Re: [Xen-API] XenServer/XCP replication (block changes tracking)

[Sébastien RICCIO <sr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. We already thought about using DRBD but if you want to mirror a specific VM to a host and another VM on another host., you'd have to set a drbd device at tapdisk level for each VM disk and not on the entire SR and this look quite heavy to implement.

I was thinking about a way to keep track of the changes at block level somewhere between the VM and the vdi.

I don't know how this is done on hyper-v, probably their new vhdx format keep track of the changes. Xenserver actually badly lacks this feature :(.

Cheers,
Sébastien



On 09.07.2013 20:19, Dan Pollak wrote:

I am interested in this topic as well. I believe that most people are going to point you towards DRBD.

Regards,
Dan

On Tue, Jul 9, 2013 at 11:50 AM, Sébastien RICCIO <sr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi,

I would like to know if any of you know a solution to periodically mirror a running (or not) VM from one XenServer host to another, using some kind of block changes tracking on the vbd's (vdi's?).

I know there are softwares available like PHD Virtual, SEP or quartersoft alike that do this but:

1) they're quite expensive
2) they need a dedicated appliance (vm) on each host to handle the mirroring
3) and most important they don't use any block change tracking in order to read only the changed blocks when doing regulary mirrors.

This third point is really a pain as the whole vm image must be read each time in order to compare what has to be transfered.

Is there any existing solutions, or any plans to bring this feature to the next versions of XenServer.

I must admit that I was getting mad when I heard that Hyper-V 3 (I want to avoid using it) has this feature  and having tried it myself  I must admit it works amazingly well.

Now that share-nothing migrations are available on XenServer (since 6.1 i think), the lack of this capability is the missing brick to make even more awesome it is already :)

Any suggestions?

Cheers,
Sébastien




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