VMware Site Recovery Manager: Install, Configure, Manage [V8.6] — Lesson 1: Disaster-recovery objectives, SRM architecture, supported replication, protected and recovery sites, prerequisites, compatibility, licensing, and deployment planning

Learning Objectives

• Identify the architecture and operational choices that shape Disaster-recovery objectives, SRM architecture, supported replication, protected and recovery sites, prerequisites, compatibility, licensing, and deployment planning.
• Run normal and boundary tests and record the outcome in SRM design worksheet and readiness checklist.
• Separate root cause from symptom when investigating a recovery objective depending on replication technology not supported by the selected topology.

Detailed Topics

• Disaster-recovery objectives
• SRM architecture
• Supported replication
• Protected and recovery sites
• Prerequisites
• Compatibility
• Licensing
• And deployment planning
• Decision ownership, prerequisites, and acceptance evidence for Disaster-recovery objectives, SRM architecture, supported replication, protected and recovery sites, prerequisites, compatibility, licensing, and deployment planning
• Relevant access, security, capacity, dependency, performance, recovery, and support considerations

Instructor Demonstration

The instructor builds a representative scenario for Disaster-recovery objectives, SRM architecture, supported replication, protected and recovery sites, prerequisites, compatibility, licensing, and deployment planning, narrating each decision and showing how it contributes to a tested Site Recovery Manager 8.6 implementation with correctly paired sites, protected workloads, ordered recovery plans, network mappings, failover evidence, and documented reprotection. The demonstration records SRM design worksheet and readiness checklist so learners can compare design intent with observable behavior.

Hands-On Exercise

Work through a role-based scenario involving Disaster-recovery objectives, SRM architecture, supported replication, protected and recovery sites, prerequisites, compatibility, licensing, and deployment planning. Validate the expected path, test “a recovery objective depending on replication technology not supported by the selected topology,” choose the safest corrective action, and capture the reasoning and outcome in SRM design worksheet and readiness checklist.

1. Confirm scope, access, sample workloads, and acceptance criteria.
2. Perform the configuration or operation using a controlled sequence.
3. Inspect outputs and downstream effects rather than relying on task status alone.
4. Close with a support note, preventive action, and reproducible validation step.

Scenario Analysis

• Clarify the service trigger, affected components and roles, prerequisites, and acceptable result for Disaster-recovery objectives, SRM architecture, supported replication, protected and recovery sites, prerequisites, compatibility, licensing, and deployment planning.
• Compare at least two implementation or correction choices and identify which evidence would distinguish them.
• Decide how SRM design worksheet and readiness checklist should be reviewed, approved, retained, and handed to the next owner.

Troubleshooting Guidance

Diagnose Disaster-recovery objectives, SRM architecture, supported replication, protected and recovery sites, prerequisites, compatibility, licensing, and deployment planning by checking effective state, ownership, dependencies, health, logs, and recent changes. Use SRM design worksheet and readiness checklist to locate the earliest divergence. Treat “a recovery objective depending on replication technology not supported by the selected topology” as a hypothesis until the same test passes after correction and under a boundary condition.

Validation Checklist

• Configuration and source state used for Disaster-recovery objectives, SRM architecture, supported replication, protected and recovery sites, prerequisites, compatibility, licensing, and deployment planning are versioned or otherwise traceable.
• Srm design worksheet and readiness checklist shows both baseline and accepted result.
• Security, performance, dependency, and resilience side effects are considered where relevant.
• Recovery steps and handover notes are usable by an operations practitioner.

Lesson Outcome

Learners can apply Disaster-recovery objectives, SRM architecture, supported replication, protected and recovery sites, prerequisites, compatibility, licensing, and deployment planning, explain the decisions made, and defend the result with SRM design worksheet and readiness checklist.