{"id":812,"date":"2024-05-21T02:55:27","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T23:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fibacloud.com\/content\/?p=812"},"modified":"2026-10-06T02:41:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T23:41:36","slug":"what-is-vmware-site-recovery-manager-srm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fibacloud.com\/content\/security\/what-is-vmware-site-recovery-manager-srm\/","title":{"rendered":"What is VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM)?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This guide explains recovery planning for teams researching VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM). The cited Protection and Recovery 9.1 documentation describes how a recovery plan coordinates virtual machines, startup order and network settings. Match those procedures to the product and release installed in your environment. Replication, backup retention and application validation remain separate responsibilities.<\/p>\n

\"Applications
Data movement and recovery orchestration are separate layers of the design.
Enlarge illustration \u2192<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What recovery orchestration coordinates<\/h2>\n

Recovery involves more than powering on virtual machines. Network mappings, addresses, DNS, application dependencies and startup order must work together. An application server starting before its database is ready does not establish usable service. A plan should expose these dependencies and define validation steps.<\/p>\n

Replication options associated with SRM depend on the installed release and supported infrastructure. Paths involving vSphere Replication or supported storage integrations have different requirements. Match product naming, compatibility matrices and licensing to the real installation before following an older setup procedure.<\/p>\n

Separate replication, backups and orchestration<\/h2>\n

Replication moves data to another location, but accidental deletion or corruption can also be replicated. Backups with an appropriate retention policy support returning to an earlier state. Recovery orchestration arranges the steps that bring service back using an available copy. None of these functions automatically performs every task of the others.<\/p>\n

Recovery point objective describes the acceptable data-loss interval. Recovery time objective describes the target time to restore service. Both should come from business requirements. A replication interval alone does not prove actual application data loss, and virtual machine startup time is not the same as complete service recovery time.<\/p>\n

Planned migration differs from disaster recovery<\/h2>\n

During a planned migration, the source may be available for coordinated shutdown and final synchronization. During an unexpected outage, the source may be unreachable and decisions must use the last available data and surviving infrastructure. The validation and data-loss conditions therefore differ.<\/p>\n

Uncontrolled writes to both instances of an application can create divergence. Document source-state checks, access isolation and who can authorize the recovery decision. Starting a recovery workflow does not by itself prove that users reach the right instance or that the old instance is safely prevented from accepting writes.<\/p>\n

Test at the application level<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Confirm that test networking cannot unintentionally contact production systems or send business notifications.<\/li>\n
  2. Include database, identity, DNS, licensing and external service dependencies.<\/li>\n
  3. Verify representative read and write transactions and data consistency.<\/li>\n
  4. Record elapsed time, the recovered data point and unsuccessful steps.<\/li>\n
  5. Remove temporary resources and access through a controlled cleanup process.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    A previous successful test does not guarantee the same result after a software release, network change or increase in data volume. Reassess the plan after important changes. Report application acceptance criteria rather than only stating that the machines powered on.<\/p>\n

    Plan the return path in advance<\/h2>\n

    Once the application runs in the recovery environment, returning is a separate operation. Decide how new data is protected, how replication direction changes and what conditions permit the next migration. Reprotection and failback procedures depend on supported product and infrastructure versions.<\/p>\n

    Without that plan, a temporary recovery site can remain the sole production location longer than expected. Assign ownership for returning to the intended protection state, including a follow-up test. Recovery is incomplete if the application is running but no longer has the protection the business expects.<\/p>\n

    Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n
    \n
    Is SRM a backup product?<\/strong><\/dt>\n
    \n

    Its central role is recovery orchestration. Replicated copies and recovery from retained historical versions need their own design.<\/p>\n<\/dd>\n

    Does a successful test guarantee no future interruption?<\/strong><\/dt>\n
    \n

    No. It provides evidence under particular conditions. Changed dependencies, data volume and the nature of a real failure can alter the result.<\/p>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

    Your next step<\/h2>\n

    Review replication<\/a> and backup planning<\/a> together. Define business recovery objectives first, then validate the workflow supported by the installed product.<\/p>\n

    Sources<\/h2>\n
      \n
    1. Broadcom \u2014 Protection and Recovery 9.1: plans, testing and recovery modes<\/a><\/li>\n
    2. NIST SP 800-34 Rev. 1 \u2014 Contingency Planning Guide for Federal Information Systems<\/a><\/li>\n
    3. NIST SP 800-125 \u2014 Guide to Security for Full Virtualization Technologies<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      This guide explains recovery planning for teams researching VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM). The cited Protection and Recovery 9.1 documentation describes how a recovery plan coordinates virtual machines, startup order and network settings. Match those procedures to the product and release installed in your environment. Replication, backup retention and application validation remain separate responsibilities. Data […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":940,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,24,25,26,27,32],"tags":[100,99,98],"class_list":["post-812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-security","category-cloud-consulting-services","category-cloud-overviews","category-compute","category-containers-kubernetes-docker","category-storage","tag-business-continuity","tag-disaster-recovery","tag-vmware-site-recovery-manager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fibacloud.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fibacloud.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fibacloud.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fibacloud.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fibacloud.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.fibacloud.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":819,"href":"https:\/\/www.fibacloud.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions\/819"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fibacloud.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fibacloud.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fibacloud.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fibacloud.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}