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Replacing Zerto for VMware Exit: RackWare Disaster Recovery on IBM Cloud VPC

  • 10 hours ago
  • 3 min read

Overview


As enterprises accelerate VMware exit strategies due to rising costs and licensing changes, many IBM customers are replatforming workloads into IBM Cloud VPC.


However, this transition exposes a critical gap: legacy disaster recovery solutions like Zerto are primarily built for VMware-like environments and do not function in IBM Cloud VPC without VMware in place.


RackWare addresses this challenge by delivering a modern, platform purpose-builtdisaster recovery and migration solution that enables organizations to protect workloads across IBM Cloud VPC, Openshift, and other clouds—without dependency on VMware.


The Challenge: Zerto Does Not Extend to IBM Cloud VPC


Zerto has historically been a strong solution for VMware-based DR. However, its architecture is tightly coupled to VMware-like hypervisors, creating major limitations for IBM customers moving off VMware:


  • No native support for IBM Cloud VPC – Cannot operate unless VMware is deployed in the target environment


  • Breaks during VMware exit – DR strategy cannot transition as workloads move off VMware


  • Forces replatforming of DR – Customers must redesign DR after migration


  • Limited flexibility – Cannot support hybrid or multi-cloud DR strategies


For IBM customers currently using Zerto and modernizing into IBM Cloud VPC, a new disaster recovery strategy needs to be evaluated.


The RackWare Solution: DR Without Platform Constraints


RackWare replaces Zerto by delivering cross-platform disaster recovery and migrationin a single unified platform, enabling seamless protection as workloads transition into IBM Cloud VPC.


Key Capabilities


  1. True Platform-Agnostic Disaster Recovery

    Protect workloads from VMware into IBM Cloud VPC natively with no requirement for VMware in the target environment.


  2. Hybrid Cloud DR with Fallback to VMware

    Failover into IBM Cloud VPC while maintaining the ability to fallback to VMware, enabling customers to move at their own pace without forcing immediate full migration and supporting extended transition periods.


  3. Phased Migration with Continuous Protection

    Keep workloads protected in VMware while gradually migrating into IBM Cloud VPC, eliminating “all-at-once” migration risk and maintaining business continuity during extended transition cycles.


  4. Cross-Cloud DR for Redundancy

    Support failover from IBM Cloud VPC to other public clouds such as AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI, enabling true multi-cloud resilience strategies.


  5. Migration + DR in One Platform

    Use the same replication engine for migration and ongoing protection, eliminating separate tools for migration and DR.


  6. OS-Level Replication (Hypervisor Independent)

    Replication operates above the hypervisor layer and supports heterogeneous environments including VMware, cloud VMs, and physical servers.


  7. Non-disruptive Replication with Delta Sync

    Initial full sync followed by incremental updates enables low RPO and rapid recovery.


  8. Automated Failover & Orchestration

    One-click or policy-driven failover with automated provisioning and recovery in IBM Cloud VPC or alternate clouds.


  9. Agentless Architecture

    No agents required on source systems, simplifying deployment and reducing operational overhead.


Architecture Overview


RackWare enables a modern DR architecture by non-disruptly replicating workloads from VMware into IBM Cloud VPC, maintaining a synchronized DR environment in the cloud, enabling failover into IBM Cloud VPC without VMware dependencies, supporting fallback to VMware during transition periods, and extending DR to additional public clouds for redundancy.


This allows IBM Cloud VPC to serve as both a disaster recovery landing zone and a strategic bridge for gradual VMware exit.


Why RackWare Replaces Zerto


Capability 

Zerto 

RackWare 

IBM Cloud VPC Support 

Requires VMware 

Native (no VMware required) 

DR After VMware Exit 

Not supported 

Supported 

Hybrid Cloud DR 

Limited 

Supported 

Cross-Cloud DR 

Not supported 

Supported 

Fallback to VMware from IBM Cloud VPC 

Not supported 

Supported 

Migration + DR 

Separate 

Unified 

Architecture 

Hypervisor-based 

OS-level replication 


Business Impact for IBM Customers


RackWare enables IBM customers to replace Zerto without re-architecting disaster recovery, exit VMware at their own pace, use IBM Cloud VPC as a true DR landing zone without VMware overhead, maintain the ability to fallback to VMware during transition, extend DR across hybrid and multi-cloud environments, reduce cost and complexity by consolidating tools, and maintain continuous protection throughout migration and beyond.


Most importantly, RackWare transforms DR from a constraint into a strategic enabler of VMware exit and cloud adoption.


Supported Use Cases


  • VMware to IBM Cloud VPC migration with integrated DR


  • Hybrid DR with VMware ↔ IBM Cloud VPC failover and fallback


  • Cross-cloud DR for multi-cloud resilience


  • Phased VMware exit strategies


  • DR modernization and tool consolidation


Conclusion


Zerto was built for a VMware-like-centric world—and it stops working when VMware


Is not supported in IBM Cloud VPC.


RackWare is built for a hybrid, multi-cloud world.


By enabling disaster recovery into IBM Cloud VPC, fallback to VMware, and cross-cloud resilience, RackWare allows IBM customers to exit VMware on their timeline, maintain protection throughout, and modernize without disruption or risk.

 
 
 

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