Hi guys,
I am trying to understand on how to use vmWare to reduce planned downtime (and business continuity in case of fault)
The main requiremnt is:
When a virtual machine VM1 (master) in the physical host A is disconnected from the network baecause under maintenance (that includes e.g.: VM update itself) its exact copy VM1 (Slave) in the physical Host B must be up and running (it replace the VM1in the HOST A temporary down for maintenance)
I am thinking to use:
- Disaster Recovery ?
- or Data Protection ?
- or VmWare Replication ?
- or vMotion
but I have not understood what is the best for the scenario just outlined above.
Observation: I have excluded vmWare HA because the VM share the same source and in my scenario the VM1 when is under upgrade (may be windows update) the other VM1 in the other host must run (I do not think that it is possible to upgrade the share virtual machine when it is running or is it?).
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Therefore, I am trying to explain the steps as example:
SCENARIO: 2 Hosts containing a the same VM (VM1, when the VM1 in HOST A is UP, the VM1 in HOST B is down): HOST A (VM1 with Windows Server 2008): production VM (The official production host) HOST B (VM1 with Windows Server 2008): it is a exact copy (Including IP and machine name), to be used in planned maintenance or VM1 HOST A fault (this host is used only during planned maintenance or fault)
Now the step during planned maintenance:
STEP1 1 (time 1): regular activity
- HOST A, VM1 running in production
- HOST B, VM1 idle (switched off or disconnected from the LAN)
STEP 2 (planned maintenance: windows server 2008 updates that requires reboot) (Time 2)
- HOST A: VM1 now is Disconnected from the network to allow VM update and reboot
- HOST B: VM1 now connected to the network to allow production continuity
STEP 3 (VM1 Host A is now updated and rebooted) (Time 3)
- HOST B: VM1 is disconnected from the network
- HOST A: VM1 is now connected to the network for production
- HOST B: VM1 is being updated (copy of the VM1 HOST A).
The steps outlined above is the flow during planned maintenance.
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I am using the above strategy to allow the continuity of production (except a shortage downtime to put DOWN and put UP VMs) when the VM1 HOST A is being updated.
I am very glad to have some suggestions on which vmWare product accomplish the above requirements (steps listed).
Many thanks