VMM 2016 networking between 2 clusters for DR

Rahamim Levi 366

Hi everyone,

We have 2 production Hyper-V clusters which act as each others DR. We use Hyper-V replica to replicate the VMs between the sites.
Since these are two different sites it means two completely different networks both physically and logically. Our VMM is a standalone server installed on a VM on one of the clusters. In VMM, we allowed automatic logical network creation when joining a cluster to VMM. Of course, there are VLAN tagging which are configured as network sites inside the Logical Network.

The question is about the VMM \ Clusters \ Hyper-V configuration: What do I need to configure to allow VMs from one cluster to keep using their network without changing the network adapter settings for each VM.

Thanks in advance, Rahamim.

Crystal-MSFT 42,961 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2020-11-05T04:27:31.277+00:00

@Rahamim Levi , For your question, I would like to confirm if the scenario is when a failover occurs, VMs are moved to another Hyper-V Cluster. In this scenario, you want to know if the network setting on the VMs can keep as the one before? If there's any misunderstanding, feel free to let us know.
Rahamim Levi 366 Reputation points

2020-11-05T15:28:31.17+00:00

@Crystal-MSFT Thank you for your response,

Each cluster is on an entirely different network. I realize that I will need to configure both our backbone switches and our firewalls (one on each site) to allow this scenario.
I also discovered, that with VMM I can allow a logical network to be on both clusters without interrupting anything. Which I think is kind of my solution for my question to begin with.

So, in essence, if I want a VM in cluster 1 with VLAN 1 and IP 1.1.1.1 to failover to cluster 2 and keep both the VLAN tag and IP. (Assuming network and firewall wise everything is configured correctly.) And not start the VM, connect to it and change the server's IP.

Hope this explains it.

Rahamim.
Crystal-MSFT 42,961 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2020-11-06T06:30:39.85+00:00

@Rahamim Levi , Network virtualization decouples virtual networks from the physical network infrastructure and removes the constraints of VLAN and hierarchical IP address assignment from virtual machine provisioning.. For your request, I think Network virtualization can help..

I don't have the chance to deploy the same environment to test. Maybe we can refer to the following articles or open case to help on this.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/networking/sdn/technologies/hyper-v-network-virtualization/hyperv-network-virtualization-technical-details-windows-server
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/networking/sdn/technologies/hyper-v-network-virtualization/hyperv-network-virtualization-technical-details-windows-server

Best regards.
Crystal

Accepted answer

Rahamim Levi 366 Reputation points

2020-11-09T15:01:31.73+00:00

Thank you @Crystal-MSFT for replying.

First of all your suggestion sounds like what I need to go to in my environment which in turn will probably allow me a more secured environment instead of relying on my backbone switches for routing my VMs network.

Unfortunately, in the current state of things (COVID limitations for example). I won't be able to test a new configuration of my network without a downtime in one way or another.

The solution I tested and found could be useful in a DR scenario is to use an existing network site with VLAN tagging and deploy it to all clusters. If a DR scenario does happen, all I have to do is connect the correct v-switch to the VM I want to start and the VM will be able to run smoothly.

Rahamim.
Please sign in to rate this answer.
Crystal-MSFT 42,961 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2020-11-10T07:01:22.83+00:00

@Rahamim Levi , Thanks for sharing the idea. This can be a direct method. Again thanks for your time and have a nice day!
Sign in to comment

VMM 2016 networking between 2 clusters for DR

0 additional answers