Performing failback in Acronis Disaster Recovery

Overview

A failback is a process of moving the workload from the cloud back to a physical or virtual machine on your local site. You can perform a failback on a recovery server in Failover state, and continue using the server on your local site.

Performing failback to a virtual machine

You can perform failback to a target virtual machine on your local site.

Prerequisites

• The agent that you will use to perform failback is online and is not currently used for another failback operation.
• Your Internet connection is stable.

To perform a failback to a virtual machine

1. In the service console, go to Disaster recovery > Servers.
2. Select the recovery server that is in the Failover state.
3. Click the Failback tab.
4. In the Failback parameters section, select Virtual machine as a Target, and configure the other parameters.
   Note that by default, some of the Failback parameters are populated automatically with suggested values, but you can change them.
   The following table provides more information about the Failback parameters.

Parameter	Description
Backup size	Amount of data that will be transferred to your local site during the failback process. After you start the failback process to a target virtual machine, the Backup size will be increasing during the data transfer phase, because the virtual machine in the cloud will continue to run and generate new data. To calculate the estimated downtime period during the failback process to a target virtual machine, take 10% of the Backup size value (as we recommend that you start the switchover phase after 90% of the data is transferred to your local site), and divide it by the value of your Internet speed. Note The value of the Internet speed will decrease when you perform several failback processes at the same time.
Target	Type of workload on your local site to which you will recover the cloud server: Virtual machine or Physical machine.
Target machine location	Failback location: a VMware ESXi host or a Microsoft Hyper-V host. You can select from all the hosts that have an agent which is registered with the Cyber Protection service.
Agent	Agent which will perform the failback operation. You can use one agent to perform one failback operation at the same time. You can select an agent that is online and is not currently used for another failback process, has a version which supports the failback functionality, and has rights to access the backup. Note that you can install several agents on VMware ESXi hosts, and start a separate failback process using each of them. These failback processes can be performed at the same time.
Target machine settings	Virtual machine settings: – Virtual processors. Select the number of virtual processors. – Memory. Select how much memory the virtual machine will have. – Units. Select the units for the memory. – (Optional) Network adapters. To add a network adapter, click Add, and select a network in the Network field. When you are ready with the changes, click Done.
Path	(For Microsoft Hyper-V hosts) Folder on the host where your machine will be stored. Ensure that there is enough free memory space on the host for the machine.
Datastore	(For VMware ESXi hosts) Datastore on the host where your machine will be stored. Ensure that there is enough free memory space on the host for the machine.
Provisioning mode	Method of allocation of the virtual disk. For Microsoft Hyper-V hosts: – Dynamically expanding (default value). – Fixed size. For Microsoft Hyper-V hosts: – Thin (default value). – Thick.
Target machine name	Name of the target machine. By default, the target machine name is the same as the recovery server name. The target machine name must be unique on the selected Target machine location.

5. Click Start data transfer, and then in the confirmation window, click Start.
   The Data transfer phase starts. The console displays the following information:
   • Progress. The parameter shows how much data is already transferred to the local site, and the total amount of data that must be transferred. Note that the total amount of data includes the data from the last backup before the data transfer phase was started, and the backups of the newly generated data (backup increments), as the virtual machine continues to run during the data transfer phase. For this reason, both values of the Progress parameter increase with time.
   • Downtime estimation. The parameter shows how much time the virtual machine will be unavailable, if you start the switchover phase now. The value is calculated based on the values of the Progress, and decreases with time.
6. Click Switchover, and then in the confirmation window, click Switchover again.
   The switchover phase starts. The console displays the following information:
   • Progress. The parameter shows the progress of restoring the virtual machine on the local site.
   • Estimated time to finish. The parameter shows the approximate time when the switchover phase will be completed and you will be able to turn on the virtual machine on the local site.
     
     Note

     If no backup plan is applied to the virtual machine in the cloud, a backup will be performed automatically during the switchover phase, which will cause a longer downtime.

7. After the Switchover phase completes, validate that the virtual machine on your local site is working as expected.
8. Click Confirm failback, and then in the confirmation window, click Confirm to finalize the process.
   The virtual machine in the cloud is deleted, and the recovery server returns to the Standby state.
   
   Note

   Applying a protection plan on the recovered server is not part of the failback process. After the failback process completes, apply a protection plan on the recovered server to ensure that it is protected again. You may apply the same protection plan that was applied on the original server, or a new protection plan that has the Disaster Recovery module enabled.

Performing failback to a physical machine

You can perform failback to a target physical machine on your local site.

To perform a failback to a physical machine

1. In the service console, go to Disaster recovery > Servers.
2. Select the recovery server that is in the Failover state.
3. Click the Failback tab.
4. In the Select target field, select Physical machine.
5. (Optional) Calculate the estimated downtime period during the failback process, by dividing the Backup size value by the value of your Internet speed.
   
   Note

   The value of the Internet speed will decrease when you perform several failback processes at the same time.

6. Click Switchover, and then in the confirmation window, click Switchover again.
   The virtual machine on the cloud site is turned off.
   
   Note

   If no backup plan is applied to the virtual machine in the cloud, a backup will be performed automatically during the switchover phase, which will cause a longer downtime.

7. Recover the server from a backup to the physical machine on your local site.
   • If you are using bootable media, proceed as described in “Recovering disks by using bootable media” in the Cyber Protection User Guide. Ensure that you sign in to the cloud by using the account for which the server is registered and that you select the most recent backup.
   • If the target machine is online, you can use the service console. On the Backup storage tab, select the cloud storage. In Machine to browse from, select the target physical machine. The selected machine must be registered for the same account for which the server is registered. Find the most recent backup of the server, click Recover entire machine, and then set up other recovery parameters. For detailed instructions, refer to “Recovering a machine” in the Cyber Protection User Guide.
8. Ensure that the recovery is completed and the recovered machine works properly, and click Machine is restored.
9. If everything is working as expected, click Confirm failback, and then in the confirmation window, click Confirm again.
   The recovery server and recovery points become ready for the next failover. To create new recovery points, apply a protection plan to the new local server.
   
   Note

   Applying a protection plan on the recovered server is not part of the failback process. After the failback process completes, apply a protection plan on the recovered server to ensure that it is protected again. You may apply the same protection plan that was applied on the original server, or a new protection plan that has the Disaster Recovery module enabled.