The snapmirror failover start command initiates a planned failover operation to change the roles of copies in a SnapMirror Business Continuity (SMBC) relationship without disrupting the client operations. The primary writable volumes become the secondary data protection volumes while the secondary data protection volumes become the primary writable volumes. The new primary volumes can begin processing I/O requests locally without disrupting the client operations. Asymmetric Logical Unit Access (ALUA) reporting will also change as a part of this role change.

You should execute the snapmirror failover start command from the destination cluster.

Make sure the relationship status is InSync and the ONTAP Mediator is configured, connected, and in quorum before using this command to switch the primary and secondary roles.

To perform a planned failover operation of an SMBC relationship with source Consistency Group cg_src in Vserver vs1.example.com , and the destination Consistency Group cg_dst in Vserver vs2.example.com , type the following command from the destination cluster:

Note: The SMBC relationship information in the snapmirror show command will now be available on the new destination that is Vserver vs2.example.com with cg_dst as the new source and cg_src as the new destination Consistency Groups after the SnapMirror failover operation is completed.