Replication is another feature of Trilead VM Explorer 6.0 that allows the administrators to quickly restore the VMs functionality in case of failure.
In addition to the backup, replication is a good solution for those VMs where the RTO (Recovery Time Objective) value needs to be as low as possible since they just need to be powered on.
Blog series
Trilead VM Explorer 6.0 installation – pt.1
Trilead VM Explorer 6.0 setup – pt.2
Trilead VM Explorer 6.0 backup VMs – pt.3
Trilead VM Explorer 6.0 replication – pt.4
Trilead VM Explorer 6.0 restore VMs – pt.5
Configure a manual Replication Task
Access the VM Explorer web console and click on Replicate a Virtual Machine button.
Selected the Host previously configured, select the VM to replicate. Set the target Directory and enable the options under the Target section. Click OK to start the replication.
From main menu select Tasks > Task History item. Click on task Name to display the details.
All details related to current replication are shown in the window. Click OK to close.
Schedule a Replica
From main menu select Tasks > Scheduled Tasks. Right click the area in the left side of the screen and select Add Scheduled Task item.
Give a Task Name then fill the required fields under Schedule section. Click OK to store the settings.
The Scheduled Replica has been created.
Click on Add button to create the Replication Task.
Select Multi VM item as type of task to add.
Set the Host then click on Select VMs button to choose the VMs to replicate.
Select the virtual machines to replicate then click Add. Click OK when done.
Specify the target Directory and the action to perform if the target directory exists.
In File & Disks tab you can enable the After replication convert as thin disk option to save space in the storage.
In the Snapshot tab you can configure the Virtual Machine Snapshot Options.
Nothing to configure in the Connection tab.
In the Replication tab you specify the Replication Options and the Number of Restore Points to be kept.
In Advanced tab you can configure the actions for powered on and suspended VMs. Click OK to save the configuration.
The task has been created.
To force the replication without waiting for the scheduled time, click on Run this Task Now button.
Click OK to confirm.
From main menu select Tasks > Task History to check the task status. Click on the replica task Name to display the details.
The running task details are shown.
When the replica task has been completed without any issue, the Result is marked as Success.
Test Replication
From main menu select Management > Replication Explorer to check for available replicas.
The replicated VMs can be found in the ESXi selected as Host target during task configuration.
To test the replica, shutdown one of the VM that has been replicated.
Click OK to confirm.
From Management > Replication Explorer right click the replica to activate then select Power On option.
Click OK to confirm.
The replica is being powered on.
If you receive the following warning, just select I Copied It option and click OK.
From the Datacenter tab, the selected replica is now active.
To power off the replicated VM, from main menu select Management > Replication Explorer item. Right click the active replica and select Power off option.
Click OK to confirm.
When the replica has been powered off, power on the original virtual machine to restore the normal functionality.
Replication is part of the backup strategy that allows to quickly restore critical virtual machines where a lower RTO is required to reduce the offline of a specific network service. Part 5 will cover the configuration of the Restore Task.
