VMware SRM 4.0 Released – Supports vSphere 4.0, NFS, vCenter Linked Mode
October 5th, 2009 | 
Author: VMware has announced an upgrade release of Site Recovery Manager (SRM). Available today, SRM version 4 not only adds the much anticipated compatibility for vSphere 4 but also provides support for NFS storage, allows multi instance replication between single site pairs, and can be managed in vCenter Linked Mode. More details on the new version follow in the paragraphs below.
VMware customers who currently own SRM with active Sales and Support (SnS) contracts will receive the upgrade at no additional cost. VMware has not changed the per processor licensing model or cost for new customers wishing to purchase.
Some quick links for SRM 4:
- SRM 4. Release notes – http://www.vmware.com/support/srm/srm_releasenotes_4_0.html
- Upgrade KB article – http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1013166
- SRM download – http://downloads.vmware.com/d/ and select Site Recovery Manger
- Michael White’s post SRM 4.0 is here! The wait for vSphere and NFS support is over! on the VMware Uptime Blog covers upgrade strategy options.
- VMware’s documentation for all version of SRM – http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/srm_pubs.html
vSphere 4.0 Supported
The main requirement to enable the new compatibility and features in SRM is upgrading vCenter to version 4. In fact,
after upgrading vCenter, SRM 4 can manage fail over workflow of ESX 3.0.3 to the current 4.x host versions. When storage replication is established between vSphere 4 site pairs, new vSphere features such as Fault Tolernance (FT) for VMs and Distributed Switches (vDS) are also understood and supported by SRM. FT must be manually recreated once a VM is failed over to the secondary site, but the inclusion of a production VM with FT configured in DR site workflow planning is a critical.
Multi Instance Replication From a Single Site Pairing
SRM 4 can manage the fail over of multiple VMware Datacenters configured from a single pairing of a primary vCenter instance and a secondary vCenter instance at a recovery site (DR site). The key to this configuration is the dependency on and the location of the 2 vCenter 4 servers. Although I do not recall it being specifically stated in the product pre release call I participated in, technically speaking, it seems as if VI storage at multiple physical locations could be replicated to multiple DR sites if all the sites involved were managed by only the 2 vCenters. This implies vCenter management, and the necessary Site Recovery Agents (SRA), would be remote to some of the shared storage replication taking place. Since the storage replication is configured independent of vCenter and SRM, SRA connectivity and SRM workflow automation via the SRM vCenter plugins would be possible.
NFS Support
New SRAs are being released from the storage vendors for automating fail over between sites with NFS storage replication in place. Although not all vendors currently on the SRM HCL will have NFS SRAs available today, we were told most of the missing vendor agents will be available immediately. Each vendor has to go through a separate qualification process for the new storage protocol.
My notes about NFS included a bullet about SRM 4 now being able to support up to 1000 VMs. This is up from a 500 VM maximum previously. This is per VMware Datacenter in vCenter. Multi VMware datacenter pairings would be the method to go beyond the 1000 max. I’m not sure if this is only for NFS storage, or if the maximum number of VMs applies to all supported SRM storage protocols.
vCenter Linked Mode Supported
vCenter Linked Mode enables an administrator to manage objects from multiple instances of vCenter in a single VI Client (VIC) session. With SRM now supporting Linked Mode, VI administrators can more easily monitor and manage SRM at both the primary and secondary sites. Note that SRAs must be installed separately on both instances of vCenter, but the SRM plugin can be installed once in a administrator’s VIC connecting to a Linked Mode vCenter.
Other Notes on SRM 4
Probably the largest feature of interest which SRM users have been
waiting for has still not been implemented in this latest release – an
automated fail back method. The process still requires manual reconfiguration effectively reversing the primary and secondary sites after storage device replication is established (in the reverse direction as well).
If you are interested in possible long term futures and the roadmap for SRM, check out the session titled BC3421
SRM Architecture & Features: The Road Ahead from VMworld 2009 recently in San Francisco. PDF of the session available at http://www.vmworld.com/docs/DOC-3498.
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Jason Boche
