Section 3 : Business Continuity

Remote Replication

Chapter 14

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Chapter Objective
After completing this chapter, you will be able to: o Explain remote replication technologies
o Synchronous and asynchronous

o Discuss host and array based remote replication

o Functionality o Differences o Selecting the appropriate technology

o Discuss network options for remote replication

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What is Remote Replication?

o Replica is created at remote site
o Addresses risk associated with regionally driven outages o Could be a few miles away or half way around the globe

o Modes of remote replication (based on RPO requirement)

o Synchronous Replication o Asynchronous Replication

Source site
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Remote site

Synchronous Replication
o A write must be committed to the source and remote replica before it is acknowledged to the host

Source

o Ensures source and remote replica have identical data at all times
o Write ordering is maintained
o Replica receives writes in exactly the same order as the source
Host

1 4 3

o Synchronous replication provides the lowest RPO and RTO

o Goal is zero RPO o RTO is as small as the time it takes to start application on the target site

Data Write Data Acknowledgement

Target

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Synchronous Replication: Bandwidth Requirement

o Response Time Extension
o Application response time will be extended
o Data must be transmitted to target site before write can be acknowledged o Time to transmit will depend on distance and bandwidth
Max Typical workload Writes MB/s Required bandwidth

o Bandwidth
o To minimize impact on response time, sufficient bandwidth must be provided at all times
Time

o Rarely deployed beyond 200 km

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Asynchronous Replication
o Write is committed to the source and immediately acknowledged to the host o Data is buffered at the source and transmitted to the remote site later
o Some vendors maintain write ordering o Other vendors do not maintain write ordering, but ensure that the replica will always be a consistent re-startable image
Source

1 2
Host
Data Write

o Finite RPO
o Replica will be behind the source by a finite amount o Typically configurable

Data Acknowledgement

Target

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Asynchronous Replication: Bandwidth Requirement

o Response time unaffected o Bandwidth
o Need average bandwidth
Typical workload Required bandwidth Writes MB/s Average

o Buffers
o Need sufficient buffers at the source to hold data before transmission to remote site

o Can be deployed over long distances

Time

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Remote Replication Technologies

o Host based
o Logical Volume Manager (LVM) based
o Support both synchronous and asynchronous mode

o Log Shipping

o Storage Array based

o Support both synchronous and asynchronous mode o Disk Buffered - Consistent PITs
o Combination of Local and Remote Replication

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LVM-based
o Duplicate Volume Groups at source and target sites
o All writes to the source Volume Group are replicated to the target Volume Group by the LVM o Can be synchronous or asynchronous mode

o In the event of a network failure

o Writes are queued in the log file and sent to target when the issue is resolved o Size of the log file determines length of outage that can be withstood
IP

o Upon failure at source site, production can be transferred to target site

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LVM Based Advantages and Limitation

o Advantages
o The source and target sites do not need to use the same storage arrays and RAID protection configuration o Response time issue can be eliminated with asynchronous mode (with the drawback of extended RPO) o Specialized hardware / software is not required because LVM is available in the OS running on the host

o Limitations
o Extended network outages require large log files o If log files fill up before outage is resolved, full synchronization is required

o Replication process adds overhead on host CPUs o Remote host must be continuously up and available

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Host Based Log Shipping

o Offered by most database vendors o Transactions to the source database are stored in logs

o Log files are transmitted to the remote host when the DBMS switch log files
o Happens at pre-configured time intervals or when a log file is full

o The remote host receives the logs and apply them to remote database
o Advantages:
o Minimal overhead o Low bandwidth requirement
o Standby database is consistent up to the last applied log
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Host Based Log Shipping

Logs

IP

Original

Logs

Standby
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Storage Array Based Remote Replication

o Replication performed by the array operating environment
o Host CPU resources can be devoted to production operations instead of replication operations o Arrays communicate with each other via dedicated channels
o ESCON, Fibre Channel or Gigabit Ethernet

o Replicas are on different arrays

o Primarily used for DR purposes o Can also be used for other business operations
Source Array Target Array

IP/FC Network

Source Production Server

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Distance

Replica DR Server

Array Based Synchronous Replication

Network links

Source

Target

Write is received by the source array from host/server Write is transmitted by source array to the target array Target array sends acknowledgement to the source array Source array signals write complete to host/server

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Array Based Asynchronous Replication

Network links

Write is received by the source array from host/server

Source array signals write complete to host/server Write is transmitted by source array to the target array Target array sends acknowledgement to the source array

Source

Target

o No impact on response time o Extended distances between arrays o Lower bandwidth as compared to Synchronous
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Asynchronous Replication: Ensuring Consistency

o Maintain write ordering
o Some vendors attach a time stamp and sequence number with each write, then send the writes to remote array o These writes are applied to the remote devices in exact order based on the time stamp and sequence numbers

o Dependent write consistency

o Some vendors buffer the writes in the cache of the source array for a period of time (between 5 and 30 seconds)
o At the end of this time current buffer is closed in a consistent manner and the buffer is switched, new writes are received in the new buffer o Closed buffer is then transmitted to the remote array o Remote replica will contain a consistent, re-startable image on the application
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Array Based Disk Buffered Replication

o Local and Remote replication technologies can be combined to create consistent PIT copies of data on target arrays o RPO usually in the order of hours o Lower Bandwidth requirements o Extended distance solution
Source Data

Local Replica

Source Host
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Local Replica Source Storage Array

Remote Replica Target Storage Array

Remote Replicas Tracking Changes

o Remote replicas can be used for BC operations
o Typically remote replication operations will be suspended when the remote replicas are used for BC operations

o During business operations changes will/could happen to both the source and remote replicas
o Most remote replication technologies have the ability to track changes made to the source and remote replicas to allow for incremental resynchronization o Resuming remote replication operations will require re-synchronization between the source and replica

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Array Based Which Technology?

o Synchronous
o Is a must if zero RPO is required o Need sufficient bandwidth at all times o Rarely above 125 miles

o Asynchronous
o Extended distance solutions with minimal RPO (order of minutes) o No Response time elongation o Generally requires lower Bandwidth than synchronous o Must design with adequate cache/buffer capacity

o Disk buffered
o Extended distance solution with RPO in the order of hours o Require lower bandwidth than synchronous or asynchronous
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Three Site Replication

o Eliminates disadvantages of two site replication
o Single site disaster leads to a window when there is no DR protection

o Data replicated to two remote sites o Implemented in two ways

o Three Site Cascade/Multi-hop o Three Site Triangle/Multi-target

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Three Site Replication Cascade/Multi-hop

o Synchronous + Disk Buffered
Source Data Remote Replica Local Replica Synchronous

Disk Buffered
Local Replica Source Site Bunker Site Remote Site Remote Replica

o Synchronous + Asynchronous
Source Data Remote Replica Local Replica

Synchronous

Asynchronous

Local Replica Source Site Bunker Site Remote Site

Remote Replica

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Three Site Replication Triangle/Multi-target

BUNKER

Asynch with Differential SOURCE Resynch

REMOTE
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SAN-based Remote Replication

o Replicate from one storage array to any other storage array over the SAN/WAN
o Implement tiered storage o Data migration o Remote vaulting
EMC Symmetrix EMC CLARiiON

SAN/WAN

o Heterogeneous arrays support

o No impact to servers or the LAN
HP IBM

Hitachi

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SAN Based Replication : Terminologies

o Control Array: Array responsible for the replication operations
o Control Device: Device on controlling array to/from which data is being replicated

o Remote Array: Array to/from which data is being replicated

o Remote Device: Device on remote array to/from which data is being replicated

o Operation
o Push: Data is pushed from control array to remote array

o Pull: Data is pulled to the control array from remote array

Control Array

Remote Array
SAN/WAN

C
Control Device
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C
Remote Device

PUSH PULL

Network Options for Remote Replication

o A dedicated or a shared network must be in place for remote replication
o Use ESCON (Enterprise System Connectivity) or FC (Fibre Channel) for shorter distance o For extended distances, an optical or IP network must be used o Example of optical network: DWDM and SONET
o Protocol converters may require to connect ESCON or FC adapters from the arrays to these networks

o Native GigE adapters allows array to be connected directly to IP Networks

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Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM)

o DWDM is a technology that puts data from different sources together on an optical fiber with each signal carried on its own separate light wavelength o Up to 32 protected and 64 unprotected separate wavelengths of data can be multiplexed into a light stream transmitted on a single optical fiber
Optical Channels

ESCON Fibre Channel Gigabit Ethernet Optical

Electrical

Optical Lambda

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Synchronous Optical Network (SONET)

o SONET is Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) technology o Traffic from multiple sources of different speeds are organized into a frame and sent out onto SONET ring as an optical signal o Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) similar to SONET but is the European standard o SONET/SDH offers the ability to service multiple locations, and provides reliability/availability, automatic protection switching and restoration
STM-1
SONET

OC3

OC48

STM-16

SDH
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Chapter Summary
Additional Task

Key points covered in this chapter: o Modes of remote replication

o Synchronous and asynchronous mode

Research on EMC Remote Replication products

o Host based remote replication

o LVM based and log shipping

o Array based remote replication

o Synchronous, asynchronous and disk buffered o Three site replication o SAN based remote replication

o Network options for remote replication

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Check Your Knowledge

o What is the difference between Synchronous and Asynchronous mode? o Discuss one host based remote replication technology? o Discuss one array based remote replication technology? o What are differences in the bandwidth requirements between the array remote replication technologies discussed in this module? o Discuss the effects of a bunker failure in a three-site replication for the following implementation:
Multihopsynchronous + disk buffered Multihopsynchronous + asynchronous Multitarget
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