Solution description

 

The solution consists of server and client parts. The server one contains components, which are installed on the backup DC and responsible for retrieving changes from customer devices, their deduplication, storing data and failover as well in case of disaster. The server part also includes storage - an object storage located in the backup data center where full and incremental replications of customer machines are saved.

Architecture

As for the client part, it includes agents installed on VMware vSphere for replication of machines on the cloud platform or agents for Windows/Linux installed on guest operating systems for replication of other types of cloud platforms and physical machines.

Client for VMware (VMware agent) - a Linux machine, supplied as an OVA file, that is deployed to each ESXi host and that replicates machines on these hosts. Standard VMware tools are used to detect changes and obtain deltas on the machines (Changed Block Tracking API), which in turn induce the tools of operating systems (quiesce) to preserve data consistency inside replicas.

Linux agent - a Linux daemon installed on a guest OS in case of replicating machines on public clouds like AWS, Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud as well as Hyper-V, KVM, OpenStack or physical machines with Linux operating systems. Supplied as a bash instruction to be executed in guest operating system terminal, thereby the agent is installed on the machine.

Windows agent - a Windows service installed on a guest OS in case of replicating machines on public clouds like Microsoft Azure or Google Cloud as well as Hyper-V, KVM, OpenStack or physical machines with Windows operating systems. Supplied as a ZIP file with MSI and a configuration file for installation on a guest operating system.

Attention

In case of a VMware infrastructure replication, there is no need to install Windows/Linux agents on each machine. Just install a VMware agent on each ESXi host of vSphere.

Acura compatibility matrix and supported systems

Source Platform	Platform/OS version	Agent, replication type, distribution
VMware ESXi vRealize vSphere	ESXi 5.5+	HVRAgent (VMware) external replication OVA VM template
Bare Metal OpenStack Azure AWS Oracle Cloud	Windows 7	HWRAgent (Windows) internal replication MSI installer
	Windows 8
	Windows 10
	Windows Server 2008R2
	Windows Server 2012
	Windows Server 2012R2
	Windows Server 2016
	Debian 7	HLRAgent (Linux) internal replication .deb/.rpm packages
	Debian 8
	Uubntu 14.04
	Ubuntu 16.04
	Ubuntu 18.04
	RHEL/CentOS 6.5+
	RHEL/CentOS 7.1+

OS upgrade to the latest Service Pack and patches is recommended.

Linux kernel support for HLRAgent

RHEL/CentOS 6.x versions:

Attention

32-bit systems are not supported

• 2.6.32-220.el6.x86_64
• 2.6.32-358.el6.x86_64
• 2.6.32-431.el6.x86_64
• 2.6.32-573.el6.x86_64
• 2.6.32-642.el6.x86_64
• 2.6.32-696.el6.x86_64
• 2.6.32-754.el6.x86_64

RHEL/CentOS 7.x versions:

• 3.10.0-123.el7.x86_64
• 3.10.0-229.el7.x86_64
• 3.10.0-327.el7.x86_64
• 3.10.0-693.el7.x86_64
• 3.10.0-862.el7.x86_64
• 3.10.0-957.el7.x86_64
• 3.10.0-1062.el7.x86_64
• 3.10.0-1127.el7.x86_64

RHEL/CentOS 8.x versions:

• 4.18.0-147.el8.x86_64
• 4.18.0-193.el8.x86_64

Ubuntu versions: 14.04, 16.04, 18.04, 20.04

Note

Please contact Hystax Support team at support@hystax.com if the required kernel is not in the list above.

Hystax Acura Limitations

1. Virtual machines with disks engaged in SCSI bus sharing are not supported because VMware does not support snapshotting such VMs.
2. RDM virtual disks in physical mode, Independent disks, and disks connected via in-guest iSCSI initiator are not supported. Network shares and mount points targeted to 3rd party storage devices are also skipped, as these volumes/disks are not visible in the VM configuration file.
3. Free ESXi is not supported. Hystax Acura leverages vSphere and vStorage APIs that are disabled by VMware in free ESXi.
4. Hystax Windows Replication Agent supports only NTFS filesystems.
5. Hystax Windows Replication Agent doesn’t support extended volumes.
6. Hystax Windows Replication Agent converts dynamic disks to basic ones while protecting them.
7. Hystax Linux Replication Agent supports replication of machines with up to 64 disks.
8. Windows servers with the enabled Storage Replica feature are not supported.

AWS Limitations

Hystax Acura uses an import image mechanism to launch replicated machines on AWS, therefore all “Import Image” limitations apply. Refer to the official AWS documentation for more details.

Azure Limitations

• No ssh key can be attached to failover instances, as they are created from volumes.
• Mac address cannot be set for NIC.
• Every failover instance will have an extra temporary storage volume. Volume size depends on the flavor. More information can be found at: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/mast/2013/12/06/understanding-the-temporary-drive-on-windows-azure-virtual-machines/
• No security groups will be assigned to failover instances by default. Refer to Disaster Recovery plans section and use the key “security_group” in DR plans.
• CentOS 6.2 protection is not supported. Refer to https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/linux/endorsed-distros for further details.

VMware Limitations

• Max number of restore points stored for one machine is 29.
• Replication and failover of the same machine can’t be started at the same time because both processes work with the same machine on the target side.

Release notes

• Consistent replication of VMware workloads by external agents
• Consistent replication of Hyper-V, KVM, Bare Metal and public cloud workloads by internal agents
• Spin up of replicated workloads on KVM-based platforms
• Data deduplication and WAN-optimization
• Failback of workloads to production workloads on Amazon Web Services
• Various types of reports
• System events and notifications
• Granular user and roles management