Creating a New Repository for Retention
Disaster recovery using Zerto enables recovering from a disaster to any point between the moment just before the disaster and a specified amount of time in the past up to 30 days. The recovery is done in real time at the recovery site with a minimal RTO.
If you need to extend the recovery ability to more than 30 days, Zerto provides Long Term Retention that enables saving the protected data for a longer period of time, in a state where they can be easily deployed.
The data is saved in a Repository for a defined Retention period. Each VPG will have Retention sets created according to a fixed schedule. Repositories are external network connected storage resources, such as Purpose Built Backup Appliances (PBBA) or NAS storage systems.
The Retention process is managed by the ZVM, and the Data Streaming Service entity (DSS) performs all the data copy operations. During the Retention process, the DSS communicates with the VRA on the recovery site. The Retention sets are fixed points saved either daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly in the Repository, and has a pre-defined expiration. Before you can start a Retention process for VPGs, you must first create one or more Repositories that will be used as a target for the Retention sets.
Zerto keeps the Retention sets in Repositories. As the Retention process is running on the recovery site, the Repositories are connected to the recovery ZVMs. Zerto can connect to these repositories using NFS, SMB (CIFS) protocols or HPE StoreOnce Catalyst API, where the underlying storage can be either standard storage appliances or Purposely Built Backup Appliances (PBBAs) such as ExaGrid, Data Domain or HPE StoreOnce.
Once the repository has been configured, it can be selected as a target in the VPG retention policy configuration. Before you proceed, read the Considerations:
Considerations:
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HPE StoreOnce Catalyst Considerations: |
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The Catalyst Store on the HPE StoreOnce appliance must support LBW as the “Transfer policy”. |
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Catalyst API server version should be v9 and above. |
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The Catalyst Store on the HPE StoreOnce appliance must allow access to the recovery VRA. The default setting is No Access. A user with Administrator Role can enable access through the Catalyst User Interface. |
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The Catalyst Store on the HPE StoreOnce appliance must have credentials already defined. These credential are used when setting up the Repository in the Zerto User Interface. |
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The HPE StoreOnce Catalyst repository requires increasing the VRAs RAM to 4GB. 1GB will be allocated for Catalyst usage. |
To create a repository for Long Term Retention:
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In the Zerto User Interface, click SETUP > REPOSITORIES > NEW REPOSITORY. |
The New Repository window is displayed.
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In the General area, specify the following: |
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Name: A unique name for the repository. |
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Storage Type: The type of storage can be a network share, selected PBBAs or other de-duplicating appliance. See the Interoperability Matrix for supported versions. |
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Other De-Duplicating Storage Appliances
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Purposely Built Backup Appliances (PBBAs): |
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The network share is connected on top of NFS protocol.
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The network share is connected on top of SMB (CIFS) protocol. Username and password must be provided to access the share.
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Username: The username can be entered using either of the following formats:
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Password: Password to access the Network Share.
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Username: The username can be entered using either of the following formats: |
Password: Password to access the Catalyst store.
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Catalyst Server: IP of the HPE StoreOnce appliance that holds the Catalyst store. |
Catalyst store name: The Catalyst store name in HPE StoreOnce appliance. |
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In the Location area, define the Path. This is the path where the Repository will reside. This field does not apply to HPE StoreOnce Catalyst connection type. Zerto recommends using an empty folder when creating a new Repository. |
The path must be accessible from the VRA, so if the Repository is on a different domain, the domain must be included in the path.
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In the Properties area, you can check the Set as default repository checkbox. This will use the Repository as the default when defining the Retention policy in a VPG. |
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Click SAVE. The repository is created. |
After setting up a Repository, you can protect virtual machines for longer periods of times, enabling Zerto's Long Term Retention.
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To define an additional Repository, repeat this procedure. |
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When using Zerto Cloud Manager, you must also add the Repository to either the vCenter resources or vCD resources in the Zerto Cloud Manager. For details, see the Zerto Cloud Manager Administration Guide. |