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What to know before copying LUNs

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You should be aware of certain things before copying a LUN.

Cluster administrators can copy a LUN across storage virtual machines (SVMs) within the cluster by using the lun copy command. Cluster administrators must establish the storage virtual machine (SVM) peering relationship using the vserver peer create command before an inter-SVM LUN copy operation is performed. There must be enough space in the source volume for a SIS clone.

LUNs in Snapshot copies can be used as source LUNs for the lun copy command. When you copy a LUN using the lun copy command, the LUN copy is immediately available for read and write access. The source LUN is unchanged by creation of a LUN copy. Both the source LUN and the LUN copy exist as unique LUNs with different LUN serial numbers. Changes made to the source LUN are not reflected in the LUN copy, and changes made to the LUN copy are not reflected in the source LUN. The LUN mapping of the source LUN is not copied to the new LUN; the LUN copy must be mapped.

Data protection through Snapshot copies occurs at the volume level. Therefore, if you copy a LUN to a volume different from the volume of the source LUN, the destination LUN falls under the data protection scheme of the destination volume. If you do not have Snapshot copies established for the destination volume, Snapshot copies are not created of the LUN copy.

Copying LUNs is a nondisruptive operation.

You cannot copy the following types of LUNs:

  • A LUN that has been created from a file

  • A LUN that is in NVFAIL state

  • A LUN that is in a load-sharing relationship

  • A protocol-endpoint class LUN