FEDERATION ENTERPRISE HYBRID CLOUD 3 - Dell EMC · PDF fileFEDERATION ENTERPRISE HYBRID CLOUD 3.5 . Microsoft ApplicationsProtection and Availability Solution Guide . ABSTRACT . This

FEDERATION ENTERPRISE HYBRID CLOUD 3.5 Microsoft Applications Protection and Availability Solution Guide

ABSTRACT

This solution guide describes the protection and availability functionality of the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud for Microsoft Applications solution, including automated backup as a service, continuous availability, and disaster recovery.

May 2016

Solution Guide

Copyright

Copyright © 2016 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Published in the USA.

Published May 2016

EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice.

The information in this publication is provided as is. EMC Corporation makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to the information in this publication, and specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Use, copying, and distribution of any EMC software described in this publication requires an applicable software license.

EMC2, EMC, Avamar, Data Domain, Data Protection Advisor, DD Boost, GeoSynchrony, Isilon, metro, PowerPath, EMC RecoverPoint, ScaleIO, ViPR, VMAX, VNX, VPLEX, XtremIO, and the EMC logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of EMC Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

For the most up-to-date listing of EMC product names, see EMC Corporation Trademarks on EMC.com.

Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Microsoft Applications Protection and Availability Solution Guide

Part Number H14861

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Contents

Contents

Chapter 1 Executive Summary ............................................................. 4 Federation solutions ............................................................................................ 5 Document purpose .............................................................................................. 5 Audience ............................................................................................................ 5 Solution purpose ................................................................................................. 5 Business challenge .............................................................................................. 6 Technology solution............................................................................................. 6 Essential reading ................................................................................................ 7 Terminology ....................................................................................................... 7 We value your feedback! ...................................................................................... 8

Chapter 2 Microsoft Applications Solution Architecture ............................ 9 Solution overview .............................................................................................. 10 Key components ................................................................................................ 11 Software resources ............................................................................................ 12

Chapter 3 Backup as a Service ........................................................... 13 Overview .......................................................................................................... 14 Microsoft BaaS prerequisites ............................................................................... 16 Backup operations ............................................................................................. 22 Restore operations: SQL Server ........................................................................... 38

Chapter 4 Continuous Availability ....................................................... 42 Overview .......................................................................................................... 43 Solution design .................................................................................................. 43 Continuous availability operations ........................................................................ 46

Chapter 5 Disaster Recovery .............................................................. 52 Overview .......................................................................................................... 53 Solution design .................................................................................................. 53 Disaster recovery for Microsoft applications ........................................................... 54 Provisioning Microsoft applications for disaster recovery ......................................... 55 Disaster recovery operations ............................................................................... 58

Chapter 6 Conclusion ........................................................................ 61 Summary .......................................................................................................... 62 Findings ............................................................................................................ 62

Chapter 7 References ........................................................................ 63 Federation documentation ................................................................................... 64 EMC documentation ........................................................................................... 64 VMware documentation ...................................................................................... 64 Microsoft documentation ..................................................................................... 64

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Chapter 1: Executive Summary

Chapter 1 Executive Summary

This chapter presents the following topics:

Federation solutions ............................................................................................ 5

Document purpose .............................................................................................. 5

Audience ............................................................................................................ 5

Solution purpose ................................................................................................. 5

Business challenge .............................................................................................. 6

Technology solution............................................................................................. 6

Essential reading ................................................................................................ 7

Terminology ....................................................................................................... 7

We value your feedback! ...................................................................................... 8

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Federation solutions

EMC II, Pivotal, RSA, VCE, Virtustream, and VMware form a unique Federation of strategically aligned businesses that are free to execute individually or together. The EMC Federation businesses collaborate to research, develop, and validate superior, integrated solutions and deliver a seamless experience to their collective customers. The Federation provides customer solutions and choice for the software-defined enterprise and the emerging third platform of mobile, cloud, Big Data, and social networking.

The Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5 solution is a completely virtualized data center, fully automated by software. The solution delivers IT as a service, with continuous availability (CA), backup as a service (BaaS), and disaster recovery (DR) for Microsoft applications.

Document purpose

The Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Microsoft Applications Solution Guide describes how to use Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5 for automated deployment, management, and monitoring of Microsoft applications, such as Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SharePoint Server, and Microsoft SQL Server, within a Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud built with VMware vCloud Suite®.

This solution guide describes the protection and availability functionality of the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud for Microsoft Applications solution. This functionality enables automated backup as a service, continuous availability, and disaster recovery capabilities for Microsoft applications.

Audience

This guide is intended for customers, partners, and EMC personnel who plan to deploy this solution. Readers should be familiar with Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud, Exchange Server, SQL Server, SharePoint Server, and the associated infrastructure. Readers should also be familiar with the infrastructure and security policies of the customer installation.

Solution purpose

This solution provides a reference architecture that integrates all the key components and functionality necessary for deploying, managing, and protecting Microsoft applications in a hybrid cloud. The solution enables customers to use the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5 for:

• On-demand, self-service provisioning of Microsoft Enterprise applications such as Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, and SQL Server. During provisioning, the applications are automatically added to backup policies.

• Complete management of the application service lifecycle.

• Provisioning, monitoring, protection, and management of the infrastructure services by line-of-business end users, without IT administrator involvement.

• Provisioning of application blueprints with associated infrastructure resources by line-of-business application owners without IT administrator involvement.

• Database as a service (DBaaS), with rapid, on-demand, self-service provisioning of SQL Server instances and databases on SQL Server virtual machines, post deployment.

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• Provisioning of backup, continuous availability, and disaster recovery services as part of the cloud service provisioning process.

• Backup as a service (BaaS), with on-demand backup and restore capabilities for Microsoft applications.

Business challenge

While many organizations have successfully introduced virtualization as a core technology within their data center, end users and business units within the organizations have not experienced many of the benefits of cloud computing such as increased agility, mobility, and control.

Transforming from the traditional IT model to a cloud-operating model involves overcoming the challenges of legacy infrastructure and processes, such as:

• Inefficiency and inflexibility

• Slow, reactive responses to customer requests

• Inadequate visibility into the cost of the requested infrastructure

• Limited choice of availability and protection services

To meet these challenges, public cloud providers have built technology and business models catering to the requirements of end-user agility and control. Many organizations are under pressure to provide these same service levels within the secure and compliant confines of the on-premises data center. As a result, IT departments must create cost-effective alternatives to public cloud services, alternatives that do not compromise enterprise requirements such as data protection, disaster recovery, and guaranteed service levels.

Microsoft applications such as Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, and SQL Server, are mission critical to organizations. Ensuring that these applications are protected and continuously available is fundamental. Deciding where to deploy Microsoft applications can involve trade-offs between an on-premises deployment and a public cloud deployment. Traditional on-premises infrastructures give IT teams more control, but provisioning can take weeks. Public clouds speed up provisioning, but they do not necessarily meet business requirements for data protection, disaster recovery, security, and guaranteed service levels. For this Microsoft applications solution, Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud provides on-premises or hosted cloud services to meet these business requirements.

Technology solution

The Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud solution integrates the best of EMC, VCE, VMware, and Pivotal products and services, and empowers IT organizations to accelerate the implementation and adoption of a hybrid cloud infrastructure, while still enabling customer choice for the compute and networking infrastructures within the data center. The solution caters to customers who want to preserve their investment and make better use of their existing infrastructure and to customers who want to build new infrastructures that are dedicated to a hybrid cloud.

Developed by EMC and VMware product and services teams, the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud takes advantage of the strong integration between EMC technologies and the VMware vRealize® Suite. The solution includes EMC scalable storage arrays, VCE converged infrastructure, integrated EMC and VMware monitoring, and data protection suites to provide the foundation for cloud services within customer environments.

This solution uses VMware vRealize Application Services and VMware vRealize Orchestrator™ to enable automated deployment, management, and protection of Exchange Server, SQL Server, and SharePoint Server applications, and to enable backup-as-a-service capabilities during the application lifecycle. It also includes disaster recovery with EMC RecoverPoint®

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and VMware Site Recovery Manager™ and continuous availability with EMC® VPLEX® Metro™ to protect Microsoft applications.

Essential reading

The following documents describe the architecture, components, features, and functionality of the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5 solution and the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud for Microsoft Applications solution:

• Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Foundation Infrastructure Reference Architecture Guide

• Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Concepts and Architecture Guide

• Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Administration Guide

• Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Infrastructure and Operations Management Guide

• Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Security Management Guide

• Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Microsoft Applications Solution Guide

This guide provides external references where applicable. EMC recommends that users implementing this solution be familiar with these documents. For details, refer to Chapter 7: References.

Terminology

Table 1 provides definitions for some of the terms used in this guide.

Terminology Table 1.

Term Definition

AAG Abbreviation that is used in the vRealize Automation resource actions for SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups.

Application blueprint Logical topology of an application for deployment in a virtual cloud. An application blueprint captures the structure of an application with logical nodes, their corresponding services and operating systems, dependencies, default configurations, and network and storage topology requirements. The blueprint is published as a catalog item in the common service catalog.

Backup as a service (BaaS) A service that uses cloud infrastructure to back up data to a shared, rather than a dedicated, backup infrastructure. Service providers can offer BaaS to customers who want a flexible, on-demand backup infrastructure without having to purchase, configure, or maintain it themselves.

Business group A managed object that associates users with a specific set of catalog services and infrastructure resources.

Database availability group (DAG)

A set of highly available Exchange Server Mailbox servers that hosts a set of databases and provides automatic database-level recovery from failures that affect individual servers or databases.

High availability A mechanism that enables a system or infrastructure to continue providing services in the event of isolated component or resource failures.

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS)

A standard set of automated resources that include compute, storage, and networking capabilities provided through a hosting company or service provider.

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Term Definition

Pod A collection of virtual machines that has a specific function within the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud.

REST API A remote API that follows the REST style of software architecture for distributed systems such as the World Wide Web. REST architecture involves reading a designated web page that contains an XML file. The XML file describes and includes the required content.

VPLEX Witness A virtual machine that provides independent connections to each VPLEX Metro site from a third site. VPLEX Witness ensures the correct site provides continuous availability in the event of a site failure.

vRealize Application Services properties

vRealize Application Services configuration name-value pairs for services and application components. These are variables used by scripts to set parameters and run various configurations.

vRealize Automation Application Services service

vRealize Application Services scripted software that can be installed on a virtual machine and reused in multiple applications.

We value your feedback!

EMC and the authors of this document welcome your feedback on the solution and the solution documentation. Contact [email protected] with your comments.

Authors: Eric Wang, Judith Cuppage

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mailto:[email protected]?subject=Feedback:%20Federation%20Enterprise%20Hybrid%20Cloud%203.5:%20Microsoft%20Applications%20Protection%20and%20Availability%20Solution%20Guide%20(H14861)

Chapter 2: Microsoft Applications Solution Architecture

Chapter 2 Microsoft Applications Solution Architecture


Solution overview .............................................................................................. 10

Key components ................................................................................................ 11

Software resources ............................................................................................ 12

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Solution overview

In addition to the core functionality of the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5 for Microsoft Applications solution, this solution provides the following functionality:

• Backup as a service for Microsoft applications

• Continuous availability for Microsoft applications

• Disaster recovery for Microsoft applications

Figure 1 shows the architecture of the solution, which is deployed on a Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud platform and uses the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud components outlined in Key components. The solution adds backup as a service, continuous availability, and disaster recovery for Microsoft applications.

Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud reference architecture Figure 1.

The management, network, and tenant resources for the solution are distributed among several pods, as shown in Figure 1, with each pod performing a solution-specific function:

• Core Pod

The Core Pod provides the base set of resources to establish the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud solution services.

• Automation Pod

The Automation Pod hosts the remaining virtual machines used for automating and managing the cloud infrastructure. The Automation Pod supports the services responsible for functions such as the user portal, automated provisioning, monitoring, and metering.

• NEI Pod

The Network Edge Infrastructure (NEI) Pod is only required when VMware NSX® is deployed, and is used to host NSX controllers, north-south NSX Edge™ Services Gateway (ESG) devices, and NSX Distributed Logical Router (DLR) control virtual machines.

• Workload Pods

Workload Pods are configured and assigned to fabric groups in VMware vRealize Automation™. Available resources are used to host virtual machines deployed by business groups in the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud environment. All business groups can share the available VMware ESXi™ cluster resources.

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Key components

This Microsoft applications solution uses the following components of the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud:

Note: For an overview of these components, refer to the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Foundation Infrastructure Reference Architecture Guide.

Data center virtualization and cloud infrastructure

• VMware ESXi and VMware vCenter Server™

• VMware vRealize Suite including:

VMware vRealize Automation

VMware vRealize Automation Application Services

VMware vRealize Operations Manager™

VMware vRealize Configuration Manager™

VMware vRealize Business Standard

VMware vRealize Log Insight™

VMware vRealize Orchestrator

• VMware NSX for vSphere or VMware vCloud® Networking and Security

EMC storage services

• EMC ViPR® software-defined storage

• EMC VNX®, EMC VMAX®, EMC ScaleIO®, EMC VPLEX, EMC Isilon®, and EMC XtremIO® storage platforms—this guide discusses VNX, VMAX, VPLEX, and XtremIO only

• EMC ViPR SRM

• EMC PowerPath®/VE

Data protection

• EMC RecoverPoint

• VMware Site Recovery Manager

• EMC Avamar® and EMC Data Domain® data protection platforms

• EMC Data Protection Advisor™

• EMC VPLEX Metro™

Figure 2 shows the key components of the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud, with Exchange Server, SQL Server, and SharePoint Server deployed on the IT-as-a-service platform.

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Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud solution components Figure 2.

Software resources

Table 2 lists the application software components specific to this Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud for Microsoft Applications solution. For a complete list of Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5 software requirements, refer to the relevant EMC E-Lab EMC Simple Support Matrix at elabnavigator.emc.com.

Solution software requirements Table 2.

Software Version Notes

Microsoft Windows Server

2008 R2, 2012, and 2012 R2

Supported operating systems

Microsoft Exchange Server

2010 and 2013 Versions of Exchange Server supported in this solution

Microsoft SharePoint Server

2010 SP2 and 2013 SP1

Versions of SharePoint Server supported in this solution

Microsoft SQL Server

2008 R2, 2012, and 2014

Versions of SQL Server supported in this solution

VMware vRealize Hyperic®

5.8.4 A component of vRealize Operations Manager used in this solution

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Chapter 3: Backup as a Service

Chapter 3 Backup as a Service


Overview .......................................................................................................... 14

Microsoft BaaS prerequisites ............................................................................... 16

Backup operations ............................................................................................. 22

Restore operations: SQL Server ........................................................................... 38

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Overview

This Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud for Microsoft Applications solution includes BaaS for Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft SharePoint Server, and Microsoft Exchange Server, enabled by customized vRealize Orchestrator workflows. This BaaS functionality enables application-level protection and is separate from Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud image-level backup, which is described in the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5 Concepts and Architecture Guide.

The vRealize Orchestrator workflows remove the complexities typically associated with the backup and recovery of Microsoft applications. Cloud infrastructure administrators, backup administrators, and cloud end users can run backup operations through the vRealize Automation self-service portal, effortlessly and on demand. In Test/Dev environments, administrators and end users can also restore SQL Server instances and databases through the self-service portal.

The on-demand execution of backup and restore actions by non-backup administrators is enabled through approval policies, which ensure that an action is not run until an assigned backup administrator or group of administrators has approved it.

The backup infrastructure for the solution is based on EMC Avamar and can optionally include EMC Data Domain for increased scalability and capacity. When provisioning a Microsoft application, the requester can choose which backup policies are applied to the virtual machine and Microsoft application. These backup policies are based on the retention and schedule settings for the policies in Avamar. When a virtual machine and application is added to a backup policy, it is automatically backed up based on the policy schedule.

After Microsoft application virtual machines have been provisioned, users can perform a variety of BaaS operations using the self-service portal. Table 3 lists the BaaS options provided with the solution.

BaaS actions Table 3.

Action Description

On Demand Microsoft Backup Backs up a selected Exchange Server deployment and virtual machine.

Backs up a selected SharePoint Server farm and virtual machine.

On Demand Backup SQL Server

Backs up selected SQL Server instances and databases on a selected SQL Server virtual machine.

On Demand Backup SQL Server AAG

Backs up selected AlwaysOn availability groups on a SQL Server virtual machine.

Backup to Data Domain Backs up selected SQL Server instances and databases on a selected SQL Server virtual machine directly to a Data Domain system.

This action uses the native SQL Server backup component with EMC Data Domain Boost for Microsoft applications, instead of Avamar.

Get Backup Status Displays a status report for backups run on a selected Microsoft application virtual machine.

Users can choose to view details of all backups or only backups run during a specified period.

Change Microsoft Backup Policy

Enables users with backup administrator privileges to change the backup policy or policies with which a Microsoft application virtual machine is associated.

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Action Description

On Demand Restore SQL Server

Restores selected SQL Server instances and databases to a selected point-in-time image. Users can choose to:

• Restore to the same SQL Server instance

• Restore to a different SQL Server database in the same instance

• Restore to a different SQL Server instance on the same virtual machine

• Restore to a different SQL Server instance on a different virtual machine

The solution presents all BaaS post-provisioning options as vRealize Automation resource actions. Figure 3 shows the on-demand backup and restore options for a selected SQL Server virtual machine.

Backup and restore options for Microsoft applications Figure 3.

Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud uses EMC Avamar for backups. With the BaaS workflows developed for this solution, you can seamlessly back up and restore Microsoft applications.

Avamar REST API

This solution uses the Avamar REST API, which is based on the representational state transfer (REST) API architectural style. The Avamar REST API can manage multiple Avamar systems simply and efficiently by abstracting the Avamar systems and their domains into logical entities.

Avamar terminology

Data protection resource

The Avamar REST API uses the term "data protection resource" to refer to an Avamar system. When you configure the Avamar REST API, you provide information about the Avamar systems that the Avamar REST API will manage as data protection resources. In defining a data protection resource, you specify user credentials for an account with administrative access to the Avamar system.

EMC Avamar

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Resource pool

The term "resource pool" refers to a logical entity that represents a group of one or more data protection resources. A data protection resource is only available to use with the Avamar REST API after you assign it to a resource pool. When you configure the Avamar REST API server, you specify which data protection resources are in each of your resource pools, based on your business requirements.

Tenant

A "tenant" represents a consumer of the data protection resources. A tenant folder is the top-level container for the tenant. The tenant folder has metadata for the tenant, such as the tenant's account name, and also contains the resource shares and folders that are assigned to the tenant. For this solution, the Avamar tenant maps directly to the vRealize Automation tenant.

Resource share

A "resource share" is a logical entity that associates a tenant with the data protection resources in a resource pool. The resource share can be associated with one, many, or all the data protection resources in the resource pool. Through resource shares you can assign several tenants to share a large resource pool, or dedicate a resource pool to a single tenant. Tenants can also be assigned multiple resource shares to meet their business requirements.

EMC Data Domain systems are disk-based inline deduplication appliances and gateways that provide data protection in enterprise environments. All systems run the EMC Data Domain Operating System (DD OS), which provides both a command-line interface (CLI) for performing all system operations, and the EMC Data Domain System Manager (DD System Manager) GUI for configuration, management, and monitoring. In this solution, a DD4200 was added as a backup target for Avamar.

Microsoft BaaS prerequisites

Before the Microsoft BaaS operations can be implemented in a Federation Hybrid Cloud, the following prerequisites must be completed:

1. Install and configure the Avamar REST API on the Avamar server or servers. Refer to the EMC Avamar REST API Getting Started Guide.

2. Download the Avamar agents to a network share. Table 4 shows the versions of the Avamar agents used in this solution.

Supported Avamar agent versions Table 4.

Agent Version Notes

Avamar Client for Windows 7.2.100.401

Avamar Exchange VSS 7.2.100.401 Avamar agent for Microsoft Exchange

Avamar Moss VSS 7.2.100.401 Avamar agent for Microsoft SharePoint

Avamar SQL Server 7.2.100.401 Avamar agent for Microsoft SQL Server

3. Using Avamar Administrator, perform the following tasks:

a. Create a dataset to define the data that is included in the backups.

b. Create a schedule for when the backups should occur.

c. Create a retention policy to define how long to keep the backups in the system.

d. Use the items created in steps a–c to create a backup policy container.

EMC Data Domain

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4. Configure the vRealize Automation Application Services blueprints for SQL Server, SharePoint, and Exchange for BaaS.

5. Import and publish the Microsoft BaaS vRealize Orchestrator workflows, as described in Importing and publishing Microsoft BaaS workflows.

For each of the Microsoft applications supported in this solution, vRealize Automation Application Services blueprints automate the installation of the Avamar Client for Windows and the required Avamar agents for SQL Server, SharePoint, and Exchange.

Five services manage the installation process, as shown in Figure 4, with two extra services for SQL Server:

• The first service copies the Windows Avamar agent.

• The second service copies the Avamar application agent (in this case SharePoint).

• The third service installs the Avamar Windows backup agent.

• The fourth service installs the Avamar application agent.

• The fifth service adds the application client to the Avamar server.

• The SQL Server blueprint has two extra services to deal with specific permissions in SQL Server and setting the databases to Full recovery mode.

Automated Avamar agent deployment Figure 4.

Adding these services to an application blueprint fully automates the installation of the Avamar Client for Windows and the Avamar agents, and automatically adds the virtual machine and application to the Avamar server. Backups run based on the backup policies selected at provisioning.

The blueprint is published to the vRealize Automation self-service portal. When requested, the catalog item provisions the application virtual machine (in this case SharePoint) and enables BaaS capabilities based on selected Avamar backup policies. This also applies when provisioning SQL Server and Exchange.

Note: The vRealize Automation application blueprints for SQL Server, SharePoint, and Exchange are designed to use a modular approach where each of the services used is segregated based on functionality.

Figure 5 shows the BaaS services used for a SQL Server 2014 application blueprint. It also shows the associated dependencies, which determine the running order of the services.

Publishing Microsoft BaaS application blueprints

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vRealize Automation application blueprint for SQL Server 2014 Figure 5.

During provisioning, the services use a combination of the Windows command prompt and PowerShell scripts to download the Avamar agents and client from a network repository and install them on the deployed application virtual machine. Also, the Microsoft application is automatically added to an Avamar backup policy. When requesting a Microsoft application from the self-service portal, the requester can choose which backup policies to apply to the virtual machine.

After a BaaS application blueprint is published and appropriate entitlements are assigned for end-user consumption, the provisioned virtual machine can use Microsoft Application BaaS resource actions to perform a variety of BaaS operations. Figure 6 shows an example of an Exchange 2013 catalog item used to deploy Exchange 2013 with BaaS capability.

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Exchange catalog item used for BaaS Figure 6.

Microsoft BaaS post-provisioning operations are performed using vRealize Orchestrator workflows developed for this solution. The workflow package can be imported into a Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud by using the Import Content option in vRealize Automation, as shown in Figure 7. After importation, the Microsoft application BaaS resource actions are then published.

Import content on vRealize Automation Figure 7.

For this solution, we developed vRealize Orchestrator workflows for all the supported post-provisioning Microsoft applications BaaS operations. We added these workflows to vRealize Automation as resource actions, which are published to the vRealize Automation service catalog. Entitlements and approval policies can then be configured for the catalog items.

Entitlements provide access control over machine and service blueprint actions, enabling access to BaaS actions to be restricted. Approval polices enable BaaS actions to be performed by non-backup administrators. We recommend that you associate approval policies with all BaaS operations.

To publish resource actions:

1. Log in to vRealize Automation as a user with service architect privileges.

2. Select Advanced Services > Resource Actions.

3. Select a resource action with a status of Draft, as shown in Figure 8.

Importing and publishing Microsoft BaaS workflows

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Publishing a resource action Figure 8.

4. Click Publish.

To entitle resource actions:

1. Select Advanced Services > Catalog Management > Entitlements.

2. Select the entitlement to which you want to assign the resource actions.

3. Click Items & Approvals.

4. Click the Add icon for Entitled Actions, as shown in Figure 9.

This shows a list of resource actions.

Assigning resource actions to an entitlement Figure 9.

5. Select the Microsoft Applications BaaS resource actions.

6. If required, select an approval policy.

In this solution, we assigned approval polices to all BaaS resource actions. As a result, requests remain in a Pending Approval state until all approvers have approved them.

7. Click OK.

The resource actions are now entitled to the user or group of users identified in the entitlement and are included in the service catalog for those users. After a Microsoft application machine is provisioned, entitled users can request any of the BaaS actions.

Microsoft applications deployed on a Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud are backed up automatically based on backup policies. These backup policies contain schedules and retention periods. Microsoft applications can also be backed up on demand from the vRealize Automation self-service portal. This enables cloud administrators, backup administrators, or end users to easily back up Microsoft applications. In this solution, approval policies were assigned to Microsoft BaaS operations to enable greater change control when scheduling backups.

Provisioning Microsoft applications with BaaS

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Figure 10 shows a SQL Server catalog item, which, when requested, provisions the specified version and edition of SQL Server. This catalog item also adds the application to an Avamar backup policy. When provisioned, SQL Server is backed up based on the assigned policy. The policy selection can be changed post provisioning from the vRealize Automation self-service portal.

SQL Server BaaS catalog item Figure 10.

In addition to specifying the node properties and application parameters, the requester must enter the following details, as shown in Figure 11:

• Tenant name

This is the Avamar tenant containing the folder and policy to which the client is added. In this solution, the tenant name corresponds to the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud tenant used.

• Resource share name

This is the Avamar resource share to which the client is added.

• SQL Server Policy and Window Policy

These are the SQL Server and Windows backup policies to which the client is added.

Entering policy names Figure 11.

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Backup operations

When an Exchange BaaS catalog item is requested from the vRealize Automation self-service portal, the Avamar agents for Exchange and Windows are automatically installed during provisioning (refer to Provisioning Microsoft applications with BaaS). Post-provisioning Microsoft BaaS resource actions can be performed on the deployed Exchange virtual machine.

To perform an on-demand Exchange Server backup:

1. In vRealize Automation, select Items > Machines, and select an Exchange virtual machine that you want to back up.

2. Select Actions > On Demand Microsoft Backup, as shown in Figure 12.

On Demand Microsoft Backup action Figure 12.

3. In the New Request dialog box, under Request Information, specify a description and a reason for the request.

If an approval policy is associated with the On Demand Microsoft Backup action, these details provide important information to the assigned approvers.

4. Under Select Policies, select the policy or policies you want to apply to the Exchange Server virtual machine.

In the example in Figure 13, two backup policies are available; one policy backs up Windows and the other policy backs up the Exchange virtual machine.

Protecting Exchange Server with Avamar

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New Request dialog box Figure 13.

5. Click Submit.

The requester can view the status of the request on the Requests tab in vRealize Automation, as shown in Figure 14. If an approval policy is associated with the backup policy or policies, the request remains in a Pending Approval state until all approvers have approved the request.

Request status Figure 14.

As shown in Figure 14, the backup successfully completed.

When a SharePoint Baas catalog item is requested from the vRealize Automation self-service portal, the Avamar agents for SharePoint and Windows are automatically installed during provisioning (refer to Provisioning Microsoft applications with BaaS). Post-provisioning Microsoft BaaS resource actions can be performed on the deployed SharePoint virtual machine.

Protecting SharePoint Server with Avamar

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To perform an on-demand SharePoint farm backup:

1. In vRealize Automation, select Items > Machines, and select the SharePoint virtual machine that you want to back up.

2. Select Actions > On Demand Microsoft Backup, as shown in Figure 15.

On Demand Microsoft Backup action Figure 15.

3. In the New Request dialog box, under Request Information, specify a description and a reason for the request, as shown in Figure 16.

.

On Demand Microsoft Backup: Request Information Figure 16.

If an approval policy is associated with the On Demand Microsoft Backup action, these details provide important information to the assigned approvers.

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4. Under Select Policies to Initiate, select the policy or policies you want to apply to the SharePoint virtual machine.

In the example in Figure 17, two backup policies are available and both are selected: one policy backs up Windows and the other policy backs up the single-server SharePoint farm.

On Demand Microsoft Backup: Select Policies Figure 17.

5. Click Submit.

The requester can view the status of the request on the Requests tab in vRealize Automation, as shown in Figure 18. If an approval policy is associated with the backup policy or policies, the request remains in a Pending Approval state until all approvers have approved the request.

On Demand Microsoft Backup: Request details and status Figure 18.

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When a SQL Server Baas catalog item is requested from the vRealize Automation self-service portal, the Avamar agents for SQL Server and Windows are automatically installed during provisioning (refer to Provisioning Microsoft applications with BaaS). Post-provisioning Microsoft BaaS resource actions can be performed on the deployed SQL Server virtual machine.

The On Demand Backup SQL Server action enables the cloud administrator, the backup administrator, or an end user with appropriate privileges to back up all instances or user databases on a selected SQL Server virtual machine. The requester has the flexibility to select which instances and user databases to back up.

To perform an on-demand SQL Server backup:

1. Select Items > Machines, and select the relevant SQL Server virtual machine.

2. Select Actions > On Demand Backup SQL Server, as shown in Figure 19.

On Demand Backup SQL Server action Figure 19.

3. Under Request Information, specify a description and a reason for the request.

If an approval policy is associated with the On Demand Backup SQL Server action, these details provide important information to the assigned approvers.

4. Under Select SQL Server Object to Backup, select the objects you want to back up, as shown in Figure 20.

The options are:

Back up all SQL Server instances and databases on the selected SQL Server virtual machine (Backup All SQL Server Objects)

Back up a specific SQL Server instance (Select SQL Server Instance)

Back up a specific user database on a selected SQL Server instance (Select SQL Server Instance and Select SQL Server Database)

In the example in Figure 20, the requester has chosen to back up a specific database on a specific SQL Server instance.

Protecting SQL Server with Avamar

26


Select SQL Server object to back up Figure 20.

5. Select the retention policy to apply to the backup (Select Retention Period).

Retention policies are created using the Avamar Administrator.

6. Under Summary, review the details of the request to confirm that you are backing up the correct objects, as shown in Figure 21, and then click Submit.

Summary page Figure 21.

The requester can view the status of the request on the Requests tab in vRealize Automation, as shown in Figure 22. If an approval policy is associated with the backup up action, the request remains in a Pending Approval state until all approvers have approved the request. When approved, the backup begins.

Backup request status on vRealize Automation Figure 22.

The status of all backups can also be viewed using the Avamar Client on the virtual machine, as shown in Figure 23.

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SQL Server Backup status on an Avamar Client Figure 23.

The On Demand Backup SQL Server AAG resource action enables requesters with appropriate privileges to back up AlwaysOn Availability Groups objects on a selected SQL Server virtual machine. Requesters can choose to back up one or all availability groups and can also choose to back up a specific database in a selected availability group.

Before the resource action to back up an availability group can be used, an availability listener must be created on the primary node of the availability group. A listener is created manually using Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio.

On the primary node, the Avamar Windows Cluster Configuration tool is run to install the SQL AlwaysOn plug-in, as shown in Figure 24.

Protecting SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups objects with Avamar

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Installing the SQL AlwaysOn plug-in Figure 24.

To perform an on-demand SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups backup:

1. Select Items > Machines, and select the relevant SQL Server virtual machine.

This must be the primary node of an AlwaysOn availability group.

2. Select Actions > On Demand Backup SQL Server AAG, as shown in Figure 25.

On Demand Backup SQL Server AAG action Figure 25.

3. Under Request Information, specify a description and a reason for the request.

If an approval policy is associated with the On Demand Backup SQL Server AAG action, these details provide important information to the assigned approvers.

4. Under Select SQL Server Object to Backup, select the objects you want to back up, as shown in Figure 26.

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The options are:

Back up all AlwaysOn Availability Groups objects on the selected SQL Server virtual machine (Backup All SQL Server Availability Group Objects)

Back up a specific availability group on the selected virtual machine (Select SQL Server Availability Group).

Back up a specific database in the selected availability group (Select SQL Server Availability Group and Select SQL Server Availability Group Database).

In the example in Figure 26, the requester has chosen to back up a specific database in a selected availability group.

Select SQL Server Object to back up Figure 26.

5. Select the retention policy to apply to the backup (Select Retention Period).

Retention policies are created using the Avamar Administrator.

6. Under Summary, review the details of the request to confirm that you are backing up the correct objects, as shown in Figure 27, and then click Submit.

Summary page Figure 27.

The requester can view the status of the request on the Requests tab in vRealize Automation. If an approval policy is associated with the backup action, the request remains in a Pending Approval state until all approvers have approved the request.

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This solution also supports native SQL Server backup to Data Domain using DD Boost™. In this case, Avamar is not the target for the backup.

To back up a SQL Server database directly to Data Domain, follow these steps.

Note: Steps 1–2 are manual steps that must be completed before you use the Backup to Data Domain resource action.

1. Install the EMC Data Domain Boost for Microsoft Applications package by using the Setup Wizard, as shown in Figure 28.

EMC Data Domain Boost wizard Figure 28.

2. Open the Data Domain Boost application and configure the Data Domain name (or IP address), the folder for backups, and the backup credentials, as shown in Figure 29.

Protecting SQL Server with Data Domain and DDBoost

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Configure Data Domain Figure 29.

3. When the Data Domain Boost backup configuration is complete, initiate the Backup to Data Domain action:

a. Log in to vRealize Automation.

b. Select Items > Machines, and select the relevant SQL Server virtual machine.

c. Select Actions > Backup to Data Domain, as shown in Figure 30.

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Backup to Data Domain action Figure 30.

4. Provide a description and reasons for the backup, as shown in Figure 31.

If an approval policy is associated with the Backup to Data Domain action, these details provide important information to the assigned approvers.

Request Information tab Figure 31.

5. Provide credentials, as shown in Figure 32.

These credentials must have permissions to connect to and back up the SQL Server database.

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Provide SQL Server credentials Figure 32.

6. Select the instance and a database on the instance to back up, as shown in Figure 33.

All database backups are configured to be full backups.

Provide SQL Server information Figure 33.

7. Provide a backup set description, as shown in Figure 34, to make the backup easier to identify, and then click Submit.

The status of the request changes to In Progress, unless an approval policy has been assigned to the resource action.

Provide backup set description Figure 34.

The requester can view the status of the request and details of the backup job on the Requests tab in vRealize Automation. If an approval policy is associated with the backup action, the request remains in a Pending Approval state until all approvers have approved the request.

Figure 35 shows that the backup completed successfully.

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Backup job details Figure 35.

With the Get Backup Status action, users can view a status report for all backups run on a particular Microsoft application virtual machine, or for all backups run during a specified period:

1. In vRealize Automation, select Items > Machines, and select the relevant virtual machine.

2. Select Actions > Get Backup Status, as shown in Figure 36.

In the example, the user has chosen to get the backup status of a SQL Server virtual machine.

Get Backup Status action Figure 36.

Viewing the backup status of Microsoft applications

35


3. Under Select Date Range:

Select Choose Date Range > All to view details of all backups.

Select Choose Date Range > Date Range and specify the start and end of the date range, as shown in Figure 37, to view details of the backups run during a particular period.

Get Backup Status: Select date range Figure 37.

The Report tab now shows details of all the backups that meet the request criteria, as shown in Figure 38.

Get Backup Status: Report Figure 38.

The Microsoft BaaS workflows provide the flexibility to change backup policies as required. The requester can choose the backup policies for a Microsoft application by selecting the Change Microsoft Backup Policy menu item, as shown in Figure 39.

Adding and removing Microsoft backup policies

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Change Microsoft Backup Policy action Figure 39.

After entering the description and reasons for the request, the user can see which backup policies are assigned to the virtual machine and can choose to remove or add policies. The example in Figure 40 shows a Windows backup policy and a Microsoft application backup policy assigned to a Microsoft application.

Example backup policy Figure 40.

After the request is submitted, the user can see the results on the Requests tab. As Figure 41 shows, the virtual machine has been added to the Windows and SharePoint backup policies and the change has been successful.

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Request details Figure 41.

Restore operations: SQL Server

This solution enables the cloud administrator, backup administrator, or end user to restore SQL Server instances and databases based on a specified backup time. The functionality of the On Demand Restore SQL Server resource action includes:

• Restore a complete SQL Server virtual machine to a specific point-in-time image

• Restore a selected instance and one or more databases on that instance

• Restore databases to the same instance, to the same instance but with new names, or to a different instance

To perform an on-demand SQL Server restore:

1. In vRealize Automation, select Items > Machines, select the relevant SQL Server virtual machine, and select Actions > On Demand Restore SQL Server, as shown in Figure 42.

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On Demand Restore SQL Server action Figure 42.

2. Specify a description and a reason for the request.

If an approval policy is associated with the On Demand Restore SQL Server action, these details provide important information to the assigned approvers.

3. Select a date and a backup time, as shown in Figure 43.

Select the date and time of a backup Figure 43.

All successful backups performed on the selected date and time are listed. The backup times correspond to the successful backup jobs performed by Avamar and can be viewed using Avamar Administrator, as shown in Figure 44.

Avamar Administrator Figure 44.

4. Select a backup and click Next.

5. On the Select SQL Items to Restore tab, type the names of the instance and databases to restore, as shown in Figure 45.

Specifying SQL Server items to restore Figure 45.

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6. On the Restore Destination Options tab, select the restore destination, as shown in Figure 46:

Same SQL Server Instance—Restores the databases to the same instance using the same database names.

Different SQL Server DB in same Instance—Restores the databases to the same instance using new names.

Different SQL Server Instance—Restores the databases to a different SQL Server instance, which can be on the same virtual machine or on a different virtual machine.

Selecting SQL Server items to restore Figure 46.

7. Make additional inputs and selections as needed:

For Same SQL Server Instance, no further inputs are required.

For Different SQL Server DB in same Instance, type a new database name and click the green add button, as shown in Figure 47.

Restoring to a new instance with a new database name Figure 47.

For Different SQL Server Instance, select a new client virtual machine and a SQL Server instance on that virtual machine, as shown in Figure 48. Then type the location to which to restore the SQL Server files. This must be a location on the selected virtual machine: for example, C:\Windows\Temp.

Restoring to a different virtual machine Figure 48.

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8. Under Summary, review the details of the request to confirm that you are restoring the correct objects to the correct destination.

Figure 49 shows the restore summary for a restore to Different SQL Server DB instance operation with a warning to fully understand what the request does.

Restore summary page Figure 49.

9. Click Submit.

If an approval policy is associated with the restore action, the request remains in a Pending Approval state until all approvers have approved the request. When the restore has completed, you can view the status of the request and details of the restore operation in vRealize Automation.

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Chapter 4: Continuous Availability

Chapter 4 Continuous Availability


Overview .......................................................................................................... 43

Solution design .................................................................................................. 43

Continuous availability operations ........................................................................ 46

42


Overview

The continuous availability solution for Microsoft applications on the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud is based on the proven design of VMware vSphere Metro Storage Cluster (vMSC) with EMC VPLEX Metro. Using the features and functionality of VPLEX Metro, the solution offers the following benefits:

• Workload mobility

• Disaster avoidance

• Location-optimized storage

• Increased uptime and utilization

• Storage provisioning automation

Storage for the solution is provided by XtremIO, VMAX, and VNX arrays at both data center sites that host the solution infrastructure. The storage is presented to the local and remote VPLEX clusters. The VPLEX clusters enable synchronized I/O over distance to the hybrid cloud with distributed virtual volumes. The distributed virtual volumes support an active/active storage platform to enable a continuous availability service level, with zero data loss, for the hybrid cloud.

This chapter outlines the design, configuration, and operation of the continuous availability solution for Microsoft applications on the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud.

Solution design

In the continuous availability solution for Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5, all components are protected by VPLEX distributed volumes, including the Microsoft application virtual machines. This means that application data is always up to date on both sites. This enables a zero downtime planned failover and a crash-consistent restart, with no data loss, if an unplanned failover occurs. Exchange Server, SQL Server, and SharePoint Server can all recover automatically from a failure and can start up without intervention. The virtual machines also retain their IP addresses because the network spans both sites, so there is no need to change DNS to point at new IP addresses. This ensures full automation for a planned or an unplanned failover.

In the continuous availability configuration for the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud, each pod is stretched across both sites in active/active fashion, as shown in Figure 50. The underlying VPLEX distributed storage enables all the management components and workloads to either proactively move before a known event using VMware vSphere vMotion®, or reactively restart using vSphere High Availability (HA) if an unpredicted failure event occurs.

Continuous availability for applications

VPLEX design

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VPLEX design for continuous availability Figure 50.

The VPLEX operating system, EMC GeoSynchrony®, supports the concept of a VPLEX Metro cluster with Cross-Connect. This solution tested VPLEX Metro both with and without Cross-Connect.

VPLEX Metro with Cross-Connect

This configuration provides an ideal platform for a uniform vSphere stretched-cluster deployment. Cross-Connect enables disaster avoidance.

ESXi hosts can access a distributed volume on the local VPLEX cluster and on the remote cluster in the event of a failure. For example, in the event of a VPLEX cluster or back-end storage array failure, the ESXi hosts can still access the second VPLEX cluster with no disruption in service.

Figure 51 shows the architecture of the uniform host access configuration with VPLEX host Cross-Connect.

Logical architecture of VPLEX Metro

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Deployment model with VPLEX host Cross-Connect Figure 51.

VPLEX Metro without Cross-Connect

Without Cross-Connect, the ESXi hosts at each site are connected only to that site’s VPLEX cluster, as shown in Figure 52. Virtual machines are restarted on the remote site. Deployment without Cross-Connect enables disaster recovery.

VPLEX architecture without VPLEX host Cross-Connect Figure 52.

VPLEX Witness is an important component of VPLEX Metro. It is the deciding factor when a site disaster occurs. VPLEX Witness can see both sites and can decide, based on each site’s availability, which site to choose as the primary site for a restart of the virtual machines. This avoids a split-brain condition from occurring.

For the VPLEX continuous availability solution, the network spans both sites so that any virtual machine that fails over retains its IP address and can be reached no matter which site it is in. This simplifies failover and ensures that user intervention is not required during unplanned failovers.

VPLEX Witness

Network topology

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VMware VMotion enables the live migration of running virtual machines from one physical server to another with zero downtime, continuous service availability, and complete transaction integrity. This functionality enables seamless planned migration of Microsoft applications from one protected CA cluster to another.

vSphere HA is the underlying mechanism for virtual machine migration during failovers. It ensures that a crash-consistent copy of each application virtual machine can be restarted on the second site in the event of a failure.

Continuous availability operations

When the VPLEX Metro cluster is connected and the CA workflows are imported, you can provision distributed storage for your application virtual machines. You can do this by using ViPR software-defined storage, as follows:

1. Create the distributed storage in the Service Catalog by selecting the Provision Cloud Storage catalog item, as shown in Figure 53.

Service Catalog window Figure 53.

2. Create a reservation in vRealize Automation so that virtual machines can deploy to the new storage, as shown in Figure 54.

List of reservations Figure 54.

To do this, create a new storage reservation or edit an existing reservation, as shown in Figure 55.

vSphere vMotion

vSphere HA

Provisioning distributed storage for continuous availability

46


Editing a storage reservation Figure 55.

3. Select the correct reservation policy, as shown in Figure 55, and the new datastore, as shown in Figure 56.

Selecting the reservation policy and datastore Figure 56.

Within the reservation policy on vRealize Automation, a storage reservation is created, as shown in Figure 57.

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List of reservation policies Figure 57.

A CA reservation policy is manually added to the vRealize Automation blueprints used for Microsoft applications, as shown in Figure 58. This ensures that each application is deployed to a CA-enabled datastore and is automatically protected.

Modifying the blueprint Figure 58.

After you edit the vRealize Automation blueprints to enable provisioning to the CA-enabled datastore, you can republish the Application Services blueprints to reflect the changes.

Figure 59 shows a vRealize Automation service catalog item that deploys a SQL Server virtual machine to a CA-enabled datastore.

Provisioning applications for continuous availability

48


SQL Server virtual machine details Figure 59.

In the execution plan in Application Services, you can follow the progress of the deployment when the virtual machine is requested, as shown in Figure 60.

Deployment progress Figure 60.

Figure 61 shows that the new SQL Server virtual machine is deployed to the correct datastore (VPLEX-Site1_xxxxx) and, therefore, is CA-protected.

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SQL Server virtual machine summary Figure 61.

Provisioning a SQL Server AlwaysOn availability group in the CA-protected environment is the same as provisioning a standalone SQL Server virtual machine. Since the VPLEX distributed volume is maintaining an exact copy of the SQL Server virtual machines, it is not necessary for the availability group to have a different copy on the second site. The availability group is created as a local availability group at the first site and the entire availability group is replicated to the second site. If a failover occurs, the availability group fails over to the second site and starts up as a crash-consistent copy. Anti-affinity rules should be set up so that each SQL Server instance in an availability group is running on a different ESXi server to locally protect from host failure.

This configuration enables AlwaysOn Availability Groups to protect the SQL databases locally and VPLEX to protect the entire availability group remotely.

Provisioning SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups for continuous availability

50


Provisioning an Exchange Server database availability group (DAG) in the CA-protected environment is the same as provisioning a standalone Exchange Server virtual machine. Since the VPLEX distributed volume is maintaining an exact copy of the Exchange Server virtual machines, it is not necessary for the DAG to have a different copy on the second site. The Exchange Server DAG is created as a local DAG at the first site and the entire DAG is replicated to the second site. If a failover occurs, the DAG fails over to the second site and starts up as a crash-consistent copy. Anti-affinity rules should be set up so that each Exchange Server in a DAG is running on a different ESXi server to locally protect from host failure.

This configuration enables DAG to protect the Exchange databases locally and VPLEX to protect the entire DAG remotely.

Provisioning Exchange Server DAG for continuous availability

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Chapter 5: Disaster Recovery

Chapter 5 Disaster Recovery


Overview .......................................................................................................... 53

Solution design .................................................................................................. 53

Disaster recovery for Microsoft applications ........................................................... 54

Provisioning Microsoft applications for disaster recovery ......................................... 55

Disaster recovery operations ............................................................................... 58

52


Overview

Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5 provides disaster-recovery-as-a-service (DRaaS) functionality and workflows that ensure disaster recovery protection for applications and virtual machines. The DRaaS solution incorporates storage provisioning using EMC ViPR storage, storage replication using EMC RecoverPoint, and automated failover, failback, and planned migration services using VMware Site Recovery Manager.

Administrators can provision Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, and SQL Server virtual machines on tenant Workload Pods that are protected remotely by RecoverPoint and managed from VMware Site Recovery Manager. Site Recovery Manager recovery plans define and automate the steps required for failovers, failbacks, and planned migrations from the DR-protected site to the recovery site.

This chapter outlines the design, configuration, and operation of the DRaaS solution for Microsoft applications. It assumes that Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud is already deployed and configured for DRaaS, as described in the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud documentation listed in Essential reading.

Solution design

The Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud documentation describes the architecture, requirements, and configuration of the DR dual-site/dual vCenter topology, which includes RecoverPoint and VMware Site Recovery Manager technology to protect the relevant management and Workload Pods across data centers. As shown in Figure 62, the DR dual-site/dual vCenter topology hosts the same pods and the same pod components on both a protected site (Site A) and a recovery site (Site B).

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Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud DR dual-site/dual vCenter topology Figure 62.

Each site has its own Core Pod and NEI Pod, but the Automation Pod and Workload Pods are placed on storage that is protected across the two data centers by RecoverPoint and can be recovered on the secondary site through the Site Recovery Manager framework.

Disaster recovery for Microsoft applications

In this DRaaS solution, Microsoft applications are provisioned on workloads protected by RecoverPoint. For disaster recovery or planned migration, VMware Site Recovery Manager automates and manages the entire site recovery process so that, as virtual machines at the production site shut down, virtual machines at the recovery site start up and assume responsibility for providing the same services, using the data replicated from the production site.

Note: The solution assumes that DR-protected Workload Pods are already provisioned in the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud environment, with corresponding protection groups1. It also assumes that vSphere clusters from both the production site and recovery site have been paired using the DR Cluster Onboarding catalog item. These operations are described in the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud documentation.

1 A protection group is the unit of failover in Site Recovery Manager. In Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud, a protection group corresponds to a Workload Pod and contains all the replicated datastores that the pod can access and all the virtual machines that are running on the pod. All the virtual machines in a particular protection group fail over together.

54


Site Recovery Manager recovery plans define and automate the recovery steps for DR-protected workloads. Administrators can create multiple recovery plans for Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, and SQL Server deployments on Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud to cater for different recovery scenarios such as failover, failback, and planned migration. Site Recovery Manager ensures application consistency after each of these operations.

When creating a recovery plan, the administrator specifies the virtual machines that the plan recovers by including a particular Site Recovery Manager protection group in the recovery plan. When you provision a Microsoft application virtual machine on a DR-protected Workload Pod, the virtual machine is automatically added to the corresponding protection group and is therefore included in any recovery plans that include the protection group.

During a recovery operation, Site Recovery Manager executes the steps defined in the recovery plan, and shuts down and restarts virtual machines according to the priority set for the virtual machines in the plan. To ensure that Microsoft application components fail over and restart in the correct sequence, set an appropriate priority for each Microsoft application virtual machine in the recovery plan, as shown in Figure 63.

Virtual machine priority in a recovery plan Figure 63.

Provisioning Microsoft applications for disaster recovery

The Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Microsoft Applications Solution Guide describes how to provision Microsoft applications on a Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud. The process is the same for provisioning Microsoft applications on DR-protected workloads, but has some DR-specific requirements for reservations and deployment environments.

Reservations

A vRealize Automation reservation identifies the resources that a Microsoft application will use when provisioned. The storage selected for the reservation must be DR protected.

For example, Figure 64 shows the reservation resources for a Microsoft application deployment, including the storage path (datastore) that will be used when provisioning the application. The selected DR-protected storage offering was provisioned using the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud dual-site/dual vCenter provisioning process, which also creates a corresponding Site Recovery Manager protection group and adds the newly-created datastore to that protection group.

DR-specific requirements

55


Reservation resources Figure 64.

Deployment environments

A vRealize Automation Application Services deployment environment points to a vRealize Automation reservation policy, and is selected during the application blueprint publishing process to specify the resources that the published catalog item will provision for the application. The deployment environment must point to a DR reservation policy.

For example, Figure 65 shows a reservation policy being added to a deployment environment. The reservation policy points to a reservation created for DRaaS.

Adding a reservation policy to a deployment environment Figure 65.

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Figure 66 shows the deployment environment selected when publishing an application blueprint for a Microsoft application to the vRealize Automation catalog. The catalog item uses the specified DR reservation policy when provisioning the Microsoft application.

Selecting a deployment environment Figure 66.

Figure 67 shows an example of a vRealize Automation service catalog that includes catalog items for provisioning Microsoft applications on DR-protected workloads. Entitlements and approval policies were configured for these catalog items, as described in the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Microsoft Applications Solution Guide.

DRaaS catalog items for Microsoft applications Figure 67.

After the catalog items for Microsoft applications have been published in vRealize Automation using the relevant service blueprint and DR deployment environment, administrators can provision Microsoft applications on a DR-protected workload via the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud self-service portal.

The request process for a DR-protected workload is the same as that for a non-DR-protected workload and is described in Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Microsoft Applications Solution Guide. No DR-specific inputs are required. However, the newly provisioned application virtual machine is automatically added to the protection group associated with

Provisioning Microsoft applications on DR-protected workloads

57


the DR-protected storage, and is therefore included in any recovery plans that include the protection group.

Figure 68 shows examples of Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, and SQL Server virtual machines that were provisioned on a DR-protected tenant Workload Pod and are visible in a Site Recovery Manager recovery plan.

DR-protected Microsoft applications in a Site Recovery Manager recovery Figure 68.

plan

Disaster recovery operations

In this solution, Site Recovery Manager recovery plans support automated failover, failback, and planned migration for Microsoft applications provisioned on DR-protected workloads. To perform a particular disaster recovery operation, the administrator runs the recovery plan created for that operation.

Running the recovery plan

To initiate a failover from the production site to the recovery site for a Workload Pod on which Microsoft applications are deployed, the administrator runs the appropriate recovery plan from Site Recover Manager.

Before performing the recovery operation, Site Recovery Manager prompts the administrator to specify the Recovery Type, which can be either Planned Migration or Disaster Recovery, as shown in Figure 69. Planned Migration mode recovers virtual machines to the recovery site when both sites are running. If errors occur on the protected site during a planned migration, the migration operation fails. Disaster Recovery mode recovers virtual machines to the recovery site if the protected site experiences a problem. If errors occur on the protected site during a disaster recovery, the disaster recovery continues and does not fail.

In both modes, Site Recovery Manager shuts down and restarts the application components according to the priority configured for each application virtual machine in the recovery plan.

Failing over Microsoft applications

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Executing a recovery plan Figure 69.

When the recovery operation starts, the progress of the failover and the individual recovery steps can be monitored under Monitor > Recovery Steps in Site Recovery Manager, as shown in Figure 70. The priority in which virtual machines are powered on is shown in the sequence of recovery steps.

Monitoring recovery steps Figure 70.

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Verifying the recovery

When the recovery is complete, the application administrator should verify the recovery, using these steps:

1. Review the recovery plan history to confirm that all the required steps were executed successfully.

2. Verify that the Microsoft application virtual machines were successfully migrated to the recovery site.

3. Confirm that end-user access to the applications is fully available.

After a migration has completed successfully, the next step is to prepare the environment for failback or the next failover:

1. In Site Recovery Manager, perform a Reprotect operation for the original recovery plan.

This operation establishes replication in the opposite direction—the original recovery site becomes the protected site, and the original protected site becomes the recovery site.

2. In vRealize Automation, run the DR Post Failover Updater catalog service shown in Figure 71, as described in the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Administration Guide.

DR Post Failover Updater Figure 71.

The Microsoft application virtual machines can now be failed back easily to the original protected site by executing the recovery plan in the reverse direction.

Failing back Microsoft applications

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Chapter 6: Conclusion

Chapter 6 Conclusion


Summary .......................................................................................................... 62

Findings ............................................................................................................ 62

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Chapter 6: Conclusion

Summary

This Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud solution for Microsoft Applications solution supports on-demand backup of Microsoft applications, including Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, and SQL Server, from a self-service portal. The solution also enables restore functionality for SQL Server in Test/Dev environments. vRealize Application Services is used to automate the installation of the Avamar agents required for Microsoft applications. During provisioning, Microsoft applications are assigned to backup policies. The associated backup policy can be changed post provisioning. This solution guide demonstrates the ease of use when performing post-provisioning backup-as-a-service capabilities for Microsoft applications. The solution also includes BaaS functionality that enables SQL Server AlwaysOn Availability Groups backups using the vRealize Automation self-service portal.

In this solution, we have demonstrated the benefits of using the continuous availability and disaster recovery functionality available with Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud for Microsoft Applications. Using the self-service portal, Microsoft applications can be provisioned on Workload Pods that are either DR protected or CA protected.

Findings

This solution enables Microsoft applications to be protected, backed up, and restored across any business group running on the Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud. The following are key findings of this solution:

• Provisioning Microsoft Applications with BaaS enabled—During the provisioning of Microsoft applications, the requester can assign the application to an Avamar backup policy.

• On-demand backups for Microsoft applications—The solution’s self-service portal enables users to perform BaaS operations for Microsoft applications on demand. On-demand restore functionality was also developed for SQL Server in DevOps or Test/Dev environments.

• Changing backup policies for Microsoft applications—A post-provisioning action, available from the vRealize Automation self-service portal, enables the backup policies for Microsoft applications to be changed.

• Checking the backup status of Microsoft backup—Users can check the details of all backups that are run for a Microsoft application virtual machine.

• Disaster recovery and continuous availability—Existing Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud DR and CA functionality can be applied to Microsoft applications.

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Chapter 7: References

Chapter 7 References


Federation documentation ................................................................................... 64

EMC documentation ........................................................................................... 64

VMware documentation ...................................................................................... 64

Microsoft documentation ..................................................................................... 64

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Chapter 7: References

Federation documentation

The following documentation on EMC.com provides additional information about Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud and Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud for Microsoft Applications. Access to the documents depends on your login credentials. If you do not have access to a document, contact your Federation representative.

• Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Foundation Infrastructure Reference Architecture Guide

• Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Concepts and Architecture Guide

• Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Infrastructure and Operations Management Guide

• Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Administration Guide

• Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Microsoft Applications Solution Guide

• Federation Enterprise Hybrid Cloud 3.5: Security Management Guide

EMC documentation

The following documentation on EMC.com or EMC Online Support provides additional and relevant information. Access to these documents depends on your login credentials. If you do not have access to a document, contact your EMC representative.

• Microsoft Exchange Server Best Practices and Design Guidelines for EMC Storage

• Microsoft SQL Server Best Practices and Design Guidelines for EMC Storage

• Microsoft SharePoint Best Practices and Design Guidelines for EMC Storage

• EMC Avamar REST API Getting Started Guide

VMware documentation

The following documentation on the VMware website provides additional and relevant information:

• VMware vRealize Automation documentation

• VMware vRealize Operations Manager documentation

• VMware vRealize Application Services documentation • VMware vRealize Hyperic documentation

• VMware vCenter Hyperic Resource Configuration and Metrics

• Microsoft Exchange 2013 on VMware Best Practices Guide

• Microsoft Exchange 2013 on VMware Design and Sizing Guide

• Microsoft Exchange 2013 on VMware Availability and Recovery Options Guide

• Microsoft SharePoint 2010 on VMware Best Practices • Architecting Microsoft SQL Server on VMware vSphere – Best Practices Guide

Microsoft documentation

The following documentation on the Microsoft TechNet website provides additional and relevant information:

• Microsoft Windows Server documentation • Microsoft Active Directory documentation • Microsoft SQL Server documentation • Microsoft Exchange Server documentation • Microsoft SharePoint documentation • Best Practices for Virtualizing and Managing SharePoint 2013

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http://www.emc.com/

http://www.emc.com/collateral/technical-documentation/h14701-fehc-3-5-reference-architecture-ra.pdf

http://www.emc.com/collateral/technical-documentation/h14701-fehc-3-5-reference-architecture-ra.pdf

http://www.emc.com/collateral/h14719-fehc-3-5-concepts-architecture-sg.pdf

http://www.emc.com/collateral/solution-overview/h14706-fehc-3-5-infrastructure-ops-mgmt-sg.pdf

http://www.emc.com/collateral/solution-overview/h14706-fehc-3-5-infrastructure-ops-mgmt-sg.pdf

http://www.emc.com/collateral/solution-overview/h14705-fehc-3-5-administration-guide-sg.pdf

http://www.emc.com/collateral/technical-documentation/h14770-fehc-3-5-msapps-foundation-sg.pdf

https://www.emc.com/collateral/technical-documentation/h14699-fehc-3-5-sec-mgmt-sg.pdf

http://www.emc.com/

https://support.emc.com/

http://www.emc.com/collateral/hardware/white-papers/h8888-exch-2010-storage-best-pract-design-guid-emc-storage.pdf

http://www.emc.com/collateral/technical-documentation/h14621-microsoft-sql-server-best-practice.pdf

http://www.emc.com/collateral/hardware/white-papers/h12468-sharepoint-server-best-practices-wp.pdf

http://www.emc.com/collateral/TechnicalDocument/docu59603.pdf

http://www.vmware.com/

http://pubs.vmware.com/hyperic-58/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/vcenter-hyperic-58-resource-config-guide.pdf

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/Exchange_2013_on_VMware_Best_Practices_Guide.pdf

https://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjP2N7C5ofMAhVFaQ8KHc6UDssQFggiMAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vmware.com%2Ffiles%2Fpdf%2FExchange_2013_on_VMware_Design_and_Sizing_Guide.pdf

http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjBx_705ofMAhXC7xQKHV2vBBAQFggcMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vmware.com%2Ffiles%2Fpdf%2FExchange_2013_on_VMware_Availability_and_Recovery_Options.pdf

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/solutions/SharePoint_2010-Best-Practices-Guide.pdf

https://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiShP_l54fMAhWHxRQKHfFUCtsQFggcMAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vmware.com%2Ffiles%2Fpdf%2Fsolutions%2FSQL_Server_on_VMware-Best_Practices_Guide.pdf

https://technet.microsoft.com/

http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj6_NeU6YfMAhUGtRQKHYGmDE0QFggcMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.microsoft.com%2Fdownload%2F0%2F0%2F1%2F001ADCCC-A45B-47E3-8DA4-ED51E3208021%2FBest_Practices_for_Virtualizing_and_Managing_SharePoint_2013.pdf

FEDERATION ENTERPRISE HYBRID CLOUD 3 - Dell EMC · PDF fileFEDERATION ENTERPRISE HYBRID CLOUD 3.5 . Microsoft ApplicationsProtection and Availability Solution Guide . ABSTRACT . This

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