Zerto v10 – Update 2 – Excitement Continues!

Zerto just dropped Update 2 for version 10, and they continue to really drive some great features into the product, extending what started with v10 as some game-changing features. See my past post on this one.

Starting with v10, Zerto made the ZVM role only available on a Linux appliance, even though it was available starting with 9.5 and 9.7 – but you had options for both Windows or Linux roles for the ZVM. With the v10 release, the Windows ZVM role is fully deprecated and Zerto no longer releases software for v10 on Windows.

So with v10, we get a much more secure approach and can eliminate the Windows server requirements, but with that comes a big double-check before moving onto v10. With v10 AND the Linux ZVM role, this also means that Zerto has made some changes on the licensing front, which needs to be taken care of prior to upgrading to v10 OR standing up the Linux ZVM role.

So now that we have the licensing gotchas out of the way, let’s talk a bit more about what’s come with Update 1 and 2 and some other areas of Zerto to be aware of.

Version 10 with vSphere 8

Some quick notes around v10 with vSphere 8:

• If you are running vSphere 8.0 or later, you must turn off the VMkernel.Boot.execInstalledOnly flag before deploying Zerto.
• If you are running vSphere 8.0 or later are advised to upgrade to Zerto 10.0 U1+, and NOT to upgrade to Zerto 10.0 sans update.

Update 1

With Update 1, Zerto released several quality updates to add value to v10. I love seeing the ZVM appliance updates for security AND performance

• ZVM Appliance Updates: User Federation now supports LDAPS, as well as OpenID for an identity provider.
• Zerto Migration Utility: A new version of the migration utility that allows migrating the existing configuration settings from the Windows-based ZVM to the new ZVM appliance.
• Public Cloud:
  • When failing back from Azure to on-premise sites, the following VM-level recovery settings are now preserved: vNet, Subnet, Network Security Group, VM size and disk type.
  • When failing back from AWS to on-premise sites, the following recovery settings are now preserved: network settings at the NIC level and VM level, VPC, subnet and security group, as well as recovery instance type.

Update 2

After Update 1, we’ve been waiting for some additional items to come around, and I for one am really excited about some of the Update 2 feature updates.

Azure Marketplace

First off, I’ll start with the Azure Linux ZCA Marketplace. With v10, honestly, the Zerto release notes contradicted the available downloads for Azure, where a Linux ZCA (Zerto Cloud Appliance) was documented but was hard to find. With Update 2, the Linux ZCA is now deployable via the Azure Marketplace (wooohooo!).

In the Marketplace, now when you search for Zerto you get an option for Zerto 9.0 U2 (if you’re still on that, move on!), Zerto Windows ZCA and ding ding, Zerto Linux ZCA – BYOL.

The BYOL option is the Bring Your Own License option, when you already own Zerto Enterprise licensing, however Zerto will be making a Transact option, allowing you to purchase a Zerto license via the Marketplace. Note that this option is not publicly available, and your Zerto Account manager needs to be engaged to enable this option.

Azure Linux ZCA Migration Utility

Staying with Azure here, with Update 2 Zerto has also released a newer version of the Migration Utility, which now supports migrating the Azure Windows-based ZCA configuration settings to a newly deployed Linux ZCA. This is supported for Windows-based ZCA running 9.7 U3 or later.

Appliance Upgrades

And last but not least, Appliance Upgrades via the ZVM Management Console. YES!!!! Up until Update 2, updates were done either thru connecting via SSH to the ZVM or from the VM Console and updating the appliance via CLI menu.

With Update 2, we can now do this directly from the Management Console of the appliance – if you prefer GUI updates vs CLI updates, this one’s for you!

Starting with Update 2, the upgrade process supports:

• Automatic database backup
• VRA upgrade
• Auto-rollback abilities
• Progress and status all throughout the upgrade phase

One of the big benefits of moving to the Linux ZVM AND migrating the ZVM services to containers is that it now allows for auto-rollback of the upgrades (I’ve hit this a few times and it’s saved my bacon – note that this does not remove the necessity for normal snapshot or backups as part of the process!).

Wrapup

So, this is just another post about Zerto and the updates released with v10. As a LONGTIME Zerto fan, I love seeing the product continue to be streamlined and standardized across both on-premises and Public Cloud platforms, keeping with the simplicity of management and operational failovers.

If you aren’t using Zerto today to protect your VMware workloads (on-premise or public cloud), ping me, and I’m more than happy to show off the product features and benefits or take advantage of potential POC opportunities.