DELL 34XX User Manual

Remote Replication Group

After your Remote Replication premium feature is activated on both local and remote storage arrays, you
must create Remote Replication groups on the local storage array.
A replication group contains at least one replicated virtual disk pair, one on the local storage and one on
the remote storage array, that share data synchronization settings. Multiple replicated pairs can reside in a
replication group, but each pair can only be a member of one Remote Replication group.

The following attributes also apply to a Remote Replication group:

• The local storage array serves as the primary side of the Remote Replication group, while the remote

storage array serves as the secondary side of the Remote Replication group.

• At the virtual disk level, all virtual disks added to the Remote Replication group on the local storage

array serve as the primary role in the Remote Replication configuration. Virtual disks added to the

group on the remote storage array serve the secondary role.

Once you have selected virtual disks at both the remote and local storage array that you want to pair in a
replication relationship, adding them to a replication group actually begins the replication
synchronization process.

For more detailed information on the role of Remote Replication groups, see the Administrator's Guide.

Previous Users Of Remote Replication (Legacy) Premium

Feature

If you have upgraded (or plan to upgrade) your RAID controller firmware version to a level that supports
both legacy and non-legacy Remote Replication, any legacy replication configurations you have
previously set up will be unaffected, and will continue to function normally.

Remote Replication Requirements And Restrictions

To use the standard Remote Replication premium feature, you must have:

• Two storage arrays with write access and both these storage arrays must have sufficient space to

replicate data between them.

• Each storage must have a dual-controller Fibre Channel or iSCSI configuration (single-controller

configurations are not supported).

• Fibre Channel Connection Requirements — You must attach dedicated remote replication ports to a

Fibre Channel fabric environment. In addition, these ports must support the Name Service.

• You can use a fabric configuration that is dedicated solely to the remote replication ports on each

RAID controller module. In this case, host systems can connect to the storage arrays using fabric.

• Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL), or point-to-point configurations, are not supported for array-

to-array communications.

• Maximum distance between the local site and remote site is 10 km (6.2 miles), using single-mode fibre

Gigabit interface converters (GBICs) and optical long-wave GBICs.

• iSCSI connection considerations:

– iSCSI does not require dedicated ports for replication data traffic
– iSCSI array-to-array communication must use a host-connected port (not the Ethernet

management port).