You isolate the network traffic by adding a dedicated network adapter to the vSphere Replication appliance to handle data from each management ESXi host.

By default, the vSphere Replication appliance has one virtual machine network adapter used by vSphere Replication for both replication traffic and by vCenter Server for virtual machine management. To isolate the replication traffic, add a second adapter to the vSphere Replication appliances in both VMware Cloud Foundation instances and configure them to handle replication traffic only.

For the protected VMware Cloud Foundation instance procedure, use the VMware Cloud Foundation Planning and Preparation Workbook.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the management domain vCenter Server at https://<protected_vcenter_server_fqdn>/ui in the protected VMware Cloud Foundation instance as [email protected].

  2. To allow changes in the hardware configuration, shut down the vSphere Replication appliance.

    1. In the Hosts and clusters inventory, expand the management domain vCenter Server tree and expand the management domain data center.
    2. Right-click the vSphere Replication appliance and select Power > Shut down guest OS.
    3. In the Confirm guest shut down dialog box, click Yes.
  3. Add a VM network adapter to the vSphere Replication appliance for replication traffic only.
    1. Right-click the vSphere Replication appliance and select Edit settings.
    2. In the Edit settings dialog box, click Yes.
    3. Click the Virtual hardware tab, and, from the Add new device drop-down menu, select Network adapter.

    4. Expand the New network section, configure the following settings, and configure the remaining settings according to your VMware Cloud Foundation Planning and Preparation Workbook.

      Setting Value
      Status Connected at power on
      Adapter type VMXNET 3
    5. From the CD/DVD drive 1 drop-down menu, select Client device, and click OK.
  4. Right-click the vSphere Replication appliance and select Power > Power On.
  5. In the Power on confirmation dialog box, click OK.
  6. Configure the settings of the replication traffic network adapter.
    1. Log in to the vSphere Replication appliance configuration interface at https://<vrms_fqdn>:5480 as admin.
    2. In the left pane, click Networking and click Edit.

    3. Expand the eth1 section, configure the following settings, configure the remaining settings according to your VMware Cloud Foundation Planning and Preparation Workbook, and click Save.

      Setting Value
      Status Up
      Protocol type IPv4
      Enter IPv4 settings manually Selected
    4. In the left pane, click Summary.
    5. Next to IP Address for incoming storage traffic, click Change.
    6. In the IP Address for incoming storage traffic text box, enter the IP address from the storage replication VLAN and click Save.
  7. On the vSphere Replication appliances, add static network routes to the hosts in the opposing VMware Cloud Foundation instance.
    1. Log in to the vSphere Replication appliance at <vrms_fqdn>:22 by using a SecureShell (SSH) client as admin.
    2. Edit the /etc/systemd/network/10-eth1.network file.
      sudo vi /etc/systemd/network/10-eth1.network
    3. To create a route between the recovery instance from the protected instance, add the following after Gateway within the [Route] section.
      Destination=<target_vrms_network_cidr>
    4. To restart the network service, run the command.
      sudo systemctl restart systemd-networkd.service

  8. Repeat this procedure to reconfigure the vSphere Replication appliance in the recovery VMware Cloud Foundation instance by using the corresponding values in your VMware Cloud Foundation Planning and Preparation Workbook for the Recovery Instance.