SRM Protection Group shows multiple datastores instead of one

Products

• VMware Live Recovery

Issue/Introduction

In VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) and VMware Live Recovery (VLSR) environments, the protection group creation wizard may display multiple datastores in a single datastore group selection. This article explains why this grouping occurs and how to troubleshoot the underlying dependencies.

Environment

• VMware Live Recovery (VLSR) / Site Recovery Manager (SRM) 9.0.2
• vCenter Server 8.0U3
• Applicable to all supported storage array-based replication configurations.

Cause

SRM treats datastores as a single logical protection unit when they are interdependent. Unexpected grouping occurs due to the following dependencies:

• Cross-Datastore VM Dependencies: Virtual machine files (e.g., VMDKs, config files) are distributed across multiple datastores (e.g., #### and ####).
• Mounted ISOs: A virtual machine on the target datastore has a CD/DVD drive mounted to an ISO file located on a different datastore.
• Storage Array Consistency Groups: Both datastores (LUNs) belong to the same Consistency/Replication Group on the storage array, forcing SRM to group them for failover integrity.
• Storage DRS (SDRS): SRM treats all datastores within an SDRS cluster as a single logical protection unit.

Resolution

To isolate and resolve these grouping issues, investigate the dependencies between the datastores:

1. Navigate to the Datastores view in the vCenter Server inventory.
2. Select the involved datastores and inspect the VMs tab for each.
3. Identify any virtual machines referencing both datastores.
4. Use Storage vMotion to migrate the virtual machine files to a single datastore if appropriate.
5. Inspect VM settings for all virtual machines on the affected datastores to ensure no CD/DVD drives are mounted to ISO files residing on a different datastore within the group.
6. Consult storage array management to confirm if the LUNs are part of the same Consistency Group. If the array requires them to failover together, SRM must include them in the same protection group.
7. Check if the datastores are part of an SDRS cluster. If cluster integrity is required, SRM will treat them as a single protection unit.
8. Restart the New Protection Group wizard.

Additional Information

• To speak with a customer representative or a Support Engineer, see Contact Support. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on your respective region.
• For instructions on retrieving logs, refer to Collect VMware Live Site Recovery Log Files.
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