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Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP

Create a replication relationship in BlueXP workload factory

Contributors netapp-rlithman netapp-mwallis
PDFs

Create a replication relationship for an FSx for ONTAP file system in BlueXP workload factory to avoid data loss in case of an unforeseen disaster.

About this task

Replication is an added layer of data protection which is essential in case the region where your data resides experiences a disaster. Data loss can be avoided if you use cross-region replication.

This operation creates a replication relationship for one or all source volumes in an FSx for ONTAP file system.

Replicated volumes in the target file system are data protection (DP) volumes and follow the naming format: {OriginalVolumeName}_copy.

When replicating a source volume with immutable files, the target volume and file system become locked until the retention period of the immutable files in the source volume ends. The immutable files feature is available when you create a volume for an FSx for ONTAP file system.

Before you begin

Make sure you meet the following prerequisites before you begin.

Complete the following steps to replicate select volumes or replicate all volumes in a file system.

You can replicate one source (read/write) volume or one data protection (DP) volume. Cascading replication is supported, but a third hop isn't. Learn more about cascading replication.

Steps

  1. Log in using one of the console experiences.

  2. In Storage, select Go to storage inventory.

  3. In the FSx for ONTAP tab, select the three-dot menu of the file system that contains the volume(s) to replicate and then select Manage.

  4. Either replicate all volumes in a file system or replicate select volumes.

    • To replicate all volumes in a file system: From the file system overview, select Replicate data.

    • To replicate select volumes: From the file system overview, select the Volumes tab.

      In the Volumes table, select one or more volumes and then select Replicate data.

  5. On the Replicate data page, under Replication target, provide the following:

    1. FSx for ONTAP file system: Select credentials, region, and FSx for ONTAP file system name for the target FSx for ONTAP file system.

    2. Storage VM name: Select the storage VM from the dropdown menu. The storage VM you select is the target for all selected volumes in this replication relationship.

    3. Volume name: The target volume name is generated automatically with the following format {OriginalVolumeName}_copy. You can use the auto-generated volume name or enter another volume name.

    4. Use case: Select one of the following use cases for the replication. Depending on the selected use case, workload factory fills in the form with recommended values in accordance with best practices. You can accept the recommended values or make changes as you complete the form.

      • Migration: transfers your data to the target FSx for ONTAP file system

      • Hot disaster recovery: ensures high availability and rapid disaster recovery for critical workloads

      • Cold or archive disaster recovery:

        • Cold disaster recovery: uses longer recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objects (RPO) to lower costs

        • Archive: replicates data for long-term storage and compliance

      • Other

        Additionally, the use case selection determines the replication policy, or SnapMirror policy (ONTAP). The terms used to describe replication policies come from ONTAP 9 documentation.

        • For migration and other, the replication policy is called MirrorAllSnapshots. MirrorAllSnapshots is an asynchronous policy for mirroring all snapshots and the latest active file system.

        • For hot, cold, or archive disaster recovery, the replication policy is called MirrorAndVault. MirrorAndVault is an asynchronous and vault policy for mirroring the latest active file system and daily and weekly snapshots.

          For all use cases, if you enable snapshots for long-term retention, the default replication policy is MirrorAndVault.

    5. Tiering policy: Select the tiering policy for the data stored in the target volume. The tiering policy defaults to the recommended tiering policy for the use case you selected.

      Balanced (Auto) is the default tiering policy when creating a volume using the workload factory console. For more information about volume tiering policies, refer to Volume storage capacity in AWS FSx for NetApp ONTAP documentation. Note that Workload factory uses use-case based names in the workload factory console for tiering policies and includes FSx for ONTAP tiering policy names in parentheses.

      If you selected the migration use case, workload factory automatically selects to copy the tiering policy of source volume to the target volume. You can deselect to copy the tiering policy and select a tiering policy which applies to the volume selected for replication.

    6. Max transfer rate: Select Limited and enter the max transfer limit in MB/s. Alternatively, select Unlimited.

      Without a limit, network and application performance may decline. Alternatively, we recommend an unlimited transfer rate for FSx for ONTAP file systems for critical workloads, for example, those that are used primarily for disaster recovery.

  6. Under Replication settings, provide the following:

    1. Replication interval: Select the frequency that snapshots are transferred from the source volume to the target volume.

    2. Long-term retention: Optionally, enable snapshots for long-term retention. Long-term retention enables business services to continue operating even through a complete site failure, supporting applications to fail over transparently using a secondary copy.

      Replications without long-term retention use the MirrorAllSnapshots policy. Enabling long-term retention assigns the MirrorAndVault policy to the replication.

      If you enable long-term retention, then select an existing policy or create a new policy to define the snapshots to replicate and the number to retain.

      Note Matching source and target labels are required for long-term retention. If desired, Workload factory can create missing labels for you.

      • Choose an existing policy: select an existing policy from the dropdown menu.

      • Create a new policy: enter a policy name.

    3. Immutable snapshots: Optional. Select Enable immutable snapshots to prevent snapshots taken in this policy from being deleted during the retention period.

      • Set the Retention period in number of hours, days, months, or years.

      • Snapshot policies: In the table, select the snapshot policy frequency and the number of copies to retain. You can select more than one snapshot policy.

  1. Select Create.

Result

The replication relationship appears in the Replication relationships tab in the target FSx for ONTAP file system.