Mappings allow you to specify how Site Recovery Manager maps virtual machine resources on the protected site to resources on the recovery site.
You can configure site-wide mappings to map objects in the vCenter Server inventory on the protected site to corresponding objects in the vCenter Server inventory on the recovery site.
- Networks, including the option to specify a different network to use for recovery plan tests
- Data centers or virtual machine folders
- Compute resources, including resource pools, standalone hosts, vApps, or clusters
During a recovery, when virtual machines start on the recovery site, the virtual machines use the resources on the recovery site that you specify in the mappings. To enable bidirectional protection and reprotect, you can configure reverse mappings, to map the objects on the recovery site back to their corresponding objects on the protected site. You can also configure different mappings in the opposite direction, so that recovered virtual machines on a site use different resources to protected virtual machines on that site.
Site Recovery Manager applies inventory mappings differently depending on whether you use array-based protection groups and vSphere Replication protection groups, or storage policy protection groups. For information about the differences between how Site Recovery Manager applies inventory mappings to the different types of protection group, see Inventory Mappings for Array-Based Replication Protection Groups and vSphere Replication Protection Groups and Inventory Mappings for Storage Policy Protection Groups.
If you use storage policy protection groups, in addition to mapping inventory objects, you map storage policies on the protected site to storage policies on the recovery site.
