The DRaaS Dashboard allows you to add and configure clouds, which is required for the setup of disaster recovery as a service. 

You can reset your password on the DRaaS Dashboard, if needed.

1. Log out of your DRaaS Dashboard.
2. Click Forgot your password?
3. Fill in the Password Recovery form:

  • Enter your user email.
  • Click Send to receive reset password instructions via email.

4. Follow the link in the email to reset the user password.

The homepage displays all the recent transactions, that help you track all the disaster recovery setup, replication, failover, and failback processes, as well as cloud availability.

Prerequisites

Before adding clouds to the DRaaS Dashboard, make sure to assign at least one data store and one network for replication to each CloudBoot compute zone that you will use for DRaaS. 

Add Clouds to DRaaS Dashboard

You will need to add two clouds to the DRaaS Dashboard one by one:

  • source cloud, where all the data will be primarily stored
  • provider cloud, that will be used for replication in case of disaster recovery

To register a new cloud on the DRaaS Dashboard:

  1. Log in to the DRaaS Dashboard > Clouds tab.
  2. Click the Register New Cloud button.
  3. On the page that appears, fill in the following details:
    • Label - specify the cloud label
    • Subdomain - the IP address or hostname of the cloud
  4. Go to the Credentials tab and click the Edit button.
  5. On the page that appears, fill in the following details:
    • API Address - IP address that responds on API calls
    • API Login - email address of your user account
    • API Token - you can find it at the User Profile page in API Info section or generate it on same page if you don’t have it yet.

If you get an error indicating that the API credentials are wrong, it means that you might be using an IP whitelist to control access between your CPs. In this case, add the OnApp DRaaS Dashboard to the whitelist.

If there are any replication issues, check if you have correct IP addresses indicated in the White List IPs.

Having the first cloud added to the DRaaS Dashboard, you may now proceed to configure it. 

Configure Clouds on DRaaS Dashboard

To configure clouds on DRaaS Dashboard:

  1. Go to the IP Ranges tab and click the Add New IP Range button to add IP range of the network assigned to the CloudBoot compute zone. 
  2. Go to the Compute Zone tab and click the Register new compute zone button to register new CloudBoot compute zone.
  3. Select from the dropbox the compute zone the VS will be replicated to. For the provider cloud, tick the Provider checkbox. For the source cloud, leave the checkbox empty.
  4. Having added and configured one of two clouds, go back to the first step and add the second cloud. 

Having both source and provider clouds added to the DRaaS Dashboard and configured, you may now connect them. 


Connect Clouds on DRaaS Dashboard

The next step is connecting source and provider compute zones. There are two possible connection methods: via selecting the provider cloud directly from the dropbox, or by adding its private key. Here is the first method:

  1. Go to the Compute Zones page and select the source compute zone from the list.
  2. Go to the Links tab and click the Create new link button.
  3. From the Provider dropbox select the necessary provider compute zone. 
  4. Click Save. 

The alternative method of connecting source and provider compute zones includes additional steps for adding the provider private key. To use the additional method:

  1. Go to the Compute Zones page and select the provider compute zone from the list.
  2. On the page that appears, find and copy the Private Key value.
  3. Get back to the Compute Zones page, and select the source compute zone from the list.
  4. On the page that appears, go to the Links tab and click the Create new link button.
  5. Paste the private key from step two into the Private Key field.
  6. Click Save.

Once you have the source and provider clouds connected, you may proceed to configure networks. 


Configure Networks on DRaaS Dashboard

In the DRaaS Dashboard, there may be three possible network types:

  • Replication - used for the replication in all possible cases. Replication networks, which are also called public networks, are used for DRaaS replication traffic. IP addresses in such networks should be public or at least routable between Client and Provider clouds.
  • Internal - may be used for replication only in case there are no replication type networks added to the compute zone. Configuration of network interfaces attached to internal networks, which are also called private networks, is copied to Provider side during DRaaS setup. It means that linked internal networks should have the same IP address pools.
  • Unused - must not be used for replication even if it is the only available network in the compute zone and is disabled for DRaaS dashboard. DRaaS does not work for VSs with network interfaces attached to networks of unused type.

If several networks of replication and internal types are available in the compute zone, the network for replication will be randomly selected by the system. 

By default, type of all networks added during clouds registration is Replication.

To change the network type:

  1. Go to the Compute Zones page and select the necessary compute zone from the list.
  2. On the page that appears, go to the Networks tab.
  3. Select the required network and click the Edit button. 
  4. Select the necessary type (replication, internal, or unused) from the Type dropbox.
  5. Click Save. 


Once you have both clouds and networks configured and the other prerequisutes are met, you may proceed to enable DRaaS for your VSs in OnApp Control Panel. 


Connect Networks Assigned to Different Compute Zones

This functionality applies only to networks of internal type.

DRaaS Dashboard also allows to connect networks of internal type assigned to different compute zones. To connect internal networks from different compute zones:

  1. Go to the Compute Zones page and select the source compute zone from the list.
  2. On the page that appears, go to the Networks tab.
  3. Click the label of the necessary internal type network.
  4. Go to the Links tab and click the Create New Link button.
  5. From the Provider Network dropbox select the necessary local network.
  6. Click Save. 


DRaaS Dashboard Users

There are three types of roles in DRaaS Dashboard:

  • Administrator - reserved for OnApp support engineers 
  • Cloud owner  - created by support engineers; login credentials are provided by a support engineer
  • Cloud user - is created automatically during cloud registration and can manage only one's own virtual server via the subdomain.draas.io dashboard (where subdomain stands for the user's VS IP address or hostname)

Activate DRaaS 

Having both the source and provider clouds configured and the DRaaS Dashboard set up, you may now activate DRaaS:

  1. Go to your Control Panel > Virtual Servers.
  2. Click the label of the necessary source virtual server.
  3. On the page that appears, click Tools and select the Activate DRaaS option.
  4. Wait for the following transactions to be finished: 
    • Register Virtual Machine
    • Synchronize Virtual Machine Metadata

    • Replication healing


      To check the list of transactions of a specific virtual server, go to the DRaaS Dashboard > Virtual Machines > label of the necessary virtual server  > Events tab. 


  5. Once all the transactions listed above are completed, wait for the replication to finish* as well. To check this, go to the DRaaS Dashboard > Virtual Machines > label of the necessary virtual server  > Details tab.

*Please note that the replication process may take a lot of time to complete depending on different factors, such as data transfer speed, Internet speed, disks size, and others. 

Once the replication is completed, you have one active virtual server on the source cloud and one shadow virtual server on the provider cloud. 

If any unexpected issues appear on the source cloud, the virtual server on the provider cloud automatically becomes available. Consequently, the provider cloud becomes the source cloud, and the virtual server on the initial source cloud becomes the shadow virtual server. 

Failover 

The DRaaS Dashboard gets regular updates from Control Panel that reports on the status of all the virtual servers with enabled DRaaS. If the dashboard doesn't get an update, it checks if a VS is still running. If the VS fails, the dashboard sends you an email and a login error message appears when logging in to the DRaaS Dashboard. Failover is a final resort when migration and other recovery options have failed.

Failover triggers the following tasks:

  • If the original VS is still active (due to a local error on the VS or if you are testing), then the VS is disabled and replication is stopped.
  • The new VS is started on the provider cloud with the same data that was on the original VS. This process may take a couple of minutes.

You may also start the disaster recovery procedure manually - initiate failover. To do so:

  1. Go to your DRaaS Dashboard > Virtual Machines > label of the necessary virtual server  > Details tab. 
  2. Click the Failover button. 
  3. Wait for the Failover transaction to finish. To check the transaction status, go to the DRaaS Dashboard > Virtual Machines > label of the necessary virtual server  > Events tab. 

Log in to the VS using your existing credentials but with a new IP address listed at the DRaaS Dashboard VS Details page.

Please note that during failover, your VS is not replicated.

If you have any externally accessible services, you should issue a DNS update to direct them to a new IP address.

You can keep your VS running on the failover hardware as long as you need if the following requirements are met:

  • Two clouds should have the DRaaS feature enabled.
  • The clouds should be correctly configured on draas.io.

It is a paid feature. For more information, contact your account manager for license cost clarification.


Failback

To revert the changes, you may also initiate failback manually. To do so:

  1. Go to your DRaaS Dashboard > Virtual Machines > label of the necessary virtual server  > Details tab. 
  2. Click the Start Failback button. 
  3. Wait for the Synchronize Virtual Machine Metadata and Replication healing transactions to finish. To check the transaction status, go to the DRaaS Dashboard > Virtual Machines > label of the necessary virtual server  > Events tab.

  4. Wait for the replication to finish*. To check the replication status, go to the DRaaS Dashboard > Virtual Machines > label of the necessary virtual server  > Details tab. 

    *Please note that the replication process may take a lot of time to complete depending on different factors, such as data transfer speed, Internet speed, disks size, and others. 

    During the replication, the provider clouds remains available, and the source cloud is in the standby state until the replication is completed. 

  5. Once the replication is completed, go to your DRaaS Dashboard > Virtual Machines > label of the necessary virtual server  > Details tab and click the Finalize Failback button. 
  6. Wait for the Finalize Failback transaction to finish. To check the transaction status, go to the DRaaS Dashboard > Virtual Machines > label of the necessary virtual server  > Events tab.

  7. Wait for the replication to finish*. To check the replication status, go to the DRaaS Dashboard >Virtual Machines > label of the necessary virtual server  > Details tab. 

    *Please note that the replication process may take a lot of time to complete depending on different factors, such as data transfer speed, Internet speed, disks size, and others.

Once the replication is completed, the clouds are back to the same state as after the successful DRaaS activation. 

DRaaS Dashboard API Keys

API keys are used for running API requests to DRaaS Dashboard.

You may view the existing API keys and issue a new API key at the DRaaS Dasboard > API Keys page. 


Configure VPN on DRaaS Dashboard

DRaaS Dashboard VPN is not supported on CentOS 6 KVM compute resources.

VPN is a security feature that provides data transfer between two Control Panels via secure VPN tunnels. 

You may enable VPN in your DRaaS Dashboard before DRaaS activation for the source VS in your OnApp CP. Also, you may use the alternative method, if you have DRaaS already activated on the OnApp CP side or want to do it first.

 If DRaaS for the source VS is not yet activated on the OnApp CP side, follow these steps to configure VPN:

  1. Go to your DRaaS Dashboard > Clouds > click the label of the source сloud.
  2. In the Encryption Policy field of the Details tab, click the Edit button. 
  3. On the screen that appears, specify the necessary VPN configuration option, which may be one of the following: 
    • Disabled - VPN will not be used for this cloud
    • Preferred - VPN will be used, but will be disabled automatically in cases of poor network connection, slow Internet, etc., and replication will continue without the encryption
    • Required - VPN will be obligatory to start and proceed the replication, but in case of network connectivity issues the replication process may be unstable.

      Restart Replication - tick the checkbox to apply VPN to all of the already added and configured VSs in the DRaaS Dashboard through restarting replication on each of those. Otherwise, all the previously added VSs will continue working without VPN until the next replication, and all the newly added VSs will use secure VPN tunnels for data transfer after their initial replication. 

  4. Click Save.
  5. Then activate DRaaS in OnApp Control Panel: go to your CP > Virtual Servers > label of the necessary source VS > Tools > Activate DRaaS. 

To activate DRaaS first, follow this alternative method to configure VPN for the source cloud:

  1. Activate DRaaS: go to you OnApp OnApp Control Panel > Virtual Servers > label of the necessary source VS > Tools > Activate DRaaS. 
  2. Wait for the replication to finish.
  3. Go to your DRaaS Dashboard > Clouds> click the label of the source сloud.
  4. In the Encryption Policy field of the Details tab, click the Edit button. 
  5. On the screen that appears, specify the necessary VPN configuration option, which may be one of the following: 
    • Disabled - VPN will not be used for this cloud
    • Preferred - VPN will be used, but will be disabled automatically in cases of poor network connection, slow Internet, etc., and replication will continue without the encryption
    • Required - VPN will be obligatory to start and proceed the replication, but in case of network connectivity issues the replication process may be unstable.

      Restart Replication - tick the checkbox to apply VPN to all of the already added and configured VSs in the DRaaS Dashboard through restarting replication on each of those. Otherwise, all the previously added VSs will continue working without VPN until the next replication, and all the newly added VSs will use secure VPN tunnels for data transfer after their initial replication. 

  6. Click Save.

The Encryption Policy update will be applied to the cloud and all VSs once replication is finished.

Activate VPN for VS

You may also activate VPN for a specific virtual server, so that it will only apply to this VS  and cloud and other VSs in the DRaaS Dashboard will not be affected.

To activate VPN for a VS:

  1. Make sure that VPN for the corresponding cloud on the DRaaS Dashboard is disabled (check at DRaaS Dashboard > Clouds > label of the source сloud > Details tab > Encryption policy field). 
  2. Activate DRaaS for the VS: go to you OnApp OnApp Control Panel > Virtual Servers > label of the necessary source VS > Tools > Activate DRaaS. 
  3. Wait for the replication to finish. To check the replication status, go to the DRaaS Dashboard > Virtual Machines > label of the necessary virtual server  > Details tab. 
  4. Go to DRaaS Dashboard > Virtual Servers > label of the necessary VS > Details tab.
  5. In the Encryption Policy field of the Details tab, click the Edit button. 
  6. On the screen that appears, specify the necessary VPN configuration option, which may be one of the following: 
    • Disabled - VPN will not be used for this VS
    • Preferred - VPN will be used, but will be disabled automatically in cases of poor network connection, slow Internet, etc., and replication will continue without the encryption
    • Required - VPN will be obligatory to start and proceed the replication, but in case of network connectivity issues the replication process may be unstable.

      Restart Replication - tick the checkbox to restart replication, so that VPN will be enabled for the VS once the replication is finished.

  7. Click Save.

The Encryption Policy update will be applied to the VS once replication is finished.

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