SIRIS, ALTO, and NAS: Starting a Cloud (Hybrid) Virtualization on a Datto Appliance

Topic

This article explains how to start a hybrid (cloud) virtualization on a SIRIS or ALTO device.

NOTE: This option is unavailable for SIRIS Private replicated snapshots.

Environment

Datto SIRIS
Datto ALTO

Description

Hybrid Virtualization allows you to restore a production machine in the Datto Cloud, and manage it locally through your Datto appliance.

When Hybrid Virtualization initializes a virtual machine within the secure Datto Cloud, it automatically connects the VM to the local network through the Datto appliance using a secure VPN tunnel.

Hybrid virtualization requires an Internet connection. You can only use Hybrid Cloud Virtualization to virtualize a restore point that has already been replaced offsite. The recovery points are available depending on how often and how recently the Datto device replicates offsite.

Procedure

1. Access your Datto appliance's GUI.
2. Click the Restore tab.
3. Select a protected system.
4. Choose Virtualize in the Cloud, and select a Recovery Point to restore from (Figures 1 & 2).
5. Click Start Restore.

Figure 1: SIRIS hybrid virtualization (click to enlarge)

Figure 2: ALTO hybrid virtualization (click to enlarge)

5. In the Virtualization Options pane, select the System RAM, the Storage Controller, and Network Options (Figure 3). For more information about these options, see Restore: Local Virtualization Options.

Common Storage Controller Compatibilities

Operating System	IDE	SCSI	SATA	VirtIO
Windows XP - SP3
Server/SBS 2003
Vista
Windows 7
Server/SBS 2008 & r2

If you are only virtualizing as a test, Datto recommends leaving the Virtualization Options set to their defaults, and configuring the Network Options to use No Network Connection.

6. Click Build VM.

Figure 3: Virtualization Options (click to enlarge)

7. Optionally, you can choose to Restrict RDP connections only to my IP. Selecting this option will block any attempt to access the cloud VM from any IP other than your own.

Figure 4: Security options (click to enlarge)

6. Click Mount and Start VM. The VM status will update to allow access (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Access the VM (click to enlarge)

To connect to the VM, you can:

Click Open in Browser to connect to the virtualizaion via a browser-based VNC session
Click the Connect via RDP button to download a preconfigured Windows Remote Desktop session file
Connect to the VM by using the RDP client of your choice; or
Connect to the VM by using a VNC client

All RDP and VNC connections to your virtualization require authentication. You can obtain the authentication credentials from the Username and Password fields in the VM Status pane.

RDP access to virtualizations requires the connecting workstation to be running Windows Server 2008 SP3 or newer.

Technical Notes

Hybrid and Offsite Virtualizations for Microsoft Exchange Servers

Hybrid virtualizations are bridged to the local LAN through the Datto device, and use a VPN to connect the two networks. Since the IP of the virtualized server will show as coming from the internal network, exceptions on the router/firewall must be in place to allow mail to properly relay to the next hop. You can do this by adding port forwarding outbound, and allowing the appropriate relay server access to the server inbound. Once this is done, ensure the Microsoft Transport Service (MSExchangeTransport) is running, and then restart the service. You can find more information about this service from this Microsoft Technet article (external link).

After configuring networking, send a test email through the server to confirm that emails can send and receive properly. If this does not work, there may be a different underlying issue.

Cloud Virtualizations Not Bridged to the LAN

Cloud virtualizations not bridged to the local LAN require port forwarding on Datto's servers to allow SMTP (Port 25) traffic inbound and outbound. See this article for further information.

After forwarding has been configured, Port 25 will be accessible via the public IP address shown in the GUI. Your DNS records will need to be updated to reflect these changes. If another server provides mail services, you must make the changes on that server.

Datto Virtual SIRIS on HyperV Host

A Datto Virtual SIRIS guest on a HyperV is capable of acting as the VPN endpoint between the hybrid virtualization and your environment. However, you must enable Allow MAC Address Spoofing within the VM template's advanced settings. This modification requires no reboot, and can be disabled after the disaster recovery scenario is complete.

Additional Resources

The Microsoft Exchange Transport service (MSExchangeTransport) isn't running (external link)
Mail flow and the transport pipeline (external link)
Forwarding Ports During Offsite Virtualization