VMware vSphere Replication 8.7.0.3 Released - Virtual Machine Replication and Data Protection

VMware vSphere Replication 8.7 (for vSphere 8.0U1) - Virtual Machine Replication and Data Protection

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new features

vSphere Replication 8.7.0.3 | 05 SEP 2023 | Build 22359474

vSphere Replication 8.7 | April 18, 2023 | Build 21591677

vSphere Replication Configuration Import/Export Tool 8.7 | April 18, 2023 | Build 21403189

VMware vSphere Replication 8.7 is compatible with VMware vSphere 8.0 Update 1.
Data Grid User Interface Enhancements:
- Based on the toggle control, more object rows are displayed per page. There is flexibility to choose the maximum number of records to display.
- Added option to autofit columns based on data.
- Ability to remember column sizing.
Exclude ESXi hosts from registration based on ESXi host tags.
Added option in the Replication Reconfiguration Wizard to preserve the replica's base disk when excluding a disk from replication.
The datastore cluster acts as the target for replication.
New REST API for configuring vSphere Replication has been added.

See blog for details .
Added an option to start or restart the syslog service through the VRMS appliance management interface.
VMware Aria Operations Management Pack for vSphere Replication 8.7. For information about the management pack, see the VMware Aria Operations Management Pack for vSphere Replication 8.7 Release Notes .
VMware Aria Automation Orchestrator Plug-In for vSphere Replication 8.7. For information on new workflows, see the VMware Aria Automation Orchestrator Plug-In Release Notes for vSphere Replication 8.7 .

For interoperability with earlier versions of VMware vSphere or later, see the vSphere Replication 8.7 Compatibility Matrix .

For information about vSphere 8.0 Update 1 features, see the vSphere 8.0 Update 1 documentation .

vSphere Replication 8.6 | 11 OCT 2022 | Build 20555483

vSphere Replication Configuration Import/Export Tool 8.6 | 11 OCT 2022 | Build 20142180

VMware vSphere Replication 8.6 is compatible with VMware vSphere 8.0.
vSphere Replication 8.6 can replicate virtual machines on vSAN Express Storage datastores.
vSphere Replication 8.6 can replicate dataset files.
vSphere Replication 8.6 supports up to 4000 replicated virtual machines per vCenter Server instance with vSphere 8.0 and later and VMware Cloud on AWS SDDC version 1.20 and later.
The vSphere Replication REST API introduces end-to-end automation for vSphere Replication:
- Configure and reconfigure replication.
- REST API for monitoring replication, pairing and status.
- Ability to manage vSphere Replication - start/stop/pause/resume/delete, optionally retain replica disks.
- A full set of REST APIs for configuring and managing the vSphere Replication appliance.
  
  See blog for details .
vRealize Operations Management Pack for VMware vSphere Replication 8.6. For information about the management pack, see the VMware vRealize Operations Management Pack for VMware vSphere Replication 8.6 Release Notes .
vRealize Orchestrator Plug-In for VMware vSphere Replication 8.6. For information about new workflows, see the VMware vRealize Orchestrator Plug-In Release Notes for VMware vSphere Replication 8.6 .

VMware vSphere Replication 8.5.0.5 | August 16, 2022 | Build 20268794

VMware vSphere Replication 8.5.0.5 is a minor product patch release that provides important security fixes. The contents of the VMware vSphere Replication 8.5 Release Notes and all subsequent 8.5.0.x Patch Release Notes also apply to this release.

VMware vSphere Replication 8.5 | October 5, 2021 | Build 18710774 | Download

VMware vSphere Replication 8.5 Configuration Import/Export Tool | October 5, 2021 | Build 18712590 | Download

How vSphere Replication works

Check out the release notes for new additions and updates.

VMware vSphere Replication 8.5 Release Notes

What is vSphere Replication and how does it help with virtual machine disaster recovery?

VMware vSphere Replication is a Hypervisor -based asynchronous replication solution for vSphere virtual machines . It is fully integrated with VMware vCenter Server and vSphere Web Client. vSphere Replication provides flexible, reliable, and cost-effective replication (sysin) to support data protection and disaster recovery of all virtual machines in the environment .

Application Scenario

Local data protection at a single site
Disaster recovery and avoidance between two sites
Leveraging Service Provider Clouds for Disaster Recovery and Avoidance
data center migration

vSphere Replication in action

Build flexible configurations :

vSphere Replication provides flexible recovery options, ensures consistent application and virtual machine data, and integrates with the VMware stack. Use vSphere Replications to:

Custom recovery point objective (RPO) from 5 minutes to 24 hours
Revert to last known state using multiple point in time (MPIT) recovery
Protect up to 2,000 virtual machines per vCenter Server environment
Using Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)
Use Linux filesystem quiescing (sysin)
Automate Cross-Site Disaster Recovery with VMware Site Recovery Manager
Protect and recover virtual machines in VMware vSAN
Protect and recover virtual machines on vSphere Virtual Volumes datastores

Eliminate storage limitations :

vSphere Replication is a hypervisor-based replication solution that operates at the individual virtual machine disk (VMDK) level and can replicate individual virtual machines across heterogeneous storage types supported by vSphere. Because vSphere Replication is independent of the underlying storage, it works with a variety of storage types, including VMware vSAN, vSphere Virtual Volumes, traditional SAN , network-attached storage (NAS) and direct-attached storage (DAS). You can:

Use different storage technologies at linked sites, such as SAN to vSAN and Fiber Channel (FC) to Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) arrangements
Repurpose old storage at the recovery site to reduce costs
Use secondary storage only for protected virtual machines, not for the entire environment

Reduce network bandwidth :

vSphere Replication replicates only changed data to the recovery site, reducing bandwidth usage, improving network efficiency, and reducing RPO time compared to manually replicating the entire system. With vSphere Replication, you can:

Utilizes a "seed copy" of the virtual machine data for initial synchronization, reducing the time required to create the initial copy
Tracks changed disk regions and replicates only those changes, ensuring efficient use of the network
Optionally enable data compression to further reduce network bandwidth consumption

Detailed technical information

Hypervisor-based virtual machine replication :

vSphere Replication is deeply integrated with VMware vSphere components. It is a reliable hypervisor-based virtual machine replication engine. For virtual machines that are running on the primary site, data that has changed on the virtual machine's disk is sent to the secondary site. Here, the changes are applied to the virtual machine disk of the offline copy of the virtual machine.

Copy management :

vSphere Replication consists of an agent built into vSphere and one or more virtual appliances deployed using the vSphere Web Client. The agent keeps track of the running virtual machine and sends the changed data to the vSphere Replication virtual appliance at the remote site; the virtual appliance then adds the replicated data to the offline copy of the virtual machine. The vSphere Replication virtual appliance also manages and monitors the replication process. This allows administrators to understand the protection status of virtual machines and recover virtual machines with just a few clicks.

Copy configuration :

The replication process for up to 2,000 virtual machines can be easily configured using the vSphere Web Client: select one or more virtual machines, right-click the virtual machines, and define the RPO and the destination for its replicas. vSphere Replication then replicates the data, always meeting the RPO, ensuring that virtual machine content is not updated at intervals that exceed the defined replication policy. RPOs range from 5 minutes to 24 hours and can be configured individually for different virtual machines.

VM sync and seed copy :

vSphere Replication provides an initial full synchronization between the source virtual machine and its replica. If necessary, a seed copy of the data can be placed at the destination, which minimizes the time and bandwidth required for the first copy. A seed copy of a virtual machine contains a virtual machine disk file that can be placed at the target location. The seed copy is manually created and placed at the recovery location using whatever mechanism the administrator chooses, such as offline replication, FTP, ISO mirroring, or virtual machine cloning.

Intelligent transmission :

After the initial full synchronization is complete, vSphere Replication will transfer only changed data. The vSphere kernel keeps track of every write in the protected virtual machine, determines which data blocks have changed between different replication cycles, and replicates only those data blocks. This minimizes network traffic consumed and shortens the RPO.

Distraction-free copying :

The virtual machine replication process is independent of the operating system or applications in the virtual machine and does not cause interference. Protected virtual machines are left undisturbed, requiring no changes to their configuration or ongoing management.

configuration replication

restore settings

Frequently Asked Questions

How does vSphere Replication work?

vSphere Replication protects data with flexible and reliable replication and supports disaster recovery (DR) for all virtual machines. It is fully integrated with vCenter Server and the vSphere Web Client to provide host-based asynchronous replication of virtual machines. This is a feature of the vSphere platform that is natively integrated with Site Recovery Manager.

vSphere Replication is configured on a per-virtual machine basis, allowing fine-grained control over which virtual machines are replicated. This replication can occur between primary and secondary sites, between two clusters within a single site, and between multiple source sites and a single target site, regardless of the underlying storage array.

For full details on the architecture, deployment, configuration, and management of vSphere Replication, review the vSphere Replication Technical Overview .

Which features of vSphere work with vSphere Replication?

vSphere Replication is a deeply integrated vSphere component that is compatible with many vSphere management features, including:

vSphere vMotion
vSphere Storage vMotion
vSphere DRS、vSphere Storage DRS
vSAN datastore
vSphere Distributed Power Management
vSphere Flash Read Cache

Other vSphere features, such as vSphere Distributed Power Management, require special configuration to work with vSphere Replication. For complete compatibility details, please review this document .

Does vSphere Replication maintain the virtual machine's snapshot hierarchy?

Won't. vSphere Replication does not replicate the virtual machine's snapshot hierarchy at the target site. Snapshots are collapsed into a single aggregated virtual machine disk (VMDK) file at the destination. That is, replication can be configured for a virtual machine that has a snapshot, but the virtual machine will not have the snapshot after it is restored at the destination.

Note: vSphere Replication includes multiple point-in-time (MPIT) recovery. MPIT restore enables administrators to restore a virtual machine to the latest replicated copy at the target site and then roll it back to a previous point in time. If MPIT recovery is configured, when the virtual machine is recovered using vSphere Replication, these recovery points appear as snapshots of the virtual machine at the destination.

What are the application scenarios for vSphere Replication?

Key use cases for vSphere Replication include:

Local data protection in a single site
Disaster recovery and avoidance between two sites
Leveraging Service Provider Clouds for Disaster Recovery and Avoidance
data center migration

More specifically, vSphere Replication can be used to replicate one or more virtual machines:

Local data protection, virtual machine migration, and disaster recovery within a vSphere cluster or across multiple vSphere clusters at the same site
Cross-site data protection, virtual machine migration, and disaster recovery between multiple vSphere clusters at different sites
Disaster recovery from on-premises data center to vCloud Hybrid Service provider
From one data center to another, for use with vCenter Site Recovery Manager

resource

download link

VMware vSphere Replication 8.7.0 :
Baidu network disk link: https://sysin.org/blog/vmware-vsphere-replication-8/

VMware vSphere Replication 8.7.0 Appliance - .iso disk image
File size: 2.05 GB
File type: iso
Name: VMware-vSphere_Replication-8.7.0-21591677.iso
Release Date: 2023-04-18
Build Number: 21591677
VMware vSphere Replication 8.7.0 Appliance -.iso disk image
MD5SUM: 2713851ebe9382a777ccde7f28c57985
SHA1SUM: b588d7d00a26f76f83b24d83590f464b204511ac
SHA256SUM: 34b4e8db89eeaeffa52a3546ba24bfc29c870f1574546ee19c3437a9b6971910
VMware Aria Automation Orchestrator Plug-In for VMware vSphere Replication 8.7.0
File size: 59.15 MB
File type: vmoapp
Name: vr-8.7.0-21511260.vmoapp
Release Date: 2023-04-18
Build Number: 21511260
VMware Aria Automation Orchestrator Plug-In for VMware vSphere Replication 8.7.0
MD5SUM: 876515beaa8f355a8bcf82ef4850ab7e
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VMware Aria Operations Management Pack for VMware vSphere Replication 8.7.0
File size: 31.99 MB
File type: pak
Name: VrAdapter-8.7.0-21518131.pak
Release Date: 2023-04-18
Build Number: 21518131
VMware Aria Operations Management Pack for VMware vSphere Replication 8.7.0
MD5SUM: 437eb50a2026d8bfae6cdbf01312ef46
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VMware vSphere Replication 8.7.0 Configuration Import/Export Tool
File size: 35.03 MB
File type: zip
Name: vr-impex-tool-8.7.0-21403189.zip
Release Date: 2023-04-18
Build Number: 21403189
VMware vSphere Replication 8.7.0 Configuration Import/Export Tool
MD5SUM: de0b5fa7baa826f399f1240c1e732916
SHA1SUM: aea73370e92ab9ad9bebcee21bf098f3c072e1ca
SHA256SUM: 7f5e2807f5d4382aaf3699344c8de60f0ba5df038febceec5b2862197e5ecc4a

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