Zerto Creating a VPG & Test Failover

Introduction

This tutorial provides a step-by-step guide on creating a Virtual Protection Group (VPG) and performing a test failover using Zerto. This process is essential for ensuring business continuity and disaster recovery, allowing you to simulate failover scenarios without impacting production environments.

Step 1: Access the Zerto Interface

• Open your web browser and navigate to your Zerto user interface.
• Log in using your administrator credentials.

Step 2: Create a Virtual Protection Group

• Go to the VPGs tab in the Zerto dashboard.
• Click on Create VPG.
• Fill in the following details:
  • Name: Assign a descriptive name for easy identification.
  • Source: Select the source site from which you want to protect your virtual machines.
  • Target: Choose the target site where the VPG will replicate.
• Click on Next to proceed to the next configuration settings.

Step 3: Configure Virtual Machines in the VPG

• In the virtual machine selection screen, choose the VMs you want to include in the VPG.
• Specify the following settings for each VM:
  • Replication Frequency: Set how often data should be replicated.
  • RPO (Recovery Point Objective): Define the acceptable amount of data loss measured in time.
• After selecting the VMs and configuring the settings, click on Next.

Step 4: Set Advanced Settings

• Review the advanced settings, which may include:
  • Failback settings: Configure how to return to the original site after a failover.
  • Network settings: Ensure the correct network mappings are set up for your environment.
• Once reviewed, click Finish to create the VPG.

Step 5: Perform a Test Failover

• Navigate back to the VPGs tab.
• Select the VPG you just created.
• Click on Test Failover from the options available.
• Choose the appropriate test settings:
  • Test Mode: Decide whether to use the production network or a test network.
  • IP Addressing: Configure how the VMs will receive their IP addresses during the test.
• Click on Start Test Failover to begin the process.

Step 6: Monitor the Test

• Monitor the progress of the test failover through the Zerto dashboard.
• Once the test is complete, verify the functionality of the applications running on the VMs.

Step 7: Clean Up After Testing

• After testing, ensure to power down the test VMs.
• Click on Recover to remove the test environment and revert to the original settings.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you learned how to create a Virtual Protection Group in Zerto and perform a test failover. This process is crucial for validating your disaster recovery plans and ensuring that your systems can recover in real scenarios. For further exploration, consider reviewing Zerto's documentation or experimenting with different failover scenarios to enhance your disaster recovery strategies.