<span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">Versions of VMware Site Recover Manager (SRM) prior to version 5 required array-based replication and a VMware-certified Storage Replication Adapter to be installed in order to function.  SRM itself did not perform replication.</span></span>

<span style="font-family: Calibri"><span style="font-size: small">VMware SRM 5 now includes an optional replication feature with the following characteristics:</span></span>
<ul>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">vSphere Replication (VR) is included with SRM 5 for free but array-based replication is still supported </span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">VR offers a cost-effective means of protecting 2<sup>nd</sup> and 3<sup>rd</sup> tier applications  and remote offices</span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">VR is not intended to replace SAN-based replication for mission-critical applications</span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">VR requires version 5 of vCenter and SRM but ESX host versions can vary</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Calibri"><span style="font-size: small">Additional VR Characteristics:</span></span>
<ul>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">Adds native replication to SRM</span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">Replication is enabled per VM, not per datastore, and can include some or all of the VM’s disks</span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">VMs can be replicated regardless of the underlying storage - even to or from local storage on a host!</span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">Supports Microsoft VSS for guest OS quiescing</span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">Initial copy of VM can be seeded by online replication or by transporting external media</span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">Replicated disks can be placed anywhere at the recovery site</span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">Replication is managed via the vCenter console</span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">Changes on the source disk are tracked by ESXi and only deltas are sent to the remote site</span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">Replication does not use VMware snapshots - very nice!</span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">RPO is configurable between 15 minutes and 24 hours </span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Calibri"><span style="font-size: small">VR Limitations:</span></span>
<ul>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">Focus is on virtual disks of powered-on VMs</span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">VR works at the virtual device layer</span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">FT, linked clone, templates not supported</span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">Automated fallback of VMs not supported in the initial release</span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">Virtual hardware 7 or later required in VM</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Calibri"><span style="font-size: small">VR Use Cases:</span></span>
<ul>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">Site-to-site (async) for SMB customers where no SAN replication is available</span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">Alongside array replication (compliments rather than replaces)</span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">Remote offices to existing paired SRM datacenters in a hub &amp; spoke model</span></span></li>
	<li><span style="font-size: small"><span style="font-family: Calibri">DR as a Service (DRaaS) provider model, eliminating the need for a dedicated customer-owned secondary site up to a 10:1 ratio</span></span></li>
</ul>