Performing failback to a virtual machine

The availability of this feature depends on the service quotas that are enabled for your account.

You can perform failback to a target virtual machine on your local site.

Prerequisites

  • The agent that you will use to perform failback is online and is not currently used for another failback operation.

  • Your Internet connection is stable.

To perform a failback to a virtual machine

  1. In the service console, go to Disaster recovery > Servers.
  2. Select the recovery server that is in the Failover state.

  3. Click the Failback tab.

  4. In the Failback parameters section, select Virtual machine as a Target, and configure the other parameters.

    Note that by default, some of the Failback parameters are populated automatically with suggested values, but you can change them.

    The following table provides more information about the Failback parameters.

    Parameter Description
    Backup size

    Amount of data that will be transferred to your local site during the failback process.

    After you start the failback process to a target virtual machine, the Backup size will be increasing during the Data transfer phase, because the virtual machine in the cloud will continue to run and generate new data.

    To calculate the estimated downtime period during the failback process to a target virtual machine, take 10% of the Backup size value (as we recommend that you start the Switchover phase after 90% of the data is transferred to your local site), and divide it by the value of your Internet speed.

    The value of the Internet speed will decrease when you perform several failback processes at the same time.
    Target

    Type of workload on your local site to which you will recover the cloud server: Virtual machine or Physical machine.

    Target machine location

    Failback location: a VMware ESXi host or a Microsoft Hyper-V host.

    You can select from all the hosts that have an agent which is registered with the Cyber Protection service.
    Agent

    Agent which will perform the failback operation.

    You can use one agent to perform one failback operation at the same time.

    You can select an agent that is online and is not currently used for another failback process, has a version which supports the failback functionality, and has rights to access the backup.

    Note that you can install several agents on VMware ESXi hosts, and start a separate failback process using each of them. These failback processes can be performed at the same time.
    Target machine settings

    Virtual machine settings:

    • Virtual processors. Select the number of virtual processors.

    • Memory. Select how much memory the virtual machine will have.

    • Units. Select the units for the memory.

    • Network adapters. To add a network adapter, click Add, and select a network in the Network field.

    When you are ready with the changes, click Done.
    Path

    (For Microsoft Hyper-V hosts) Folder on the host where your machine will be stored.

    Ensure that there is enough free memory space on the host for the machine.
    Datastore

    (For VMware ESXi hosts) Datastore on the host where your machine will be stored.

    Ensure that there is enough free memory space on the host for the machine.
    Provisioning mode

    Method of allocation of the virtual disk.

    For Microsoft Hyper-V hosts:

    • Dynamically expanding (default value).

    • Fixed size.

    For Microsoft Hyper-V hosts:

    • Thin (default value).

    • Thick.
    Target machine name

    Name of the target machine. By default, the target machine name is the same as the recovery server name.

    The target machine name must be unique on the selected Target machine location.

  5. Click Start data transfer, and then in the confirmation window, click Start.

    The Data transfer phase starts. The console displays the following information:

    • Progress. The parameter shows how much data is already transferred to the local site, and the total amount of data that must be transferred. Note that the total amount of data includes the data from the last backup before the data transfer phase was started, and the backups of the newly generated data (backup increments), as the virtual machine continues to run during the Data transfer phase. For this reason, both values of the Progress parameter increase with time.

    • Downtime estimation. The parameter shows how much time the virtual machine will be unavailable, if you start the Switchover phase now. The value is calculated based on the values of the Progress, and decreases with time.

  6. Click Switchover, and then in the confirmation window, click Switchover again.

    The Switchover phase starts. The console displays the following information:

    • Progress. The parameter shows the progress of restoring the virtual machine on the local site.

    • Estimated time to finish. The parameter shows the approximate time when the Switchover phase will be completed and you will be able to turn on the virtual machine on the local site.

  7. After the Switchover phase completes, validate that the virtual machine on your local site is working as expected.

  8. Click Confirm failback, and then in the confirmation window, click Confirm to finalize the process.

    The virtual machine in the cloud is deleted, and the recovery server returns to the Standby state.