VMware VS4-ENT-PL-A Setup Guide - Page 55

Chapter 3 Before You Install vCenter Server Options for Protecting vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter Server The following options vary in the level of protection afforded, and in the recovery time required. Backup and restore Backup and restore should be an essential part of any availability solution, providing a granular recovery method, by tape, disk, or snapshot. However, the recovery time is typically measured in hours or days and requires manual intervention. Any backup solution must be independent of vCenter Server. Solutions like VMware Data Protection require an operational vCenter Server with a functioning vCenter Single Sign-On server to restore a virtual machine. vSphere HA vSphere HA is an industry standard for maintaining uptime of virtual machines and for detection of ESXi host failure. Also, with vSphere HA, a failed response to a configured VMware Tools heartbeat automatically reboots the virtual machine onto another operational host within the vSphere cluster. This detection usually occurs within seconds. A virtual machine can be fully rebooted within minutes, providing redundancy for vSphere host failures and virtual machine operating system crashes. vSphere HA does not have any knowledge of the application running inside the virtual machine. vCenter Server Heartbeat This separately licensed vCenter Server plug-in provides vCenter Server protection (physical or virtual) and can protect against failure of hosts. vCenter Server Heartbeat also adds application-level monitoring and intelligence of all vCenter Server components. vCenter Server Heartbeat is installed directly onto the vCenter Server or vCenter Server component, and replicates changes to a cloned virtual machine. The cloned virtual machine can take over when a failure event is triggered. The recovery can be accomplished by restarting the component, by restarting the entire application, or by the entire failover of the component or application to one or more paired virtual machines. Recovery time is measured in minutes. vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes and High Availability To determine the best deployment mode for vCenter Single Sign-On availability, consider the environment that vCenter Single Sign-On will serve. Single vCenter Server with local vCenter Single Sign-On in Basic deployment mode In the simplest deployment of vCenter Single Sign-On for high availability, you install vCenter Single Sign-On in Basic deployment mode, local to vCenter Server, and then add the availability solution. If the single machine that hosts vCenter Server and vCenter Single Sign-On is virtual, you can place it in a vSphere HA-enabled cluster and protect it with no further configuration. If you require protection at the application level, you can use vCenter Server Heartbeat. If vCenter Server and vCenter Single Sign-On are hosted on a physical server, vCenter Server Heartbeat is the only solution for availability. Multiple vCenter Servers in a single location In this environment, a dedicated, standalone vCenter Single Sign-On instance serves multiple vCenter Server instances in one physical location. If vCenter Single Sign-On is hosted on a virtual machine, you can place the standalone vCenter Single Sign-On server in a vSphere HA-enabled cluster and protect vCenter Single Sign-On with no further configuration. If you require application-level protection, you can use vCenter Server Heartbeat. VMware, Inc. 55