When it comes to HA/DR on IBM Power, PowerHA SystemMirror is the gold standard for full-stack protection. But for many organizations, a restart-based approach delivers the right balance of automation, simplicity, and flexibility.
Why restart-based HA/DR?
VM Recovery Manager (VMRM) operates outside the LPAR, allowing entire workloads to move across frames or sites without requiring application changes.
This architecture enables:
- Automated VM restart or relocation
- Infrastructure-level event detection
- Site-level recovery orchestration
- Easy DR rehearsal
- Broad workload coverage
The result is a clean, pragmatic recovery model for environments where speed and operational simplicity matter.
Where customers use it today
Restart-based HA/DR is already used across a variety of IBM Power environments, including:
- Data-center HA with VMRM
- Two-site or regional DR with VMRM DR
- PowerHA (AIX) combined with VMRM DR
- IBM PowerVS using DR Automation
- IBM i environments using Expert Labs FSR/FSFC
Plus, VMRM DR is included with AIX Enterprise Edition, making it readily available for many organizations already running AIX.
Hardware-based resilience as a best practice
IBM Power HA/DR solutions help organizations implement resilient architectures that support:
- Seamless site switching
- Minimal reliance on IT intervention
- Maintenance without downtime
- Non-disruptive backups
- Fast recovery from ransomware lockouts
With IBM FlashSystem and Policy-Based Replication continuously synchronizing data, orchestration tools like PowerHA, VMRM, and FSR help deliver highly autonomous and resilient operations.
Stay tuned, as new DR options for PowerVS will be introduced in the near future.
Learn more about VMRM.
Let’s discuss
Are you conducting regular switch-and-stay operations between sites?
If so, how often?
🔹 Quarterly
🔹 Twice a year
🔹 Once a year
🔹 Only during DR testing
Drop your approach (and why) in the comments.
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