Step-by-Step - Disaster Recovery From Hyper-V 2012 R2 to Azure - PART1

In the following two articles I will show you how to make a copy of virtual machines from Hyper-V to Azure and thus set up a Disaster Recovery with VM replication. How cool is that? :)

 

Requirements:

• Only for VMs in Windows Server 2008 R2 or higher;
• For this scenario it will be necessary a Virtual Machine with Virtual Machine Manager 2012 R2 installed (VMM) and Hyper-V 2012 R2;
• Node(s) in the Hyper-V and VMM must have access to the Internet (ports 80 and 443), so we can replicate information;
• You can create a Site-to-Site VPN for Azure DR so that there is communication between On-Premises and DR VMs (Optional);
• Like previuos point, you can create a Point-to-site network so that users can access Azure DR VMs (Optional);
• Geo-Redundant storage for VMs replicas.

Setup process:

1. VPN Site-to-Site and Point-to-Site (Optional);
2. Configure Storage in Azure with some specifications;
3. DR settings in Azure;
4. VMM and Hyper-V Settings;
5. Virtual Machines Replicas;
6. Test failover and failback. (PART2)

Notes:

• The replica is always carried out by Internet Connection (it does not use the VPN Site-to-Site, if any);
• In this example we have configured a Windows Server 2012 with VMM 2012 R2 that controls the communications with Azure. However, it is available the Hyper-V Replica communicating directly with Azure without requiring the VMM;
• The failback between Azure and On-Premises will fail if the original VM does not exist. That is, in case of total disaster and all VMs On-Premises are lost, it is required to download the VMs (for example);
• After adding VMs in the VMM Cloud we can not change the replication times.

Ok, let the Fun begin!

VPN Site-to-Site/Point-to-Site (Optional)

• Virtual Network Creation:

• On-Premises and Public IP networks Association:

• Create DNS servers:

 

• Point-to-Site Network Configuration (This is the range of addresses that VPN clients will get):

• Virtual Azure Network Configuration. In this example we have the Subnet 10.0.16.0/27 available for virtual machines:

• After all the settings are configured, we have Site-to-Site communication and clients can be connected (after we configure the VPN and certificates on the Workstation/Laptop). In this example, in On-Premises side I set up a Windows Server 2012 R2 with RRAS and the settings were generated by an Azure Script.

Configure Storage

• Creation of a new Geo-Redundant Storage (in case that the primary is not geo-redundant)

Disaster Recovery Settings in Azure

• Click on the Azure Site Recovery (Recovery Services) and check the existing options:
• On-Premises Hyper-V to Azure (VMM Required);
• There is now a new option where we can use On-Premises Hyper-V and Azure, without using the VMM with less functionality.
• On-Premises Hyper-V to Azure to Hyper-V;
• VMware On-Premises to Azure to VMware;
• On-Premises Hyper-V with Array Replication.

The option that we will use on this Step By Step, is the first One!

• Create a new service (in this example is TesteDR)

 

• Generate a Key for TesteDR Vault:

• In the Dashboard click on the desired setting:

• The requirements for this:

• Click on Generate Registration Key File and Save it:

• Download the VMM Provider and install on the On-Premises VMM server:

• Browse to the file that contains the credentials that you previously downloadedand it Will appear the Vault name. In this case its TesteDR:

• Wait for the installation:

• Success:

• VMM Server will now appear on Azure as registered:

VMM and Hyper-V Settings

• Create a new Cloud in VMM:

• Select the Hosts that contain VMs for replication:

• The On-Premises networks that are visible to Azure:

• Storage for VMs:

• Profiles for this Cloud:

• The created Cloud in VMM appears on Azure as Protected Item. It's in this group where the VMs replicate are:

• Change the properties of replication before adding VMs:

• Download the Provider for Hyper-V and install it on all Hyper-V servers On-Premises:

• Insert the file of the TesteDR Vault Credentials:

• Full Registration:

• Map the On-Premises and Azure networks:

Virtual Machine Replicas

• Start Replicating VMs. There are two On-Premises VMs that will replicate in this case:

• Change to Enable:

• Both VMs will appear in Azure and will begin to replicate. After the initial replic, there are only synchronizations in intervals of 15 minutes:

• By default the Azure puts the replicated VM with a similar type (CPU + Memory) to the existing On-Premises VM, but that can be changed at any time:

• You can create Recovery Plans where we can put scripts, Multiple VMs, etc.

• The Hyper-V settings:

 

• The number of replicas and the status:

 

In the following PART of this article, I will continue with some of the VMM and Hyper-V Settings and the most importante of all, Failovers and Failbacks of some Virtual Machines!

See you!