VMware has multiple disaster recovery solutions available for different customer needs. This post provides a high-level overview of the options and a comparison matrix of the specific differences.
Site Recovery Manager
Site Recovery Manager is primarily an on-premises disaster recovery automation and orchestration tool. It now also supports hyperscalers (AVS, GCVE & OCVS) and, along with vSphere Replication, serves as the basis for VMware Site Recovery for VMware Cloud on AWS.
When Site Recovery Manager is used between sites that both support array-based replication, which would most frequently be on-premises to on-premises, it supports additional capabilities only available with array-based replication.
- Product page
- Technical overview
- SRM FAQ
- vSphere Replication FAQ
- Cloud Platform Tech Zone
- Documentation
- VR vs. ABR comparison
VMware Site Recovery
VMware Site Recovery is a DRaaS offering available with VMware Cloud on AWS. It utilizes Site Recovery Manager and vSphere Replication to provide DR automation and orchestration capabilities. Like the rest of VMware Cloud on AWS, VMware Site Recovery is an ‘as-a-service’ offering. VMware Site Recovery is deployed, managed, and maintained by VMware.
- Product page (includes pricing)
- VMware Cloud on AWS Pricing calculator
- VSR FAQ
- Technical overview
- VMware Cloud Tech Zone
- Documentation
VMware Cloud Disaster Recovery
VMware Cloud DR provides on-demand disaster recovery-as-a-service as part of VMware Cloud on AWS. VMware Cloud Disaster Recovery supports flexible deployment options, including an SDDC that is only deployed on-demand, significantly reducing costs. It also supports many immutable snapshots, an integral part of its advanced ransomware protection and recovery capabilities.
- Product page (includes pricing)
- VMware Cloud on AWS Pricing calculator
- Technical overview
- VCDR FAQ
- VMware Cloud Tech Zone
- Documentation
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VMware Cloud Disaster Recovery |
VMware Site Recovery |
Site Recovery Manager |
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Topology |
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Source/Protected Site |
On-prem or VMware Cloud on AWS SDDC |
On-prem, VMware Cloud on AWS SDDC, VMware Cloud on Dell SDDC note: on-prem site cannot be both source and target |
On-prem, hyperscalers SDDC (AVS, GCVE, or OCVS) Note: currently, hyperscaler to hyperscaler protection is only supported between the same hyperscaler, e.g., AVS to AVS |
|
Targets / Recovery Site |
VMware Cloud on AWS SDDC |
On-prem, VMware Cloud on AWS SDDC, VMware Cloud on Dell SDDC note: on-prem site cannot be both source and target |
On-prem or hyperscalers SDDC (AVS, GCVE, or OCVS) Note: currently, hyperscaler to hyperscaler protection is only supported between the same hyperscaler, e.g., AVS to AVS |
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Recovery site SDDC requirement |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
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Replication |
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RPO |
Min 30 mins (with high-frequency snapshots) 4 hours (with standard frequency snapshots) |
Min 5 mins |
0 mins with synchronous replication (array-based replication only), 5 mins with vSphere Replication |
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Recovery points |
1000’s per VM (up to 1MM per Scale-out Cloud File System) |
24 |
24 with vSphere Replication Various depending on array-based replication solutions |
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Synchronous replication support? |
No |
No |
Yes (only when using array-based replication) |
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Multi-writer disk support? |
No |
No |
Yes (only when using array-based replication) |
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Physical RDM support? |
No |
No |
Yes (only when using array-based replication) |
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Operations |
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RTO |
Fast RTOs When used without an SDDC, it requires SDDC deployment, which increases RTOs Instant power-on with live mount reduces recovery times |
Faster RTOs because of pre-provisioned failover capacity |
Faster RTOs because of pre-provisioned failover capacity |
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Offered ‘as-a-service’? |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
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GovCloud support? |
No |
Yes |
No |
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Management |
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Ransomware detection and orchestration |
Yes |
No |
No |
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Costs |
Per VM/hour + per TB |
Per VM/hour |
Per protected VM |
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Deployment |
SaaS in the cloud. Requires a minimum of a single appliance installed on-prem |
SaaS in the cloud. Requires a minimum of 2 appliance installs on-prem |
Manual software installation |
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Lifecycle management |
VMware Managed |
VMware Managed |
Customer managed/maintained |
What about VMware Cloud Director Availability?
VMware Cloud Director Availability is a disaster recovery and migration solution specifically for cloud providers. It isn’t offered directly to customers and is only available to customers through VMware Cloud Provider Partners.
What about VMware HCX?
HCX is an application migration and workload rebalancing solution. When its networking capabilities are combined with the DR solutions discussed in this post, it can enhance those solutions. While it has some DR capabilities, they are limited to bare recovery. They don’t include advanced orchestration capabilities like those in VMware Cloud Disaster Recovery, Site Recovery Manager, and VMware Site Recovery.