When you configure replication on a virtual machine for the very first time, vSphere replication will need to make an initial copy of the VM's VMDKs. The initial copy can be bandwidth intensive and time consuming based on the size of the VMDKs. This can however be overcome by transporting the VMDKs to the intended location, prior to configuring the replication on the VM. The transport method can be of your choice, ideally couriered to the destination site, if remote.
Note
The copies of the VMDKs transported and placed at the destination datastore is referred to as a seed.
The following procedure will guide you through the steps required to use an available seed for a VM:
Power off the virtual machine at the source (protected) site, which you intend to replicate.
Copy the VM's folder to the target datastore. If it is in a different data center, then the files need to be transported to the data center first and then uploaded to the target datastore.
Power on the virtual machine...