HP P2000 Remote Snap Software
(G3 FC and FC/iSCSI controllers only) |
- HP P2000 Remote Snap Software is array based software that provides remote replication on the HP P2000 G3 MSA Array products (except SAS model). HP Remote Snap is a form of asynchronous replication which consists of replication of block-level data from a volume on a local system to a volume that may be on the same system or on a second independent system. This second system may be collocated with the first system or may be located at a remote site. It requires T230Rxx controller firmware or higher.
- HP Remote Snap functionality is based on existing Snapshot technology offered by HP P2000 SAN Array products. Snapshots are used to track the data to be replicated as well as to determine the differences in data updated on the master volume, minimizing the amount of data to be transferred.
- HP Remote Snap replication technology provides the ability to accomplish key data management and protection capabilities. First, because Remote Snap uses snapshots as the underlying technology it creates multiple local recovery points which can be used for such tasks as to complement daily backups; second, replication provides the ability to access data in a remote site which could be used for dispersed operations; and third but definitely not least important replication allows for business continuance in the event of a failure on the primary site.
- In order to perform a replication, a snapshot of the volume to be replicated is taken, creating a point-in-time image of the data. This point-in-time image is then replicated to the destination volume by copying the data represented by the snapshot via a transport medium such as TCP/IP (iSCSI) or Fibre Channel. The amount of data transferred is minimized though the use of snapshots whenever possible.
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HP P2000 Array System Remote Snap Software LTU |
TA808A |
HP P2000 Array System Remote Snap Software E-LTU |
TA808AAE |
(NOTE: One license per array is required for replication. For example, if you have two P2000 arrays performing replication (from Primary system to Remote System), you will need 2 licenses). |
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Product Features |
- Storage based asynchronous snapshot replication
- Initial copy of data can be performed locally, reducing burden on wide area networks
- Support of both Ethernet and Fiber Channel interconnects provides flexible options to the application environments.
- Snapshot based replication technology means only changed data will be replicated to alternate site
- Many to 1 replication (up to 4 nodes) - primary use case is to replicate from "many" branch offices to the home office for the purpose of backing up data from the branches
- Single controller to single controller replication
- Mixed controller replication - replication between P2000 G3 Fibre Channel and P2000 G3 FC/iSCSI Combo arrays
- Advanced scheduler provides several options to IT administrators for business continuance
- Flexible architecture allows remote replication between P2000 G3 Fibre Channel and/or P2000 G3 FC/iSCSI Combo arrays. Protects existing investments and enhances business continuity planning objectives.
- Replication Wizard simplifies the task of setting up and establishing replication pairs from one unified, easy to use GUI.
- Snapshot based replication enables both local and remote recovery depending on the need. Snapshot replication isolates problems to a specific point in time which can be selected by the administrator. Additionally snapshot replication supports longer distance replication.
- Multiple relationships provide greater storage flexibility and utilization.
- Bundled 64 Snapshots and Volume Copy integration provides better efficiencies by combining the management and array technologies to create local copies.
- Fast application recovery with minimal or no transaction loss
- Creation of disaster tolerant copies of your critical business data
- No-single-point-of-failure solution to increase the availability of your customers data
- Remote snap operations and I/O can be processed simultaneously on HP 1GbE iSCSI MSA and HP 10GbE iSCSI MSA System controllers
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Customer Benefits |
Disaster Recovery |
Replication technology has typically been used to address disaster recovery issues. Disaster recovery is still the driving business case behind replication. Remote replication can be implemented from the production site to one or more remote sites across a campus, across town, across a state or across the country. When a disaster strikes the primary location, the applications can be brought up at the remote site and continue processing against the replicated copies. When the primary site is back online, the replication can be reversed and when the data is resynchronized, processing can be switched back to the primary site and business can continue. In the past, if an e-mail system experienced a disaster it was an "oh well" moment. The loss of a day or more of e-mail was not considered important. Today, e-mail is a critical component of many companies' business plans and recovering e-mail after a disaster quickly and completely is required. |
Maintenance |
HP Remote Snap software can also be used to solve other business needs. For instance, E-mail servers may need periodic maintenance that can take hours to complete. With remote replication in place, the downtime can be minimal (as long as it takes to bring the remote peer of the primary e-mail server online). The primary server can be worked on (patches, hardware upgrades, etc.) and then brought back online and into production. A whole datacenter can be failed over to a remote site on purpose to perform maintenance on generators, air conditioning, etc. Replication can also be used to perform a datacenter move with minimal downtime (fail everything to the DR site, move the production datacenter to its new location then fail the DR site back to the new datacenter). |
Storage Based |
Data replication is performed at the storage subsystem controller level and is totally transparent to the host, alleviating unnecessary host cycles to perform the data mirroring functions. Unlike a fabric based or host based solution, the storage based solution dedicates its resources to managing the replication process between arrays, with minimal impact to applications, other data or devices on the SAN. |
Bi-Directional |
The bidirectional HP P2000 Array solution addresses the growing need among businesses to ensure continuous availability of applications that are critical to daily business operations. HP P2000 enables two sites in a remote replication connection to use each other as a destination to maintain replicated copies of online data. This maximizes resource utilization while enabling business continuance, even in the event of disaster. |
Disaster Tolerance |
The P2000 G3 FC products utilize snapshot data online and in real time to a remote P2000 G3 through a local or extended storage area network (SAN). Additionally, data replication can be bidirectional, meaning that a storage array can be both a source and a destination. A particular LUN can be replicated in only one direction between the two storage arrays. Write I/O data sent to the source is replicated by HP P2000 Array to the destination. A pair of properly configured HP P2000 G3 FC arrays is a replication solution that guarantees data integrity in the event of a storage system or site failure. |
Normalization (first initial copy) |
When a DR site is initially created a normalization or initial copy of the data from the source volume to the target volume must occur. The P2000 G3 array allows this first copy to take place locally. After completion the disks can me manually moved to the remote location. Subsequent changes will only remotely copy the changed blocks. |
SAN Extensions |
HP P2000 G3 Array provides the capability to replicate data over direct Fibre Channel. The distances supported over dark fiber are determined by the speed of the dark fiber connection and the technology used to communicate over the dark fiber. |
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HP Storage Mirroring |
Natural and man-made disasters can occur when you least expect it - serving as a reminder that in less than a moment's notice, volumes of data loss can occur. To prevent data loss from failure, error, or disaster, HP Storage Mirroring Software provides replication and recovery of valuable Windows and Linux data to another server. Proactive replication is a key strategy coupled with tape backup and snapshot technology for up-to-the-second data protection. Having replicated data co-located enables customers to recover their static and transactional data in seconds to minutes.
Patented replication and failover technology continuously captures byte-level data changes as they occur in your production environment and replicates those changes to one or more servers in any location without geographic limitations. By replicating only the bytes that change, Storage Mirroring Software uses the absolute minimum bandwidth required to replicate customer data. The software does not require special hardware to run and utilizes existing LAN or WAN infrastructure -saving time, additional investment, and maintenance. Storage Mirroring software is storage independent and will support any DAS, NAS, and SAN storage device. Additional flexibility is achieved with Windows and Linux operating system support. Storage Mirroring works on Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Storage Server, 64-bit Windows, Windows on Itanium and Red Hat Linux. The platform flexibility, resource optimization, and application-specific protection enable customers to solidify their data and disaster protection strategies.
For more information visit:
HP Storage Mirroring Software - Overview & Features |