Some components in the Site Recovery Manager and vCenter Server installations must be identical on each site.

Because the protected and recovery sites are often in different physical locations, some components on the protected site can be of a different type to their counterparts on the recovery site. Site Recovery Manager is compatible with N-1 version of Site Recovery Manager on the paired site. For example, if the current version of Site Recovery Manager is 9.0, the supported versions for the paired site is 8.8 and later.

Although components can be different on each site, you must use the types and versions of these components that Site Recovery Manager supports. See the https://docs.vmware.com/en/Site-Recovery-Manager/9.0/rn/compatibility-matrices-for-vmware-site-recovery-manager-90/index.html.

Table 1. Heterogeneity of Site Recovery Manager Components Between Sites
Component Heterogeneous or Identical Installations
Site Recovery Manager Server Must be a compatible version on both sites. Site Recovery Manager is compatible with N-1 version of Site Recovery Manager on the paired site.
vCenter Server appliance The Site Recovery Manager version must be compatible with the vCenter Server appliance version.
vSphere Replication Must be a compatible version on both sites. The vSphere Replication version must be compatible with the Site Recovery Manager version and the vCenter Server version.
Storage arrays for array-based replication Can be different versions on each site. You can use different versions of the same type of storage array on each site. The Site Recovery Manager Server instance on each site requires the appropriate storage replication adapter (SRA) for each version of storage array for that site. Check SRA compatibility with all versions of your storage arrays to ensure compatibility.

Heterogenous Configurations on the Protected and Recovery Sites

The Site Recovery Manager and vCenter Server installations might be in different countries, with different setups.

  • Site A in Japan:
    • Site Recovery Manager Server runs in the Japanese locale
    • Site Recovery Manager extends a vCenter Server Appliance instance in the Japanese locale
  • Site B in the United States:
    • Site Recovery Manager Server runs in the English locale
    • Site Recovery Manager extends a vCenter Server Appliance instance in the English locale