To enable storage capacity for your protected sites, deploy a cloud file system.

VMware Cloud DR (sometimes called VCDR) replicates protection group snapshots to the cloud file system for backup.These snapshots are later used for failover operations to a recovery SDDC.
Note: The cloud file system is also sometimes referred to as the Scale-Out Cloud File System, or SCFS.

All cloud file systems and all recovery SDDCs must be the same AZ inside one AWS region. This specific AZ is referred to as the recovery AZ, where you deploy recovery SDDCs and add existing SDDCs for recovery operations. For more background information, see Choose an Availability Zone for Recovery.

When you deploy a cloud file system, you make three selections:
  • Select a single recovery AZ to use exclusively for recovery operations and snapshot replication. (If a cloud file system has already been deployed, then the recovery AZ is already selected for you.)
  • Select an existing SDDC to use as recovery SDDCs in failover operations. A recovery SDDC can only exist in the same AZ that you choose as the recovery AZ.
  • Select an existing SDDC that you want to protect with the DRaaS Connector. You can only choose an SDDC that does not exist in the recovery AZ. (On-premises SDDCs are not bound by this constraint.)

Procedure

  1. If this is the first time deploying a cloud file system, then click the Deploy cloud file system link in the quick setup panel. (If you want to deploy more than one cloud file system, contact VMware support for assistance.)
  2. Under Protected sites select any VMware sites you want to protect. Any SDDC you select here must be in a different AZ than the AZ you plan to use for recovery operations.
  3. Next, under recovery SDDC, you can either deploy a new SDDC or choose existing SDDCs in VMware Cloud on AWS. If you select an existing SDDC, it cannot be in the same AZ as the SDDCs you chose for protection.
  4. Under Recovery AZ, choose an AZ that is different than the AZ where your protected SDDCs are deployed. If a cloud file system has already been deployed, then the recovery AZ is already selected.
    Note: Once you select the availability zone for a cloud file system and recovery SDDCs, you cannot change it.
  5. Enter a name for the new cloud file system.
  6. Click Deploy to deploy the cloud file system.