repositories Core settings Protecting machines
About protecting machines with Rapid Recovery Understanding the Rapid Recovery Agent software installer Deploying Agent to multiple machines simultaneously from the Core Console Using the Deploy Agent Software Wizard to deploy to one or more machines Modifying deploy settings Understanding protection schedules Protecting a machine About protecting multiple machines Enabling application support Settings and functions for protected Exchange servers Settings and functions for protected SQL servers
Managing protected machines Snapshots and recovery points Managing privacy Encryption Authentication Replication Events Reporting VM export Restoring data Bare metal restore
About bare metal restore Differences in bare metal restore for Windows and Linux machines Understanding boot CD creation for Windows machines Managing a Linux boot image Performing a bare metal restore using the Restore Machine Wizard Using the Universal Recovery Console for a BMR Performing a bare metal restore for Linux machines Verifying a bare metal restore
Managing aging data Archiving Cloud accounts Core Console references REST APIs Glossary

About retention policies for replication

Retention policies on the source and target Cores are not synchronized. Rollup and on-demand deletion perform independently on each Core on initial action, as well as when running nightly jobs.

For more information on retention policies, see Managing retention policies.

Viewing incoming and outgoing replication

If you click the [Replicate] Replicate icon from the icon bar, the Replication page appears. This page gives you an understanding of replication from the scope of this Core. It includes two panes:

  • The Outgoing Replication pane lists any machines protected in this Core that are replicated on another Core.
  • The Incoming Replication pane lists the machines replicated on this Core, and the source Core from which these machines are replicated.

This section describes the information shown in these panes.

Information about outgoing replication from this Rapid Recovery Coreis described in the following table.

Table 86: Information about outgoing replication
UI Element Description
Select item For each row in the summary table, you can select the checkbox to perform actions from the list of menu options above the table.
Type Shows the machine type. You can expand a target Core to show individual replicated machines.
Status indicator Status of replication. Colored circles in the Status column show whether a replicated machine is online or unreachable. If you hover the cursor over the colored circle, the status condition is displayed. Status conditions include green (replication established and online), yellow (replication paused), red (authentication error), and gray (offline or unreachable).
Replication Name The display name of the Core machine to which machines from this source Core are replicated.
Machines Lists the number of machines replicated to the selected target Core.
Sync The date and time of the last replication transfer to the target Core.
[Actions] When you click the More drop-down menu in this column, you see a list of actions to perform to affect the specific replication relationship.

You can perform actions on two or more of the target Cores listed in the Outgoing Replication grid. To perform actions on multiple target Cores, select the checkbox for each Core in the grid, and then, from the menu above the grid, select the action you want to perform. You can perform the actions described in the following table.

Table 87: Global actions available in the Outgoing Replication pane
UI Element Description
Add Target Core Lets you define another target Core to replicate machines protected on this source Core.
Refresh Refreshes the information shown in the table.
Force Forces replication.
Pause Pauses established replication.
Resume Resumes paused replication.
Copy Opens the replication wizard, letting you copy existing recovery points for selected protected machines to a seed drive.
Delete Deletes outgoing replication.
Seed Drives

This menu option appears if data was copied to a seed drive when replication was set up.

Displays information about the seed drive file, including the data and time the seed drive was saved. Collapsible menus indicate the target Core and the protected machines from which the seed drive files were generated.

[Actions] When you click the More drop-down menu in this column, you see a list of actions to perform to affect the specific replication relationship.

Information about incoming replication from another Core is described in the following table.

Table 88: Information about incoming replication
UI Element Description
Select item For each row in the summary table, you can select the checkbox to perform actions from the list of menu options above the table.
Type Shows the machine type. You can expand a source Core to show individual replicated machines.
Status indicator Status of replication. Colored circles in the Status column show whether a replicated machine is online or unreachable. If you hover the cursor over the colored circle, the status condition is displayed. Status conditions include green (replication established and online), yellow (replication paused), red (authentication error), and gray (offline or unreachable).
Replication Name The display name of the source Core machine containing protected machines that are replicated on this target Core.

This name can be optionally specified when establishing replication on the source Core using the Replication Wizard.

Machines Lists the number of machines protected on the source Core that are replicated to this target Core.
Sync The date and time of the last replication transfer from the source Core.
[Actions] When you click the More drop-down menu in this column, you see a list of actions to perform to affect the specific replication relationship.

You can perform actions on two or more of the source Cores listed in the Incoming Replication grid. To perform actions on multiple source Cores, select the checkbox for each Core in the grid, and then, from the menu above the grid, select the action you want to perform. You can perform the actions described in the following table.

Table 89: Global actions available in the Incoming Replication pane
UI Element Description
Refresh Refreshes the information shown in the table.
Force Forces replication.
Pause Pauses established replication.
Resume Resumes paused replication.
Delete Deletes incoming replication.

Configuring replication

To replicate data using Rapid Recovery, you must configure the source and target Cores for replication. After you configure replication, you can then replicate protected machine data, monitor and manage replication, and perform recovery.

The version of Rapid Recovery Core on the server used as the target can be equal to or later than the version of Rapid Recovery Core installed on the source Core. The source Core must never run a version of Rapid Recovery more recent than the target Core runs.

When upgrading Cores that use replication, do the following:

  • Always upgrade the target Core first, then upgrade the source Core, and lastly upgrade the Agent software on your protected machines.
  • If using the automatic update feature, to ensure the proper upgrade order is followed, set up automatic update on target Cores only. After each automatic update, manually upgrade source Cores before updating Rapid Recovery Agent on your protected machines.

For more information on updating cores configured for replication, see the Rapid Recovery Installation and Upgrade Guide, including topics "Upgrading factors to consider" and "Automatically installing updates."

NOTE: When you replicate data for a cluster, you must replicate the entire cluster. For example, if you select a node to replicate, the cluster is automatically selected. Likewise, if you select the cluster, all nodes in that cluster are also selected.

Performing replication in Rapid Recovery involves performing the following operations:

Replicating to a self-managed target Core

This configuration applies to replication to an off-site location and to mutual replication. The following steps are prerequisite:

  • The Rapid Recovery Core must be installed on all source and target machines.
  • If you are configuring Rapid Recovery for multi-point to point replication, you must perform this task on all source Cores and the one target Core. For descriptions of these replication configurations, see Replication.
  • If you need to create a seed drive and transfer it to a physical removable storage volume to perform the initial transfer of existing recovery points, you must have a suitable portable storage device prepared. You must also have physical access to the source Core machine, to attach the drive to copy the seed drive archive.
  • If using a seed drive in a self-managed target Core, you or a trusted administrator must have physical access to the target Core.
  • If using an Azure repository on a target Core, you have access and permissions for the Azure container.

A self-managed target Core is a Core to which you have access. For example, a self-managed Core is often managed by your company at an off-site location, or is hosted at a different geographic location than the source Core. Replication can be set up entirely on the source Core, unless you choose to seed your data using a seed drive. In such cases, you must create a seed drive using this procedure, and later attach the seed drive to the target Core to consume the archived recovery point data. For more information, see Determining your seeding needs and strategy.

Complete the steps in the following procedure to configure your source Core to replicate to a self-managed target Core.

  1. Navigate to the Rapid Recovery Core Console of the source Core.
  2. On the button bar, click [Replicate] Replicate.

    The Replication Wizard appears.

  3. On the Target Core page of the Replication Wizard, if you are establishing replication with a target Core that has been paired with this source Core previously, select Use an existing target Core, and then select the appropriate target Core from the drop-down list. Skip to step 5.
     
  4. On the Target Core page of the Replication Wizard, if you are establishing replication with a target Core from this source Core for the first time, select I have my own Target Core, and then enter the information as described in the following table.
    Table 90: Target Core information
    Text Box Description

    Host Name

    Enter the host name or IP address of the Core machine to which you are replicating.

    Port

    Enter the port number on which the Rapid Recovery Core will communicate with the machine.

    The default port number is 8006.

    User Name

    Enter the user name for accessing the machine.

    Password

    Enter the password for accessing the machine.

  5. Click Next.

    NOTE: If no repository exists on the target Core, a warning appears notifying you that you can pair the source Core with the target Core, but that you are unable to replicate agents (protected machines) to this location until a repository is established. For information about how to set up a primary repository to a Core, see Creating a DVM repository.

  6. On the Request page, enter a name for this replication configuration; for example, SourceCore1. This is the display name used for the Incoming Replication pane on the target Core's Replication page.
  7. Click Next.
  8. On the Protected Machines page, select the protected machines you want to replicate, and then use the drop-down lists in the Repository column to select a repository for each protected machine.
  9. If you want to perform the seeding process for the transfer of the base data, complete the following sub-steps. If you do not want to seed your data, proceed to step 10.

    NOTE: Because large amounts of data need to be copied to the portable storage device, Quest recommends using an eSATA, USB 3.0, or other high-speed connection to the portable storage device.

    1. On the Protected Machines page of the Replication Wizard, select Use a seed drive to perform the initial transfer.
      • If you currently have one or more protected machines replicating to a target Core, you can include these protected machines on the seed drive by selecting Include already replicated recovery points in the seed drive.
      • If you do not want replication to begin immediately after completing this procedure, select Initially pause replication.

        NOTE: If you select this option, replication does not begin until you explicitly resume it. For more information, see Pausing and resuming replication.

    2. Click Next.
    3. On the Seed Drive Location page of the Replication Wizard, use the Location type drop-down list to select from the following destination types:
      • Local
      • Network
      • Cloud
    4. In the Location field, enter the details for the seed drive file as described in the following table, based on the location type you selected in step c.
      Table 91: Archive details
      Option Text Box Description

      Local

      Output location

      Enter the location for the output. It is used to define the location path where you want the seed drive archive to reside; for example, D:\work\archive.

      Network

      Output location

      Enter the location for the output. It is used to define the location path where you want the seed drive archive to reside; for example, \\servername\sharename.

      User Name

      Enter a user name. It is used to establish logon credentials for the network share.

      Password

      Enter a password for the network path. It is used to establish logon credentials for the network share.

      Cloud

      Account

      Select an account from the drop-down list.

      NOTE: To select a cloud account, you must first have added it in the Core Console. For more information, see Adding a cloud account.

      Container

      Select a container associated with your account from the drop-down menu.

      Folder Name

      Enter a name for the folder in which the archived data is to be saved. The default name is Rapid-Recovery-Archive-[DATE CREATED]-[TIME CREATED]

    5. Click Next.
    6. On the Seed Drive Options page of the Replication Wizard, enter the information as described in the following table.
      Table 92: Seed drive options
      Item Description

      Maximum Size

      Large archives of data can be divided into multiple segments. Select the maximum size of the segment you want to reserve for creating the seed drive by doing one of the following:

      • Select Entire Target to reserve all available space in the path provided on the Seed Drive Location page for future use. For example, if the location is D:\work\archive, all of the available space on the D: drive is reserved if required for copying the seed drive, but is not reserved immediately after starting the copying process.
      • Select the text box, enter an amount, and then select a unit of measurement from the drop-down list to customize the maximum space you want to reserve. The default is 250MB.

      Recycle action

      In the event the path already contains a seed drive, select one of the following options:

      • Do not reuse. Does not overwrite or clear any existing seed data from the location. If the location is not empty, the seed drive write will fail.
      • Replace this Core. Overwrites any pre-existing seed data pertaining to this Core but leaves the data for other Cores intact.
      • Erase completely. Clears all seed data from the directory before writing the seed drive.

      Comment

      Enter a comment that describes the seed drive.

      Add all agents to seed drive

      Select this option to replicate all protected machines on the source Core using the seed drive. This option is selected by default.

      Build recovery point chains (fix orphans)

      Select this option to replicate the entire recovery point chain to the seed drive. This adds some already replicated recovery points to the seed drive, preventing orphans from occurring. This option is selected by default.

    7. Do one of the following:
      • If you cleared the Add all agents to seed drive check box, click Next.
      • If you selected Add all agents to seed drive, go to step 10.
  10. Click Finish.
  11. If you created a seed drive, send it to your target Core.

    The pairing of the source Core to the target Core is complete.

Unless you selected the option to initially pause replication, the replication process begins immediately.

  1. If you selected the option to use a seed drive, replication produces orphaned recovery points on the target Core until the seed drive is consumed and provides the necessary base images.
  2. If you specified the use of the a drive, transfer the seed drive archive file to a volume (shared folder, virtual disk, or removable storage media). Then, consume the seed drive.
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