Protecting Full Systems › How Full System Scenarios Work

How Full System Scenarios Work

Use Full System scenarios to protect any server, regardless of application type. Replication, High Availability and Assured Recovery are supported. Full System scenarios are application-independent and let you transfer an entire physical machine (Master), including all system status information, to a virtualized Replica that supports the guest operating system of the active server.

The following virtualized environments are supported as the Replica server in Full System scenarios:

• Microsoft Hyper-V
• Citrix XenServer (Xen)

  Note: Review XenServer Configuration Limitations before using XenServer on www.citrix.com.

• ESXi/vCenter Server
• Amazon EC2

Note: Refer to the Arcserve RHA Release Notes or the Compatibility Matrix on Arcserve Support for supported versions.

Data from a physical Master is replicated not to a physical Replica, as it is in typical Arcserve RHA scenarios, but to a virtual hard drive file stored on a VM. This virtual machine, called an appliance The appliance is a virtual machine running on the virtual platform host specified in a Full System scenario. Install the Arcserve RHA Engine on this VM and specify it as the Replica server in these scenarios. However, if Hyper-V is the virtual platform, the Appliance field does not apply. in Full System scenarios, runs on a virtual platform host and is configured with the Arcserve RHA Engine. At switchover, the physical Master is disabled, a new virtual machine is created on the virtual platform host and the virtual disk file is mounted as a disk. The new VM is booted and integration services are deployed.

Note: You cannot run two Full System scenarios that protect the same physical Master.

The following list highlights how primary Arcserve RHA operations work with Full System scenarios.

Scenario Creation -- Create a Full System scenario that identifies a physical machine as the Master server and a virtual machine as the Appliance (Replica) and the virtual platform that hosts this Appliance VM. Specify information unique to Full System scenarios, depending upon the virtual platform type:

• Volume List -- You can select which volumes on the Master to include in the scenario. The system and boot volumes must be protected and are always selected by default.
• Root Directory List -- Since there is no root directory concept in Full System scenarios, this list is used to guide which data is replicated to virtual disk.
• Local Directory on VM -- This is the location of the virtual disk stored on the virtual machine server. All virtual disks are stored here. It also stores the virtual disk volume mount point. Arcserve RHA replicates data from the source directory on the physical Master to the mount point on the virtual Replica.
• Network Adapter List -- This stores all network adapter information (adapter name, adapter ID, IP address, MAC address, and so on) on the physical machine. This information is used to create network mapping lists between the physical machine's adapter and the virtual machine's adapter.
• Network Mapping List -- When the virtual machine is created, the network adapter on the VM is set according to the information in this list.
• CPU/Memory Value -- When the virtual machine is created, Arcserve RHA sets the CPU number and memory size of the VM according to configuration properties defined in the scenario.
• Resource Pool -- For vCenter or ESXi platforms, choose a resource pool that specifies the shared resources for the VM.
• Datastore -- For vCenter or ESXi platforms, choose a datastore that specifies where the VM files are to be saved.

Scenario Start -- Arcserve RHA validates the stored scenario to verify no errors exist that could prevent a successful switchover, if needed.

Synchronization -- The physical Master creates and transfers the virtual disk file to the local directory on the virtual Replica. After transfer, the virtual disk file is stored in the directory you specified on the Root Replica Directory dialog during scenario creation.

Replication -- The physical Master replicates any data changes to the virtual disk file stored on the Replica in real time mode. The virtual disk file is mounted as a directory on the Hyper-V server file system.

Switchover -- If the physical Master is unavailable, Arcserve RHA initiates switchover according to the properties set during scenario creation. Arcserve RHA stops the Full System scenario and disables the physical machine network. The virtual machine is created on the server using the same name as the physical Master. The virtual disk is mounted and the network adapter for the virtual machine is added according to the network mapping list defined in the stored scenario. Finally, the virtual machine is booted. For end users accessing the failed physical Master, switchover takes several minutes.

Data Recovery -- Launch the Data Recovery Wizard and select a restore point. You can select the volumes to be restored and the target to which these volumes should be restored. Arcserve RHA creates and starts the restore scenario.

Assured Recovery -- You can perform manual or automatic assured recovery. Select the virtual Replica and click Replica Integration Testing, select the type of Assured Recovery and continue. Arcserve RHA stops applying journal changes, starts the AR process by creating a virtual machine with the specified virtual disks and then starts the VM. Arcserve RHA resumes applying journal changes when AR is stopped.