JetStream DR Automation Toolkit

Term

Description

Protected Site        

The “original” environment where the VMs to be protected normally run.

Recovery Site

The “new” environment where protected VMs will be rehydrated from the object store and run.

Storage Site / Object Store

The storage site is the environment where the object store maintains continuously updated storage objects containing protected VMs and their data. The storage site can be located at the recovery site, or it can be in a different location.

Protected Domain (“Domain”)

A group of VMs that should be protected and restored together. All VMs in a protected domain are replicated to the same container of the storage site.

Failover

The process where protected VMs and data are retrieved from the storage site and rehydrated at the recovery site. Operation continues from the recovery site.

Failback

The process where protected VMs and data are returned from the recovery site back to the protected site. Operation is shifted back to the protected site.

Continuous Failover (“CFO”)

Continuous Failover is a mode of operation where the protected and recovery sites remain synchronized during normal operation to minimize the amount time necessary to complete DR recovery.

Point in Time Recovery (“PITR”)

Point-in-Time Recovery allows VMs and data from a particular time in the past (last "known good" point) to be recovered, tested, and then restored. Protected domains can be constructed with PITR capability allowing their VMs and data to be restored to a previous point in time within a window of protection specified by the user.

Management Server Appliance (“MSA”)

The MSA is a virtual appliance that runs as a plug-in to vCenter Server. It collects and maintains statistics relevant to the protection of the VMs in the cluster(s) managed through vCenter. It also provides administrative functions, such as selecting VMs for protection, etc. The MSA can be managed using the vSphere Web Client, and its functions can also be accessed directly via CLI or RESTful APIs.

I/O Filter (“IOFilter”)

An IOFilter is a software component installed on the ESXi host that provides direct access to the IO path between VMs and their corresponding virtual disk(s). IOFilters monitor relevant events, such as vMotion, Storage vMotion, snapshots, etc. and manage the flow of data between protected VMs and storage.

DR Virtual Appliance (“DRVA”)

While IOFilters capture data for replication, they do not communicate directly with the object store. The JetStream DRVA is a virtual appliance that maintains the replication log store and manages the transfer of the VMs and their data to the object store. The DRVA also manages functions such as in-line compression and garbage collection. There must be at least one DRVA per protected cluster, and there can be up to one DRVA per host.

Recovery from Object Cloud Virtual Appliance (“RocVA”)

The RocVA is a virtual appliance that is deployed for recovery, failover, and failback. During a recovery process, the RocVA is temporarily created and run to facilitate the rehydration of the VMs and their data from the object store. The RocVA is automatically removed at the conclusion of the process.