We want Veeam Replication next to backup, what's the difference?
Veeam Replication keeps a 'live' copy of a VM on a second hypervisor or site with fast failover. Backup is for past recovery, replication is for fast continuity now.
Try this first
- 1Add the target hypervisor to Veeam (vCenter/ESXi or Hyper-V host). Create a Replication job on the source VM, pick the target host and datastore.
- 2Set the RPO: how often a new replica point. Default 24 hours, can go down to 1 hour if WAN allows.
- 3Configure re-IP rules: if the target site uses a different IP range, predefine which IP the VM gets after failover.
- 4Test failover from Veeam: 'Failover Now' on the replica, pick a Recovery Point. Veeam boots the replica, you test, and then 'Failback' or 'Permanent Failover'.
- 5Document the failover script: which VMs first, which after, which need IP rebinding in applications (don't forget the proxy and firewall).
When to bring us in
For finance and healthcare with strict RTO: pair Replication with SureReplica testing and a short documented runbook. Otherwise the DR spend is misaligned with what it delivers in a real incident.
See also
- One DC or two DCs for an SMB office?Two is almost always the right answer; one DC is a single point of failure for logon, DNS and GPOs.
- Should I split FSMO roles across two DCs?For a small domain all on one DC is fine; with two DCs splitting is tidier but not required.
- How do I know my AD replication is healthy?Replication errors creep in silently; they only surface when logins or GPOs misbehave.
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