Import Methods for AWS
During recovery operations, Zerto uses a combination of the following APIs and methods to convert the Amazon S3 objects into recovery disks in EC2 as EBS disks:
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Import-instance: for the boot volume |
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Import-volume: for data volumes |
For more information see the relevant AWS documentation:
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The ImportImage API is not used by Zerto. |
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Zerto Import - zImport: an import method that does not have the same limitations as the AWS APIs. It creates an AWS EC2 instance per protected VM volume, called zImporter, to convert the S3 objects and write them to a zImport local disk. When all the data has been imported and its disk has been attached to the recovered instance, the zImport instance is terminated. |
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zImporter is based on an official AWS Linux AMI (Amazon Machine Image), into which a script is injected to perform the import. |
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To ensure that the zImport instance cannot be accessed from the outside world, a security group is created. During a recovery operation the zImport instance is connected to this security group. All inbound traffic is blocked and only outbound traffic to access the script online is allowed. The security group is deleted at the end of the recovery operation. |
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Zerto can set default encryption on the S3 bucket so that all objects are encrypted when they are stored in the bucket. To enable S3 encryption please contact support. |
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The default zImporter instance type is c5.4xlarge and the AWS EC2 default maximum instance quota is 10. If during the creation of zImport instances the maximum EC2 instance quota is reached, the creation of the next and subsequent zImport instances will be queued, increasing the RTO. If during recovery operations, the ZVM identifies a VPG with the potential to exceed the EC2 instance quota, the user will receive an alert with advice to contact AWS support to increase the service limits in order to improve RTO. |
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Each zImporter VM is responsible for the import process of a single volume. Therefore, it is recommended to contact AWS and increase the maximum instance quota of the c5.4xlarge instance type to the maximum number of volumes you are planning to failover to AWS at once. |
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GPT formatted disks are supported for data volumes only, when using either of the zImport methods. |
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When using either of the zImport methods, each volume is created with EBS disk of type io1 with maximum 1000 EBS Provision IOPS allocated. EBS disk type can be changed post recovery without downtime, see the relevant for more information see the relevant AWS documentation. The minimum disk size for io1 is 4GB. |
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The default Max EBS Provision IOPS quota in a region across all io1 disks is 40000 EBS Provision IOPS, meaning that with 1000 EBS Provision IOPS per volume, the maximum possible number of volumes is 40. If the Max EBS Provision IOPS quota is reached, the failover process will switch to using slower gp2 disks. An event will notify the user of this, and recommend that the user contact AWS support to increase the Max EBS Provision IOPS quota. |
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Depending on the desired RTO during recovery operations, or when testing failover, the user can select an import method per VPG or per virtual machine from the following options: |
Zerto Import for Data Volumes
This method is the default setting and has a faster RTO than AWS Import. This method uses a combination of the AWS import-instance API for the boot volume, and the zImport method for data volumes. To use this method when creating or editing a VPG, an Access Key ID and a Secret Access Key is required. Both fields can be set in the Site Settings window, see Site Settings.
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Each machine that you intend to protect must have at least 250MB free space. This is because AWS adds files to the recovered machines during failover, move, test failover, and clone operations. |
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Protected boot volumes are recovered in EC2 as EBS disks with magnetic disk type. Virtual machines with disks that are less than 1GB are recovered with disks of 1GB. Temporary disks may be created based on the selected instance size. |
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Temporary disks may be created based on the selected instance size. |
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The maximum protected data volume size is 16TB, while the boot volume can be up to 1TB. |
Zerto Import for All Volumes
This method uses the zImport method for all volumes and ensures the fastest RTO.
This method creates an AWS EC2 instance per protected VM volume, called zImporter, to convert the S3 objects and write them to a zImport local disk. When all the data has been imported and its disk have been attached to the recovered instance, the zImport instance is terminated.
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Temporary disks may be created based on the selected instance size. |
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The maximum protected data volume size is 16TB, while the boot volume can be up to 2047GiB. |
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Some VMs use the MBR partitioning scheme, which only supports up to 2047 GiB boot volumes. If your instance does not boot with a boot volume that is 2TB or larger, the VM you are using may be limited to a 2047 GiB boot volume size. Non-boot volumes do not have this limitation. See AWS Documentation for more information: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/EBSVolumeTypes.html |
When recovering to AWS instance types listed below using Zerto Import for All Volumes import method, Windows 2012, Windows 2012R2, Windows 2016, or Windows 2019 are supported.
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M4 (excluding M4.16xlarge) |
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The following drivers are installed on the recovered virtual machine:
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Windows ENA (Elastic Network Adapter) Drivers |
When recovering to C5/M5 instances using Zerto Import for All Volumes import method, Windows 2008R2, Windows 2012, Windows 2012R2, Windows 2016, and Windows 2019 are supported.
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For Windows 2012R2, Windows 2016, and Windows 2019, the following drivers are downloaded on the protected virtual machine. ZertoTools installs these drivers on the recovered virtual machine: |
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Windows ENA (Elastic Network Adapter) Drivers |
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For Windows 2008R2 and Windows 2012, Windows ENA (Elastic Network Adapter) drivers and NVMe driver are downloaded on the protected virtual machine. ZertoTools installs these drivers on the protected virtual machine and executes the below command: |
start rundll32.exe sppnp.dll,Sysprep_Generalize_Pnp -wait
This command removes computer-specific information for the drivers. When recovering to C5/M5, the instance will boot on AWS and install all the drivers again.
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If these drivers are installed on a VM running Windows 2012, Windows 2012R2, Windows 2016, or Windows 2019, the other AWS import methods will fail. To overcome this, you must uninstall the drivers before using the other AWS import methods. |
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C5/M5 instance types are supported with the Zerto Import for All Volumes import method only. |
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Important:
When using this import method for Windows machines, ZertoTools for Windows needs to be run on the protected Windows virtual machine in VMware before VPG creation. For more information, see ZertoTools for Windows.
AWS Import
This method uses a combination of the AWS import-instance and import-volume APIs for the boot and data volumes respectively. This was the only method supported until version 5.5. To use this method when creating or editing a VPG, an Access Key ID and a Secret Access Key is required. Both fields can be set in the Site Settings window, see Site Settings.
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Each machine that you intend to protect must have at least 250MB free space. This is because AWS adds files to the recovered machines during failover, move, test failover, and clone operations. |
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Protected boot volumes are recovered in EC2 as EBS disks with General Purpose SSD (gp2). Virtual machines with disks that are less than 1GB are recovered with disks of 1GB. Additional volumes might be created in the recovered instance, dependent on the instance type used for the recovery. These volumes can be ignored. |
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Protected volumes are recovered in EC2 as EBS disks with General Purpose SSD (gp2). Virtual machines with disks that are less than 1GB are recovered with disks of 1GB. Additional volumes might be created in the recovered instance, dependent on the instance type used for the recovery. These volumes can be ignored. Temporary disks may be created based on the selected instance size. |
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The maximum protected data volume and boot disk size is 1TB. |
See also: