In hypervisor-based Continuous Data Protection (CDP) frameworks, a Virtual Protection Group (VPG) is the fundamental logical entity used to manage multi-VM application consistency. Modern multi-tier applications (such as a database server, middleware layer, and web frontend) require strict write-order fidelity across all participating virtual disks during both data replication and point-in-time recovery.

A VPG groups these related virtual machines together, applying unified service level agreements (SLAs), recovery point objectives (RPOs), boot sequences, network mappings, and failover test schedules. This grouping distinguishes the VPG from structural orchestration components: it is neither the administrative control interface (which is the management server/ZVM) nor the data-moving appliance (which is the Virtual Replication Appliance).