Deploying Silver Peak VRX Replication Acceleration with Nutanix
Remote Replication
Tech Note
Version 01
November 2015
Contents
Prerequisites............................................................................................................................................. 2
Overview .................................................................................................................................................... 2
Topology ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
Nutanix Remote Replication Configuration .................................................................................. 3
Disable active replication jobs ...................................................................................................... 3
Method one: Changing the default gateway of the Nutanix CVMs .................................. 4
Changing the default gateway of the Nutanix CVMs at the local cluster .................. 4
Changing the default gateway of the Nutanix CVMs at the remote cluster ............. 5
Method two: Adding a static route on the Nutanix CVMs ................................................... 7
Adding a static route on the Nutanix CVMs at the local cluster .................................. 7
Adding a static route on the Nutanix CVMs at the remote cluster ............................. 8
Verifying traffic optimization ............................................................................................................. 9
Links .......................................................................................................................................................... 10
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Prerequisites
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Silver Peak VRX version 7.2 or later
Silver Peak VRX licenses
Please read this entire document before beginning the configuration
Install the VRX appliances using the “Quick Start Guide - Velocity Replication
Accelerator – Server Mode” for your hypervisor.
Overview
This document illustrates how to configure Nutanix Remote Replication for use with
Silver Peak Virtual Replication Acceleration (VRX) software. Note that this solution
applies only to Nutanix (asynchronous) Remote Replication and not Nutanix
(synchronous) Metro Availability capability.
Silver Peak VRX appliances can optimize Nutanix replication traffic using two
alternative methods:
1. Default Gateway: Set the Silver Peak VRX appliance as the default gateway
on each Nutanix Cluster VM (CVM).
2. Static Route: Create a static route on each Nutanix CVM to forward
replication traffic to the Silver Peak VRX appliance.
In this document, we discuss both methods.
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Topology
The IP addresses and the naming conventions used on this document are based on
the following network diagram.
Local cluster details:
Local cluster network: 10.20.18.0/24
Local Silver Peak VRX IP: 10.20.18.230
Local CVM-1: 10.20.18.125
Local CVM-2: 10.20.18.126
Local CVM-3: 10.20.18.127
Local CVM-4: 10.20.18.128
Local WAN Router: 10.20.18.1
Remote cluster details:
Remote cluster network: 10.20.130.0/24
Remote Silver Peak VRX IP: 10.20.130.59
Remote CVM-1: 10.20.130.29
Remote CVM-2: 10.20.130.30
Remote CVM-3: 10.20.130.31
Remote CVM-4: 10.20.130.32
Remote WAN Router: 10.20.130.1
Nutanix Remote Replication Configuration
Disable active replication jobs
Disable any running replication jobs, or wait for them to finish.
a. To view the running replication jobs, login to the Nutanix Prism web user
interface and click Data Protection > Table > Async DR
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Method one: Changing the default gateway of the Nutanix CVMs
As shown above, our network consists of two Nutanix clusters – local and remote.
Each cluster consists of four CVMs. A Silver Peak VRX appliance is deployed on each
Nutanix cluster. Currently, the default gateway of each Nutanix CVM is configured as
the WAN router. To forward traffic to the Silver Peak VRX appliance, we enter the
Silver Peak VRX appliance’s IP address as the default gateway on each Nutanix CVM.
Changing the default gateway of the Nutanix CVMs at the local cluster
i. Log into the first Nutanix CVM using an SSH client. We will log into “Local CVM1” (10.20.18.125).
ii. After logging in, type route -n to view the current routing table of the CVM.
As highlighted on the image below, the default gateway is set to 10.20.18.1. This
is the IP address of the “Local WAN Router” in our network. We will replace it
with the Silver Peak VRX’s IP address.
iii. Nutanix CVM uses the eth0 interface for replication traffic. To edit the gateway of
eth0 interface of the CVM, type sudo vi /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfgeth0 and press enter.
iv. Press the Insert key on the keyboard and replace the current gateway IP
address with the Silver Peak VRX appliance’s IP address.
v. Press the Esc key on the keyboard and type :wq to save the changes and close
the file.
vi. Type sudo service network restart to restart the network interfaces
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vii. Type route -n to view the updated default gateway. As highlighted below, the
new default gateway is the IP address of the local Silver Peak appliance:
viii. To verify that outgoing traffic is forwarded to the local Silver Peak VRX
appliance, type tracepath -n <IP address of a remote CVM>.
We will enter 10.20.130.29, which is the IP address of the “Remote CVM-1” in
our network:
As highlighted above, the tracepath command confirms that traffic is forwarded
to the Silver Peak VRX appliance.
To change the default gateway of the other three local CVMs, repeat steps i to
viii.
Changing the default gateway of the Nutanix CVMs at the remote cluster
i.
ii.
Log into the CVM using an SSH client. We will log into Remote CVM-1
(10.20.130.29).
After logging in, type route -n to view the current routing table of the CVM.
As highlighted on the image below, the default gateway is set to 10.20.130.1.
This is the IP address of the “Remote WAN Router” in our network. We will
replace it with the Silver Peak VRX’s IP address.
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iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
Nutanix CVM uses the eth0 interface for replication traffic. To edit the gateway of
eth0 interface of the CVM, type sudo vi /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfgeth0 and press enter.
Press the Insert key on the keyboard and replace the current gateway IP
address with the Silver Peak VRX appliance’s IP address.
Press the Esc key on the keyboard and type :wq to save the changes and close
the file.
Type sudo service network restart to restart the network interfaces
Type route -n to view the updated default gateway. As highlighted below, the
new default gateway is the IP address of the “Remote Silver Peak VRX”appliance:
To verify that outgoing traffic is forwarded to the “Remote Silver Peak VRX”
appliance, type tracepath -n <IP address of a remote CVM>.
We will enter 10.20.18.126, which is the IP address of the “Local CVM-2” in our
network:
As highlighted above, the tracepath command confirms that traffic is forwarded
to the Silver Peak VRX appliance.
To change the default gateway of the other three Remote CVMs, repeat steps i to
viii.
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Method two: Adding a static route on the Nutanix CVMs
In this configuration, the default gateway of each CVM is set to the WAN router. To
forward traffic to the Silver Peak VRX appliance, we create a static route on each
Nutanix CVM. Unlike in method one (changing the default gateway of a CVM), using
static routes, the user can specify the local and remote forward only the traffic that
needs to be optimized to the Silver Peak appliance.
Adding a static route on the Nutanix CVMs at the local cluster
i. Log into the CVM using an SSH client. We will log into Local CVM-1
(10.20.18.125).
ii. After logging in, type route -n to view the current routing table of the CVM.
As highlighted on the image below, currently, no static routes are configured on
the CVM. The default gateway is configured as the “Local WAN Router,” which is
10.20.18.1. By adding a static route, we will forward traffic that is destined to the
10.20.130.0/24 subnet to the Silver Peak VRX appliance, instead of the “Local
WAN Router.”
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
Nutanix CVM uses the eth0 interface for replication traffic. To create a static
route on the CVM, create a new file by typing sudo vi /etc/sysconfig/networkscripts/route-eth0 and press enter.
Press the Insert key on the keyboard and enter the following details:
GATEWAY0: <IP address of the local Silver Peak VRX appliance>
NETMASK0: <Subnet mask of the remote network>
ADDRESS0: <Network address>
Press the Esc key on the keyboard and type :wq to save the changes and close
the file.
Type sudo service network restart to restart the network interfaces
Type route -n to view the updated route table. As highlighted below, the static
route indicates that the traffic destined to the remote subnet 10.20.130.0/24 will
be forwarded to the local Silver Peak VRX appliance (10.20.18.230):
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viii.
To verify that outgoing traffic is forwarded to the local Silver Peak VRX
appliance, type tracepath -n <IP address of a remote CVM>.
We will enter 10.20.130.29, which is the IP address of the “Remote CVM-1” in
our network:
As highlighted above, the tracepath command confirms that traffic is forwarded
to the Silver Peak VRX appliance.
To create a static route on each of the other three CVMs in the cluster, repeat
steps i to viii.
Adding a static route on the Nutanix CVMs at the remote cluster
i. Log into the CVM using an SSH client. We will log into Local CVM-1
(10.20.130.29).
ii. After logging in, type route -n to view the current routing table of the CVM.
As highlighted on the image below, currently, no static routes are configured on
the CVM. The default gateway is configured as the “Remote WAN Router,” which
is 10.20.130.1. By adding a static route, we will forward traffic that is destined to
the 10.20.18.0/24 subnet to the Silver Peak VRX appliance, instead of the
“Remote WAN Router.”
iii. Nutanix CVM uses the eth0 interface for replication traffic. To create a static
route on the CVM, create a new file by typing sudo vi /etc/sysconfig/networkscripts/route-eth0 and press enter.
iv. Press the Insert key on the keyboard and enter the following details:
GATEWAY0: <IP address of the local Silver Peak VRX appliance>
NETMASK0: <Subnet mask of the remote network>
ADDRESS0: <Network address>
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v. Press the Esc key on the keyboard and type :wq to save the changes and close
the file.
vi. Type sudo service network restart to restart the network interfaces
vii. Type route -n to view the updated default gateway. As highlighted below, the
static route indicates that the traffic destined to the remote subnet
10.20.18.0/24 will be forwarded to the remote Silver Peak VRX appliance
(10.20.130.59):
viii. To verify that outgoing traffic is forwarded to the local Silver Peak VRX
appliance, type tracepath -n <IP address of a remote CVM>.
We will enter 10.20.18.126, which is the IP address of the “Local CVM-2” in our
network:
As highlighted above, the tracepath command confirms that traffic is forwarded
to the Silver Peak VRX appliance.
To create a static route on each of the other three CVMs in the cluster, repeat
steps i to viii.
Verifying traffic optimization
To verify that the replication traffic is seen by the Silver Peak VRX appliances and it
is being optimized, log into the Web user interface of the Silver Peak VRX appliance
and click Monitor > Current Flows
You will notice that the Silver Peak VRX appliances are optimizing the Nutanix
replication flows.
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Links
Silver Peak Documentation: http://www.silver-peak.com/support/userdocumentation
Nutanix Replication Documentation: http://nutanixbible.com/
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