Set up Private Cloud as a disaster recovery target with VMware Site Recovery Manager
You can use your CloudSimple Private Cloud as a disaster recovery (DR) site for on-premises VMware workloads.
The DR solution is based on vSphere Replication and VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM). A similar approach can be followed to enable your Private Cloud as a primary site that is protected by your on-premises recovery site.
The CloudSimple solution:
- Eliminates the need to set up a datacenter specifically for DR.
- Allows you to leverage the Azure locations where CloudSimple is deployed for worldwide geographic resilience.
- Gives you an option to reduce deployment costs and total cost of ownership for establishing DR.
The CloudSimple solution requires you to do the following:
- Install, configure, and manage vSphere Replication and SRM in your Private Cloud.
- Provide your own licenses for SRM when the Private Cloud is the protected site. You do not need any additional SRM licenses for the CloudSimple site when it is used as the recovery site.
With this solution, you have full control over vSphere replication and SRM. The familiar UI, API, and CLI interfaces enable use of your existing scripts and tools.

You can use any versions of vRA and SRM that are compatible with your Private Cloud and on-premises environments. The examples in this guide use vRA 6.5 and SRM 6.5. These versions are compatible with vSphere 6.5, which is supported by CloudSimple.
Deploy the solution
The following sections describe how to deploy a DR solution using SRM in your Private Cloud.
- Verify that VMware product versions are compatible
- Estimate the size of your DR environment
- Create a Private Cloud for your environment
- Set up Private Cloud networking for the SRM solution
- Set up a Site-to-Site VPN connection between your on-premises network and the Private Cloud and open required ports
- Set up infrastructure services in your Private Cloud
- Install vSphere Replication appliance in your on-premises environment
- Install vSphere Replication appliance in your Private Cloud environment
- Install SRM server in your on-premises environment
- Install SRM server in your Private Cloud
Verify that VMware product versions are compatible
The configurations in this guide are subject to the following compatibility requirements:
- The same version of SRM must be deployed in your Private Cloud and your on-premises environment.
- The same version of vSphere Replication must be deployed in your Private Cloud and your on-premises environment.
- The versions of Platform Services Controller (PSC) in your Private Cloud and your on-premises environment must be compatible.
- The versions of vCenter in your Private Cloud and your on-premises environment must be compatible.
- The versions of SRM and vSphere replication must be compatible with each other and with the versions of PSC and vCenter.
For links to the relevant VMware documentation and compatibility information, go to VMware Site Recovery Manager documentation.
To find out the versions of vCenter and PSC in your Private Cloud, open the CloudSimple portal. Go to Resources, select your Private Cloud, and click the vSphere Management Network tab.

Estimate the size of your DR environment
- Verify that your identified on-premises configuration is within supported limits. For SRM 6.5, the limits are documented in the VMware knowledge base article on operational limits for Site Recovery Manager 6.5.
- Ensure that you have sufficient network bandwidth to meet your workload size and RPO requirements. The VMware knowledge base article on calculating bandwidth requirements for vSphere Replication provides guidance on bandwidth limits.
- Use the CloudSimple sizer tool to estimate the resources that are needed in your DR site to protect your on-premises environment.
Create a Private Cloud for your environment
Create a Private Cloud from the CloudSimple portal by following the instructions and sizing recommendations in Create a Private Cloud.
Set up Private Cloud networking for the SRM solution
Access the CloudSimple portal to set up Private Cloud networking for the SRM solution.
Create a VLAN for the SRM solution network and assign it a subnet CIDR. For instructions, see Create and manage VLANs/Subnets.
Set up a Site-to-Site VPN connection between your on-premises network and the Private Cloud and open required ports
To set up Site-to-Site connectivity between your on-premises network and your Private Cloud. For instructions, see Configure a VPN connection to your CloudSimple Private Cloud.
Set up infrastructure services in your Private Cloud
Configure infrastructure services in the Private Cloud to make it easy to manage your workloads and tools.
You can add an external identity provider as described in Use Azure AD as an identity provider for vCenter on CloudSimple Private Cloud if you want to do any of the following:
- Identify users from your on-premises Active Directory (AD) in your Private Cloud.
- Set up an AD in your Private Cloud for all users.
- Use Azure AD.
To provide IP address lookup, IP address management, and name resolution services for your workloads in the Private Cloud, set up a DHCP and DNS server as described in Set up DNS and DHCP applications and workloads in your CloudSimple Private Cloud.
The *.cloudsimple.io domain is used by management VMs and hosts in your Private Cloud. To resolve requests to this domain, configure DNS forwarding on the DNS server as described in Create a Conditional Forwarder.
Install vSphere Replication Appliance in your on-premises environment
Install vSphere Replication Appliance (vRA) in your on-premises environment by following the VMware documentation. The installation consists of these high-level steps:
Prepare your on-premises environment for vRA installation.
Deploy vRA in your on-premises environment using the OVF in the VR ISO from vmware.com. For vRA 6.5, this VMware blog has the relevant information.
Register your on-premises vRA with vCenter Single Sign-On at the on-premises site. For detailed instructions for vSphere Replication 6.5, see the VMware document VMware vSphere Replication 6.5 Installation and Configuration.
Install vSphere Replication appliance in your Private Cloud environment
Before you begin, verify that you have the following:
- IP reachability from subnets in your on-premises environment to the management subnet of your Private Cloud
- IP reachability from replication subnet in your on-premises vSphere environment to the SRM solution subnet of your Private Cloud
For instructions, see Configure a VPN connection to your CloudSimple Private Cloud. The steps are similar to those for the on-premises installation.
CloudSimple recommends using FQDNs instead of IP addresses during the vRA and SRM installation. To find out the FQDN of vCenter and PSC in your Private Cloud, open the CloudSimple portal. Go to Resources, select your Private Cloud, and click the vSphere Management Network tab.

CloudSimple requires that you don't install vRA and SRM using the default ‘cloudowner’ user, but instead create a new user. This is done to help ensure high uptime and availability for your Private Cloud vCenter environment. However, the default cloudowner user in the Private Cloud vCenter does't have sufficient privileges to create a new user with administrative privileges.
Before installing vRA and SRM, you must escalate the vCenter privileges of the cloudowner user and then create a user with Administrative privileges in vCenter SSO domain. For details on the default Private Cloud user and permission model, see Learn the Private Cloud permission model.
The installation consists of these high-level steps:
- Escalate privileges.
- Create a user in your Private Cloud for vSphere Replication and SRM installation. Explained below in vCenter UI: Create a user in Private Cloud for vRA & SRM installation.
- Prepare your Private Cloud environment for vRA installation.
- Deploy vRA in your Private Cloud using the OVF in the VR ISO from vmware.com. For vRA 6.5, this VMware blog has relevant information.
- Configure firewall rules for vRA. Explained below in CloudSimple portal: Configure Firewall rules for vRA.
- Register Private Cloud vRA with vCenter Single Sign-On at the Private Cloud site.
- Configure vSphere Replication connections between the two appliances. Ensure that the required ports are opened across the firewalls. See this VMware knowledge base article for a list of port numbers that must be open for vSphere Replication 6.5.
For detailed installation instructions for vSphere Replication 6.5, see the VMware document VMware vSphere Replication 6.5 Installation and Configuration.
vCenter UI: Create a user in Private Cloud for vRA and SRM installation
Sign in to vCenter using cloudowner user credentials after escalating privileges from the CloudSimple portal.
Create a new user, srm-soln-admin, in vCenter and add it to the administrators group in vCenter.
Sign out of vCenter as the cloudowner user and sign in as the srm-soln-admin user.
CloudSimple portal: Configure firewall rules for vRA
Configure firewall rules as described in Set up firewall tables and rules to open ports to enable communication between:
- vRA in the SRM solution network and vCenter and ESXi hosts in the management network.
- vRA appliances at the two sites.
See this VMware knowledge base article for a list of port numbers that must be open for vSphere Replication 6.5.
Install SRM server in your on-premises environment
Before you begin, verify the following:
- vSphere Replication Appliance is installed in your on-premises and Private Cloud environments.
- The vSphere Replication Appliances at both sites are connected to each other.
- You have reviewed the VMware information on prerequisites and best practices. For SRM 6.5, you can refer to the VMware document Prerequisites and Best Practices for SRM 6.5.
Follow VMware documentation to perform SRM server installation in the deployment model ‘Two-Site Topology with One vCenter Instance per Platform Services Controller’ as described in this VMWare document. The installation instructions for SRM 6.5 are available in the VMware document Installing Site Recovery Manager.
Install SRM server in your Private Cloud
Before you begin, verify the following:
- vSphere Replication Appliance is installed in your on-premises and Private Cloud environments.
- The vSphere Replication Appliances at both sites are connected to each other.
- You have reviewed the VMware information on prerequisites and best practices. For SRM 6.5, you can refer to Prerequisites and Best Practices for Site Recovery Manager 6.5 Server Installation.
The following steps describe the Private Cloud SRM installation.
- vCenter UI: Install SRM
- CloudSimple portal: Configure firewall rules for SRM
- vCenter UI: Configure SRM
- CloudSimple portal: de-escalate privileges
vCenter UI: Install SRM
After logging to vCenter using srm-soln-admin credentials, follow VMware documentation to perform SRM server installation in the deployment model ‘Two-Site Topology with One vCenter Instance per Platform Services Controller’ as described in this VMWare document. The installation instructions for SRM 6.5 are available in the VMware document Installing Site Recovery Manager.
CloudSimple portal: Configure firewall rules for SRM
Configure firewall rules as described in Set up firewall tables and rules to allow communication between:
The SRM server and vCenter / PSC in the Private Cloud. The SRM servers at both sites
See this VMware knowledge base article for a list of port numbers that must be open for vSphere Replication 6.5.
vCenter UI: Configure SRM
After SRM is installed in the private cloud, perform the following tasks as described in the sections of the VMware Site Recovery Manager Installation and Configuration Guide. For SRM 6.5, the instructions are available in the VMware document Installing Site Recovery Manager.
- Connect the Site Recovery Manager Server Instances on the Protected and Recovery Sites.
- Establish a Client Connection to the Remote Site Recovery Manager Server Instance.
- Install the Site Recovery Manager License Key.
CloudSimple portal: De-escalate privileges
To de-escalate privileges, see De-escalate privileges.
Ongoing management of your SRM solution
You have full control over vSphere Replication and SRM software in your Private Cloud environment and are expected to perform the necessary software lifecycle management. Ensure that any new version of software is compatible with the Private Cloud vCenter and PSC before updating or upgrading vSphere Replication or SRM.
Note
CloudSimple is currently exploring options for offering a managed DR service.
Multiple replication configuration
Both array-based replication and vSphere replication technologies can be used together with SRM at the same time. However, they must be applied to separate set of VMs (a given VM can be protected either by array-based replication or vSphere replication, but not both). Furthermore, the CloudSimple site can be configured as a recovery site for multiple protected sites. See SRM Multi-Site Options for information on multi-site configurations.
References
- VMware Site Recovery Manager Documentation
- Operational limits for Site Recovery Manager 6.5
- Calculating bandwidth requirements for vSphere Replication
- OVF Choices When Deploying vSphere Replication 6.5
- VMware vSphere Replication 6.5 Installation and Configuration
- Prerequisites and Best Practices for SRM 6.5
- Site Recovery Manager in a Two-Site Topology with One vCenter Server Instance per Platform Services Controller
- VMware Site Recovery Manager 6.5 Installation and Configuration Guide
- VMware Blog on SRM with array based replication vs. vSphere replication
- VMware Blog on SRM Multi-site options
- Port numbers that must be open for vSphere Replication 5.8.x, 6.x, and 8