Azure Stack HCI Replication with Built-in Disaster Recovery

Azure Stack HCI Replication with Built-in Disaster Recovery is a game-changer for businesses that require high availability and minimal downtime.

With Azure Stack HCI Replication, you can protect your data and applications across multiple sites and clouds, ensuring business continuity in the event of a disaster.

This built-in disaster recovery feature allows you to replicate your HCI clusters to a secondary site, providing a robust and automated way to protect your data.

Replication can be configured to run continuously, or on a schedule that suits your business needs, giving you peace of mind knowing your data is always protected.

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Before you begin the installation process, it's essential to prepare your VMs. Every VM you want to replicate must have the Mobility service installed.

To ensure a smooth installation process, verify the VM settings to allow the process server to install the service automatically when replication is enabled.

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Configuration is key to a successful Azure Stack HCI replication setup.

You can configure replication for a cluster by using the Azure Stack HCI Management Console or PowerShell.

Replication is enabled by default for new clusters, but you can also enable it for existing clusters.

To configure replication, you'll need to create a replication policy that defines the replication settings for your cluster.

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To set up a configuration server, you'll need a physical server with specific hardware and software requirements. The CPU should have 8 cores, and the RAM should be at least 16 GB.

The server should have 3 disks, including the OS disk, process server cache disk, and retention drive for failback. The free disk space for the process server cache should be at least 600 GB, and the retention disk should also have at least 600 GB of free space.

You can install the operating system on the server, but it should be either Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2016. The operating system locale should be English (en-us).

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Some Windows Server roles should be disabled, including Active Directory Domain Services, Internet Information Services, and Hyper-V. Also, certain group policies should be disabled, such as preventing access to the command prompt and registry editing tools.

The IP address type should be static, and MySQL should be installed on the configuration server. You can install it manually or let Site Recovery install it during deployment.

The configuration server needs access to specific URLs, including Microsoft Entra ID, replication data transfer, replication management, storage access, time synchronization, and telemetry (optional).

To ensure communication with Azure, you should allow IP address-based firewall rules for the Azure Datacenter IP Ranges and the HTTPS (443) port. You should also allow IP address ranges for the West US region and the Azure region of your subscription.

Here are the specific ports you should allow: 443 (Control channel orchestration) and 9443 (Data transport).

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To create a vault, start in the Azure portal and select Create a resource > Management Tools > Backup and Site Recovery. This will initiate the process of creating a new vault.

You'll need to enter a friendly name to identify the vault in the Name field. This name will help you quickly locate the vault in the Azure portal.

Next, you'll need to create or select a resource group, which is where your vault will be stored. In this example, we're using the resource group "contosoRG".

The Location field requires you to choose an Azure region where your vault will be hosted. In our example, we're using the West Europe region.

To quickly access your new vault from the Azure portal dashboard, select PIN TO DASHBOARD > Create. This will add the vault to the main Recovery Services vaults page and make it easily accessible from the dashboard.

To run Unified Setup, you need to connect to the VM you want to use for the configuration server via RDP and run the Unified Setup installation file. Make sure the clock is synchronized with a time server on the VM before starting, as installation fails if the time is more than five minutes off local time.

You'll need to select the registration key you downloaded from the vault during the installation process. This key is crucial for the configuration server to register with Azure Site Recovery.

In Internet Settings, specify how the Provider running on the configuration server connects to Azure Site Recovery over the Internet. Make sure you've allowed the required URLs to ensure a smooth connection.

The installation process includes a prerequisites check to ensure everything is in place for a successful installation. If a warning appears about the Global time sync check, verify that the time on the system clock is the same as the time zone.

To complete the installation, you'll need to create credentials for logging on to the MySQL server instance that is installed. This will allow you to access and manage the MySQL server.

The installation process also requires you to select the NIC that the in-built process server uses for discovery and push installation of mobility service on source machines. You'll also need to select the NIC that Configuration Server uses for connectivity with Azure.

Here's a summary of the steps to complete the installation:

After installation finishes, a passphrase is generated. You'll need this when you enable replication, so copy it and keep it in a secure location.

To set up the target environment, you need to select and verify the target resources. This involves selecting the Azure subscription you want to use, specifying the target deployment model, and ensuring you have compatible Azure storage accounts and networks in place.

You can select the Azure subscription by going to Prepare infrastructure > Target and selecting the subscription you want to use.

In order to complete the wizard, you need to create at least one storage account and virtual network if Site Recovery doesn't find them.

Here's a summary of the steps to set up the target environment:

Enabling replication is a crucial step in ensuring your data is protected. Click on Replicate application > Source to begin the process.

To select the configuration server, simply click on it in the Source section. You'll also need to choose the machine type, which in this case is Physical machines.

Selecting the process server is the next step, which will allow you to configure the replication settings. After selecting the process server, click OK to move forward.

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In the Target section, you'll need to choose the subscription and resource group where you want to create the VMs after failover. You'll also need to select the Azure storage account and network settings for the replicated data.

Here are the key settings to consider when enabling replication:

After selecting the necessary settings, click Enable Replication to begin the process. It can take 15 minutes or longer for changes to take effect and appear in the portal.