PlateSpin Forge supports server workloads for protection of most major versions of the Microsoft Windows, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating systems. It also supports selected versions of Novell Open Enterprise Server, Oracle Enterprise Linux, and CentOS operating systems. This section describes the supported platform configurations.
PlateSpin Forge supports workloads for most Microsoft Windows versions. For a list of supported Windows versions, see Table 1-1.
Both file-level and block-level replications are supported, with certain restrictions. See Data Transfer.
Table 1-1 Supported Windows Workloads
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Operating System |
Notes |
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Server Class workloads |
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Includes domain controllers (DC) and Small Business Server (SBS) editions. For information about conversion of Active Directory domain controllers, see Knowledgebase Article 7920501. |
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Includes domain controllers (DC) and Small Business Server (SBS) editions. For information about conversion of Active Directory domain controllers, see Knowledgebase Article 7920501. |
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Windows 2003 requires SP1 or higher for Block-based replication. |
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Server-based Cluster workloads |
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Block-based transfer only. |
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Block-based transfer only. |
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Hypervisor Class workloads |
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Protects the host server as the workload. Protect the individual VMs separately. |
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Workstation Class workloads |
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WARNING:You must select the High Performance power plan on the Windows 8 source so that the workload failover and failback function correctly. To configure this power plan from the Windows Control Panel:
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Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions only. |
PlateSpin Forge supports only the NTFS file system on any supported Windows system.
For detailed information about how to protect workloads in a cluster, see Protecting Windows Clusters.
PlateSpin Forge supports French, German, Japanese, Chinese Traditional, and Chinese Simplified versions of Microsoft Windows.
HINT:Other international versions have limited support: updating system files could be affected in languages other than those listed above.
PlateSpin Forge mirrors the Microsoft support of UEFI or BIOS-based Windows workloads. It transfers workloads (both Block and File transfers are supported) from source to target while enforcing the supported firmware for the respective source and target operating systems. It does the same for the failback to a physical machine. When any transition (failover and failback) between UEFI and BIOS systems are initiated, Forge analyzes the transition and alerts you about its validity.
NOTE:If you are protecting a UEFI-based workload and you want to continue using the same firmware boot mode throughout the protected workload lifecycle, you need to target a vSphere 5.0 container or newer.
The following are examples of Forge behavior when protecting and failing back between UEFI and BIOS-based systems:
When transferring a UEFI-based workload to a VMware vSphere 4.x container (which does not support UEFI), Forge transitions the workload’s UEFI firmware at failover time to BIOS firmware. Then, when failback is selected on a UEFI-based physical machine, Forge reverses the firmware transition from BIOS to UEFI.
If you attempt to failback a protected Windows 2003 workload to a UEFI-based physical machine, Forge analyzes the choice and notifies you that it is not valid (that is, the firmware transition from BIOS to UEFI is not supported – Windows 2003 does not support the UEFI boot mode).
When protecting a UEFI-based source on a BIOS-based target, Forge migrates the UEFI system’s boot disks, which were GPT, to MBR disks. Failing back this BIOS workload to a UEFI-based physical machine converts the boot disks back to GPT.
PlateSpin Forge provides support for the GPT partitioning of disks for Windows workloads. Full replication is supported for 57 or fewer partitions or volumes on a single disk.
PlateSpin Forge supports a number of Linux distributions. For a list of supported Linux operating systems, see Table 1-2.
Replication of protected Linux workloads occurs only at the block level. See Requirement for a blkwatch Driver.
Table 1-2 Supported Linux Workloads
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Operating System |
Notes |
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Linux Server class workloads |
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See Linux Distributions Supported by Forge for a list of supported Linux kernel versions and architectures for RHEL distributions. |
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See Linux Distributions Supported by Forge for a list of supported Linux kernel versions and architectures for SLES distributions. NOTE:Kernel version 3.0.13 of SLES 11 SP3 is not supported. Upgrade to kernel version 3.0.27 or later before you inventory the workload. |
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PlateSpin Forge supports workloads for an OES 11 SPx version if it is based on a supported SLES distribution, except as noted. See Linux Distributions Supported by Forge for a list of supported Linux kernel versions and architectures for SLES distributions. NOTE:The default kernel version 3.0.13 of OES 11 SP2 is not supported. Upgrade to kernel version 3.0.27 or later before you inventory the workload. |
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Oracle Enterprise Linux (OEL) |
PlateSpin Forge supports workloads for an OEL version if it is based on a supported RHEL distribution, except as noted. See Linux Distributions Supported by Forge for a list of supported Linux kernel versions and architectures for RHEL distributions. NOTE:Workloads using the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel are not supported. |
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PlateSpin Forge supports workloads for a CentOS version if it is based on a supported RHEL distribution. See Linux Distributions Supported by Forge for a list of supported Linux kernel versions and architectures for RHEL distributions. |
PlateSpin Forge supports EXT2, EXT3, EXT4, REISERFS, XFS, and NSS (OES 11 workloads) file systems, with block-based transfer only.
NOTE:Encrypted volumes of workloads on the source are decrypted in the failover VM.
PlateSpin Forge provides support for the UEFI and BIOS firmware interfaces.
PlateSpin Forge provides support for the GPT partitioning of disks for Linux workloads. Full replication is supported for 57 or fewer partitions or volumes on a single disk.
The block-based transfer of data for a Linux workloadPlateSpin Forge requires a blkwatch driver that is compiled for the particular Linux distribution being protected. PlateSpin Forge software includes pre-compiled versions of the blkwatch driver for many non-debug Linux distributions (32-bit and 64-bit). You can also create a custom driver. For more information, see Linux Distributions Supported by Forge.
A container is a protection infrastructure that acts as the host of a protected workload’s regularly updated replica. That infrastructure can be either a VMware ESXi Server or a VMware DRS Cluster.
Table 1-3 Platforms Supported as VM Containers
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Container |
Notes |
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VMware ESXi 5.5 (GA2, Update 2) |
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VMware ESXi 5.1 (GA2, Update 2) |
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VMware ESXi 4.1 (GA2, Update 3) |
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NOTE:ESXi versions must have a paid license; protection is unsupported with these systems if they are operating with a free license.
PlateSpin Forge provides support for the UEFI and BIOS firmware interfaces.
On Windows systems, PlateSpin Forge mirrors the Microsoft support of UEFI. For more information see Workload Firmware (UEFI and BIOS) Support in Supported Windows Workloads.