Dell 36XX, 34XX, 38XX Using The Remote Replication Premium Feature, How Remote Replication Works

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Using The Remote Replication Premium Feature

The following types of Remote Replication premium features are supported on the MD storage array:

Remote	Standard asynchronous replication using point-in-time images to batch the
Replication	resynchronization between the local and remote site. This type of replication is
	supported on either Fibre Channel or iSCSI storage arrays (both local and remote
	arrays must have the same data protocol).
Remote	Synchronous (or full-write) replication that synchronizes local and remote site data
Replication	in real-time. This type of replication is supported on Fibre Channel storage arrays
(Legacy)	only.

NOTE: This chapter describes the standard Remote Replication premium feature supported in both iSCSI and Fibre Channel storage arrays only. To understand the Remote Replication (legacy) premium feature, see Using The Remote Replication (Legacy) Premium Feature.

The Remote Replication premium feature provides for online, real-time replication of data between storage arrays over a remote distance. In the event of a disaster or a catastrophic failure on one storage array, you can promote the second storage array to take over responsibility for computing services. Remote Replication is designed for extended storage environments in which the storage arrays that are used for Remote Replication are maintained at separate sites.

You can use Remote Replication for these functions:

Disaster	Remote Replication lets you replicate data from one site to another site, which
recovery	provides an exact duplicate at the remote (secondary) site. If the primary site fails,
	you can use replicated data at the remote site for failover and recovery. You can
	then shift storage operations to the remote site for continued operation of all of
	the services that are usually provided by the primary site.
Data vaulting	Remote Replication lets you send data off site where it can be protected. You can
and data	then use the off-site copy for testing or to act as a source for a full backup to avoid
availability	interrupting operations at the primary site.
Two-way data	Remote Replication provides the ability to have two storage arrays back up each
protection	other by duplicating critical virtual disks on each storage array to virtual disks on
	the other storage array. This action lets each storage array recover data from the
	other storage array in the event of any service interruptions.

How Remote Replication Works

Standard Remote Replication (asynchronous) is a premium feature that provides RAID controller-based data replication between a local and remote storage array on a per-virtual disk basis. By identifying

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