6. SRDF and SRDF Metro

Learn about the most advanced remote replication technology in the world. See just how easy it is to manage SRDF with built in automation in Unisphere by running through different scenarios and usage of SRDF

SRDF Setup

In this lesson we will explore the how to configure SRDF for replicating Data between two or more PowerMax arrays providing the highest availability and failover capabilities of PowerMax.

If you are starting the lab with this section, you will have to first login to the Unisphere UI. Double-click **U4V Demo** icon on the desktop. Login to Unisphere with the following settings: - Username: **smc** - Password: **smc**

From the Unisphere **Overview** page please select the local PowerMax 8500 array **107** Click **"000120200107"**

From the left hand menu select **System** then **Hardware**.

You are now brought to the new **OR Directors** view. From the **OR Directors** tab you can manage the SRDF hardware as well as see the live status of ports, note from the screenshot below you can see that 2 ports are online with a Status of ON meaning they are cabled and available for use - **OR-1C:6 & OR-2C:6**

Click **"Dashboard"**

Within the **Overview** page we are given a quick glance into general array information, System Health and links to functional dashboards. Select the **PROTECTION** tile.

Unisphere provides storage administrators a detailed replication dashboard, this view gives the user a summary window into all replicated storage groups for an array. Users can see at a glance the health of replication on replicated Storage Groups protected with SnapVX and SRDF shown on the **Protected Storage Groups** summary tab. In this instance we see that a Storage Group under SRDF protection is in a warning state, this indicates that these Storage Groups may have replication paused for some reason.

In the center of the screen you will see the SRDF Topology view, this interactive diagram shows the state of all replication configured and the relationships between PowerMax and VMAX arrays. The above step opens a more detailed view of the SRDF configuration for the selected array that are available on the PowerMax system. We are given key information about the connected SRDF environments as well as the technologies controlling the replication. Click on the **Line between array PowerMax array 0107 and VMAX array 0049** to check the state of the SRDF Links are in a good state. Once complete in the right hand pane under **Actions** Click **"CREATE SRDF GROUP"**

An SRDF group is a grouping of ports configured for SRDF replication between PowerMax or VMAX arrays. Devices are associated with the SRDF groups for control operations and depending on the SRDF mode of operation all managed devices may need to be managed together - Select **FC** as the Communication Protocol. - Select the remote array for this demo is **000197900049** - Provide a SRDF Group Label - **DTW_SRDF (or one of your choosing).** Click **"Next"**

Select the local RDF ports that will service the RDF traffic between systems: From the dropdown select **SRDF Group Number 4** and select the following SRDF enabled front end ports. - **OR-1C:6** - **OR-2C:6** Click **"Next"**

Select the remote RDF ports that will service the RDF traffic between the two systems: - **RF-1F:7** - **RF-2F:7** Click **"Next"**

Review the summary and click **"Run Now"**

Once the operation completes click **"OK"**

Navigate to **Data Protection** in the left hand pane, then selecting **SRDF Groups** on the left hand pane

On the **SRDF Groups** summary page for array **000120200107** you should now see the newly created SRDF group - **DTW_SRDF**

Tip! If this is the first SRDF group to be created between 2 arrays and FC Zoning is in place or IP Connectivity has been established, select the advanced menu options from the 3 vertical dots, from here follow the create SRDF Connection Wizard, the process is essentially like you have just followed the workflow is not currently completed in the demo edition. As always the full functionality is available through our rich REST API with the same simplicity and options you have seen in the UI.

Protecting a Storage Group with SRDF

In this lesson we will explore how to protect a storage group via SRDF

Protecting a storage group with SRDF is easy, the UI takes care of everything, - Automatic creation of SRDF groups if needed for SRDF/A or Metro - Creation and Pairing of Devices - Create Remote Storage Groups - Status Monitoring Lets give it a whirl!

Select a storage group from the storage group list view, in the example we are using the **DTW_SRDF** storage group, feel free to create this storage group or use any other storage group in the list such as the one created earlier in this demo - **demotest**

Click **"Protect"** From the top menu.

The **Protection wizard** has been launched, click the **"Setup Remote Replication using SRDF"** field.

Click **"Next"**

Select the Remote Array **"00197900049"** change the Replication Mode to **Synchronous**

Click **"Next"**

Review the **SRDF Groups,** Note on production systems with performance data registered a performance impact will be shown, A this point users will be able to review and change any of the components used for the replication, including a different target array should the workload push the limits of the configuration. Click **"Next"**

The **Summary** screen shows what is going to be created and the direction of sync all devices and storage groups on the remote array are automatically created by the wizard if a new SRDF group is need the wizard will do that too. Click **Run Now**

That's it.. The task summary screens show you all the work that has been done for you by the wizard, your remote replication has been setup and configured all that is left to do is add the storage group on the remote array to a masking view for host access. Once complete click **OK**

Lets see the changes in the User interface

Select the storage group to expand the details view on the right, note SRDF now shows **"Yes"** indicating that remote replication is active for the storage group.

Click the storage group you protected hyperlink to access the details views. e.g **DTW_SRDF** or **demotest**

Click the **"Data Protection"** tab.

Click the **SRDF** tab and note the storage groups is now in a **Synchronized** state and replicating to the remote array.

Failing Over to a Remote Site

In this section we will demonstrate how to initiate a failover of SRDF protected storage volumes to the storage array disaster recovery site using the Unisphere for PowerMax GUI and how to failback. In a disaster recovery scenario users will failover applications from primary site (R1) to (R2). We will show how to to that from the UI,

From the **SRDF** tab select the SRDF session Click the **three vertical dots** to access the Failover Options Click **"Failover"**

Take a moment to review the failover options, the graphic in the center will show you the end state of the selected operation ensuring that you as a user are confident of the outcome of the select action with the options selected. In this case we are selecting a simple failover making Remote site (R2) accessible and suspending IO on the Original Source (R1). Click **"Run Now"** to execute the failover.

Click **"OK"**

Note the state is now **Failed Over**.

Failover in this manner is usually temporary, once ready to resume on the original production site once a failback can be performed. Prior to doing a planned failback, applications and hosts accessing the data at the remote site should be shut down in an orderly fashion to be restarted at Productions site.

Click the three vertical dots, from the advanced menu click **"Failback"**

Click **"Run Now"**

Review the task summary and once complete click **OK** Note any changes made on the R2 site are automatically transferred back to the production site ensuring no data is lost and Recovery Point Objective is **"Zero"**.

Note the state has changed from **Failed Over** to **Synchronized** and data flow has resumed.

Establishing and Protecting Storage with SRDF/Metro

You will now go through the process of protecting a Storage Group leveraging SRDF/Metro using the protection wizard in Unisphere. Just like before the wizard will do all the work for you,

Select **Storage** then **Storage Groups**

Scroll down and select **Test_database**

Click **"Protect"**

Select **Setup High Availability using SRDF/Metro**. Click **"Next"**

Continue with the defaults and click **Next**

Review the **SRDF group**s summary

Click **"Next"**

Click **"Run Now"** to create the pairings and necessary SRDF groups

Review the Tasks summary to understand everything that has been created by the wizard. Click **OK**

Access the **SRDF** tab, by clicking on the **"Yes"** next to SRDF, in the details section of the **"Test_database"** SG Click **"Yes"**

Ensure you are on the **SRDF** tab, and from here you will note that the **Test_database** Storage Group is protected and in an **ActiveActive** state.

Capacity requirements change as applications grow, so it is rare to have a static configuration it's often hard to predict up front how much storage will be required, Having flexibility to be able to expand devices or add new ones to a configuration is crucial. PowerMax arrays have this flexibility built in and the wizards in Unisphere make it easy to do this even in replication environments with multiple sites. Here we will look at how to add new devices to the SRDF Metro Protected Storage group we just protected.

We will now seamlessly add devices to a Metro protected SG. To do this, we need to navigate back to the **Storage Group** list. From here, select **Storage > Storage Groups**

Select **Test_datastore**

Click **"Modify"**

We will be presented with the **"Modify Storage Group"** wizard, and from within here, we can increase the volume count. In our example, we are going to increase from **8 x 128** to **10 x 128** for a total of **1280Gb** If we click on the warning triangle, we are brought to the wizard, where we can select the remote array, and the remote SG to add additional devices too.

Select the **049** array and **Test_database** SG Click **"Apply"**

Click **"Run Now"**

Once the operation completes, click **"OK"**

We can now see that this SG has been expanded to **1,280Gb**

Congratulations! You have reached the end of this particular lesson. Click **Close** in the top left corner of this script to return to the demo guide.

6. SRDF and SRDF Metro

SRDF Setup

In this lesson we will explore the how to configure SRDF for replicating Data between two or more PowerMax arrays providing the highest availability and failover capabilities of PowerMax.

From the Unisphere **Overview** page please select the local PowerMax 8500 array **107** Click **"000120200107"**

From the left hand menu select **System** then **Hardware**.

Click **"Dashboard"**

Within the **Overview** page we are given a quick glance into general array information, System Health and links to functional dashboards. Select the **PROTECTION** tile.

Select the remote RDF ports that will service the RDF traffic between the two systems: - **RF-1F:7** - **RF-2F:7** Click **"Next"**

Review the summary and click **"Run Now"**

Once the operation completes click **"OK"**

Navigate to **Data Protection** in the left hand pane, then selecting **SRDF Groups** on the left hand pane

On the **SRDF Groups** summary page for array **000120200107** you should now see the newly created SRDF group - **DTW_SRDF**

Protecting a Storage Group with SRDF

In this lesson we will explore how to protect a storage group via SRDF

Click **"Protect"** From the top menu.

The **Protection wizard** has been launched, click the **"Setup Remote Replication using SRDF"** field.

Click **"Next"**

Select the Remote Array **"00197900049"** change the Replication Mode to **Synchronous**

Click **"Next"**

Lets see the changes in the User interface

Select the storage group to expand the details view on the right, note SRDF now shows **"Yes"** indicating that remote replication is active for the storage group.

Click the storage group you protected hyperlink to access the details views. e.g **DTW_SRDF** or **demotest**

Click the **"Data Protection"** tab.

Click the **SRDF** tab and note the storage groups is now in a **Synchronized** state and replicating to the remote array.

Failing Over to a Remote Site

From the **SRDF** tab select the SRDF session Click the **three vertical dots** to access the Failover Options Click **"Failover"**

Click **"OK"**

Note the state is now **Failed Over**.

Click the three vertical dots, from the advanced menu click **"Failback"**

Click **"Run Now"**

Note the state has changed from **Failed Over** to **Synchronized** and data flow has resumed.

Establishing and Protecting Storage with SRDF/Metro

You will now go through the process of protecting a Storage Group leveraging SRDF/Metro using the protection wizard in Unisphere. Just like before the wizard will do all the work for you,

Select **Storage** then **Storage Groups**

Scroll down and select **Test_database**

Click **"Protect"**

Select **Setup High Availability using SRDF/Metro**. Click **"Next"**

Continue with the defaults and click **Next**

Review the **SRDF group**s summary

Click **"Next"**

Click **"Run Now"** to create the pairings and necessary SRDF groups

Review the Tasks summary to understand everything that has been created by the wizard. Click **OK**

Access the **SRDF** tab, by clicking on the **"Yes"** next to SRDF, in the details section of the **"Test_database"** SG Click **"Yes"**

Ensure you are on the **SRDF** tab, and from here you will note that the **Test_database** Storage Group is protected and in an **ActiveActive** state.

We will now seamlessly add devices to a Metro protected SG. To do this, we need to navigate back to the **Storage Group** list. From here, select **Storage > Storage Groups**

Select **Test_datastore**

Click **"Modify"**

Select the **049** array and **Test_database** SG Click **"Apply"**

Click **"Run Now"**

Once the operation completes, click **"OK"**

We can now see that this SG has been expanded to **1,280Gb**

Congratulations! You have reached the end of this particular lesson. Click **Close** in the top left corner of this script to return to the demo guide.