Virtual machine instant recovery

Instant recovery enables you to recover a failed or corrupted VMware or Hyper-V VM and access it in minutes.

To perform instant recovery, you specify a recovery point (by selecting a backup or backup copy) and a target location where the recovered VM will reside (by selecting a virtual host). Instant recovery then creates a disk image recovery object on the Unitrends appliance and a new VM on the target host. This takes just a few minutes. The new VM is created with the same network settings as the original and can immediately assume production operations for the failed VM.

Upon creating the recovered VM, instant recovery migrates data from the on-appliance recovery object to the new VM. The recovered VM remains fully operational during the migration.

After the data has been migrated, instant recovery is complete and the recovery object is no longer needed. You then tear down the instant recovery session. This deletes the recovery object, freeing the appliance resources and reserved space.

Instant recovery modes

You can choose to perform the recovery in audit mode or instant recovery mode. Use audit mode to verify recovery points for VMs that are still running in production. Use instant recovery mode to replace a failed or corrupted VM. Descriptions of each mode are given in the following table:

Mode	Description
Audit	Enables you to verify that a VM can be created from a backup or backup copy. The appliance uses data from the selected backup or backup copy to create a disk image on the appliance and a new VM on the target host. Although the VM resides on the host, it runs from the disk image on the appliance. All other resources, such as the processors and memory, reside on the host. A VM in audit mode is not intended for production use. It does not have network connectivity, and changes made to the VM in audit mode are not backed up on the Unitrends appliance. Recovering a VM in audit mode has no impact on the original VM. It is not necessary to shut down the original VM during the audit, even if you use the original host as the recovery target. After verifying that the VM has booted and its data is accessible, you tear down the recovery session. This deletes the VM from the target host and deletes the on-appliance recovery object, freeing the appliance resources.
Instant recovery	Enables you to replace a failed or corrupted VM. When you select a backup or backup copy, the appliance uses data from this backup to create a disk image recovery object on the appliance and a new VM on the target host. The new VM is available for use immediately. The Unitrends appliance uses Storage vMotion (VMware) or Storage Live Migration (Hyper-V) to copy the data from the disk image to the target host. Once the data migration is complete, you tear down the recovery session to free appliance resources.

Mode

Description

Audit

Enables you to verify that a VM can be created from a backup or backup copy.

The appliance uses data from the selected backup or backup copy to create a disk image on the appliance and a new VM on the target host. Although the VM resides on the host, it runs from the disk image on the appliance. All other resources, such as the processors and memory, reside on the host.

A VM in audit mode is not intended for production use. It does not have network connectivity, and changes made to the VM in audit mode are not backed up on the Unitrends appliance. Recovering a VM in audit mode has no impact on the original VM. It is not necessary to shut down the original VM during the audit, even if you use the original host as the recovery target.

After verifying that the VM has booted and its data is accessible, you tear down the recovery session. This deletes the VM from the target host and deletes the on-appliance recovery object, freeing the appliance resources.

Instant recovery

Enables you to replace a failed or corrupted VM. When you select a backup or backup copy, the appliance uses data from this backup to create a disk image recovery object on the appliance and a new VM on the target host.

The new VM is available for use immediately. The Unitrends appliance uses Storage vMotion (VMware) or Storage Live Migration (Hyper-V) to copy the data from the disk image to the target host. Once the data migration is complete, you tear down the recovery session to free appliance resources.