Prerequisites for implementing the VM Recovery Manager DR solution
Before you start implementing the VM Recovery Manager DR solution, you must plan the resources and corresponding details for your production and backup sites. Identify the following information and have it available when you plan for the VM Recovery Manager DR implementation.
- KSYS node
- Identify the host and the logical partition in which you plan to create the KSYS node. The host
must be located preferably in the backup site during the normal (non-disaster) conditions that is
not managed under the KSYS subsystem. You must create the LPAR in the identified host that has
IBM® AIX® 7.2 with Technology Level 1 Service Pack 1 (7200-01-01), or
later, installed.
The KSYS node must be able to perform HTTPS-based communication to all HMCs on both sites. In addition, the KSYS node must be able to communicate to the storage subsystems on both sites by using the storage vendor methods.
- KSYS cluster
Identify a name for your KSYS cluster.
- Sites
- Identify names for your active and backup sites.
- HMC
- Identify the HMCs that you want to add in your active and backup sites. You can add two Hardware
Management Consoles for a dual HMC configuration in your sites that ensures enhanced availability
when one of the HMCs is down or unreachable.
Ensure that you have the following information available for each HMC that you plan to include in the VM Recovery Manager DR implementation:
- HMC name or IP address
- User name
- Password
Ensure that HMC must be master when host is managed by both PowerVM NovaLink and the HMC.
- Hosts
- Identify all the managed hosts in your production site that you want to add to the VM Recovery Manager DR implementation. Ensure that you plan to include the corresponding managing HMCs in the VM Recovery Manager DR solution. In addition, identify a corresponding managed host in the backup site that can be paired to each host in the active site. You must have the name of the host or the UUID of the host available for each host that you are planning to include in the VM Recovery Manager DR implementation.
- LPAR
- Identify the LPARs that you want to include in the VM Recovery Manager DR implementation and install
your applications as required. You can exclude the LPARs that you do not want to include in the
VM Recovery Manager DR solution. You must
have the LPAR name available for each LPAR that you are planning to include in the VM Recovery Manager DR implementation.Note: The virtual machines must not be scheduled to restart automatically if the virtual machine is included in the VM Recovery Manager DR disaster recovery management.
- Virtual I/O Server (VIOS)
- The VIOS configuration in the active site hosts must ideally match across the backup site hosts
that are paired together. Note: For multiple VIOS configuration in virtual Small Computer System Interface (vSCSI) disk-mapping, ensure that the Virtual I/O Servers do not have any backend disk reservation.
During the verification phase, the VM Recovery Manager DR solution displays a warning message about any VIOS issues. For example, if any of the VIOS partitions is down, a warning message is displayed. The VM Recovery Manager DR solution skips this check if you use the lose_vios_redundancy attribute persistently. For more information about this option, see Managing the system attributes.
Even after you use this option, the source virtual machines can be moved to the backup host only when the VIOS in the target host can accommodate all the virtual adapters of the virtual machine. Problems might occur during the disaster recovery operation if one of the VIOS or Fiber Channel adapters are down. Review the following scenarios to determine the VIOS configuration issues:
-
- Scenario 1
- The following figure shows an N_Port ID virtualization (NPIV)-based VIOS configuration in which
the source host contains 2 VIOS partitions that use 2-port Fibre Channel (FC) adapters. If the
target host does not contain dual VIOS configuration or if one of the Virtual I/O Servers in the
target host is not functioning, the virtual machine can be moved from the source host to the target
host only when the VIOS in the target host uses 4-port FC adapter.
Figure 1. VIOS configuration during disaster recovery: Scenario 1 
- Storage
-
- Allocate the primary storage based on the current storage requirements.
- Map primary storage logical unit numbers (LUNs) to appropriate virtual machines and VIOS as required (vSCSI or NPIV).
- Allocate backup or mirror LUNs at the backup site.
- Identify the storage agent count and storage agent names based on the current storage configuration. The storage controller software that interacts with the storage subsystem must be installed on the KSYS node.
- Configure the physical connectivity and zoning of backup storage LUNs to appropriate adapters. It ensures the storage availability when virtual machines are started in the backup site.
- Set up replication relationships between primary storage LUNs and backup storage LUNs. Ensure to include virtual machine operating system LUNs in the replication. You do not need to set up consistency groups. The KSYS subsystem performs those operations.
- Have the storage administrative information ready to specify in the KSYS configuration settings (for example, storage agent count and name, user name, password, serial number of the storage disks, IP address of the storage controller server.)
- For EMC storage, review the existing SRDF composite groups. Verify that the storage disks, which are planned to be included in the VM Recovery Manager DR implementation, are not part of any existing composite groups.
- Email or contacts for notification
- Identify the contacts that must receive the notification if any failures or disaster occurs. You
can have the following type of notifications:
- Policy based replication
- Before you configure policy-based replication in VM Recovery Manager DR, ensure that the storage environment is configured for replication and that the required replication policies are available on the storage system.
- Policy based high availability policy based replication (PBHA-PBR)
- In addition to the policy-based replication prerequisites, ensure that the following requirements are met before you configure PBHA-PBR: