Seamlessly migrate hybrid cloud workloads with HPE GreenLake for HCI and Zerto

[StorageExperts]

If you are a current user of HPE GreenLake for HCI, this technical blog is for you. Read on to discover how to migrate hybrid cloud workloads between public and private clouds using Zerto, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company. Plus several use cases detail how to solve common challenges.

–Allan Greentree, HPE Storage Solutions Engineer

In today's hybrid cloud world, migrating workloads between public and private clouds is in demand. But your team often faces migration challenges such as:

• Lack of testing – A common pitfall in migration projects is a lack of testing. Not testing the process ahead of time can add to the length and cost of the migration project.
• Application complexity – Applications that span multiple workloads and have a network of dependencies can be tricky to migrate. Incorrectly migrating an application can lead to that application being offline for an extended time impacting both production and migration time.
• Downtime – One of the biggest challenges to migration projects can be the time workloads are offline during the migration. Having the workloads offline too long can negatively impact business productivity during this period.

For customers utilizing the benefits of managing their hybrid infrastructure with HPE GreenLake for HCI, these challenges can be overcome using Zerto, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company.

 

 HPE GreenLake Data Services Architecture

HPE GreenLake for HCI

More customers are starting to realize the benefits of utilizing HPE GreenLake for HCI for managing their hybrid cloud workloads. These benefits are compelling and include:

• Consuming private and public cloud VMs as-a-service
• Managing private cloud infrastructure
• Simplifying hybrid cloud data protection and mobility

The HCI service can already migrate workloads between private clouds. Migration between public and private clouds is where Zerto comes in to play.

About Zerto, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company

Zerto offers best-in-class disaster and ransomware recovery software for the fastest recovery of virtual workloads. It uses near-synchronous Continuous Data Protection (CDP) to achieve this.

Data Migration is a subset of Zerto CDP, and a separate license is available if a customer wants to use Zerto only for migration.

Use Case: Migrate a database workload hosted in AWS to an on-premises HCI cluster

Launch HPE GreenLake for HCI cloud service from Data Services Cloud Console:

Provision and manage VMs from DSCC HCI Virtual Machines menu:

In this example, a NOSQL database hosted on a Public Cloud (AWS) is migrated to a Private Cloud (HPE HCI system).

Launch Zerto Dashboard from the Zerto Cloud Appliance (ZCA) deployed in AWS, then pair the AWS site to the HCI site via the Sites menu. Pairing sites requires network connectivity between the AWS Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) and the private network. View Zerto Dashboard Site Topology for the pairing:

Create a Zerto Virtual Protection Group (VPG) to select VMs and migration options:

Applications that span multiple workloads can be migrated by choosing all the underlying VMs associated with the application. Application complexity challenge solved!

Test migration using Dashboard à Failover à Test menu:

Lack of test challenge solved!

Perform live migration or move using Dashboard Move menu:

Downtime challenge solved!

Return to Data Services Cloud Console and see the migrated VM now under Private Cloud VMs:

That is all there is to it!

NOTE: Reverse migration is just as simple using the same steps. The only difference is you will launch the Zerto Dashboard from the Zerto Virtual Manager (ZVM) deployed in the HPE HCI system.

View the migration steps here: 

Getting started with HPE GreenLake for HCI and Zerto

If you are interested in HPE GreenLake for HCI and Zerto, contact one of your trusted HPE Partners or your nearest HPE representative for assistance or further information.

---

Meet Allan Greentree, HPE Storage Solutions Engineer

Allan is a solutions engineer in the worldwide storage solutions team at HPE. He has been in IT for 30+ years, focused on technical enablement, quality engineering, and development support. He champions virtualization and hyperconverged storage solutions for HPE.

Storage Experts
Hewlett Packard Enterprise

twitter.com/HPE_Storage
linkedin.com/showcase/hpestorage/
hpe.com/storage