VM Replication

When you replicate a VM, Veeam Backup & Replication creates the exact copy of the VM in the native VMware vSphere format on a spare ESXi host and keeps this copy synchronized with the original VM.

Replication provides the best recovery time objective (RTO) values. You actually have the copy of a VM in the ready-to-start state. That is why replication is recommended for VMs running most critical applications.

Replication is a job-driven process. During the first run of a replication job, Veeam Backup & Replication copies data of the original VM running on the source host and creates its full replica on the target host. During next job runs, Veeam Backup & Replication copies only those data blocks that have changed since the last replication job session. Veeam Backup & Replication writes these changes to restore points, so that you can further publish this replica in the required state.

Veeam Backup & Replication supports several replication scenarios. Depending on the location of the host where you plan to store replicas, you can choose the following scenarios:

• Onsite replication

The target host is located in the same site as the source host.

• Offsite replication

The target host is located on another site.

In this section, you will learn how to work with onsite replicas. For more information on offsite replication, see Replication Scenarios in the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide.

Reference

For more information on replication, see Replication in the Veeam Backup & Replication User Guide.