Replication Send

The Replication Send page allows you to manage outgoing replication activity for NAS shares or VTL partitions. You can replicate shares or partitions on the DXi6900 (the source) to other DXi systems (the targets). You can also schedule replication, and view the status of current and recent replication jobs.

Note: Before you can replicate shares or partitions, you must specify a replication target (see Adding a Replication Target).

To access the Replication Send page, click the Replication menu, and then click the Send tab (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Replication Send Page

Tasks

Use the Replication Send page to perform the following tasks:

The Replication Jobs list displays replication statistics for all NAS shares or VTL partitions on the DXi6900 that are eligible for replication. To be eligible for replication, a share or partition must have data deduplication enabled at the time it is created.

Note: For information about creating NAS shares or VTL partitions, (see Adding a NAS Share or Adding a VTL Partition).

The Replication Jobs list displays the following information:

NAS/VTL - The name of the share or partition. Hold the cursor over the name to display detailed information about the share or partition.

Replication - The replication state (On or Off). Click the toggle switch to turn replication on or off for the share or partition.

Additional Information

  • Click the arrow next to Shares or Partitions to display all shares or partitions in the list. Alternately, click the plus [ + ] or minus [ - ] icons to show or hide all shares or partitions.
  • If multiple targets are configured for a share or partition, click the arrow next to the share or partition to view all targets.
  • Clicking the toggle next to Shares or Partitions will turn replication on or off for all shares or partitions.
Replication Jobs Information Description
Target The hostname or IP address of the configured replication target. If the share or partition is configured to replicate to multiple targets, click the arrow next to the share or partition name to display all targets.
Sync ID The Sync ID of the share or partition if Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication is enabled.
Last Job Type The type of the most recent replication job (Replication or Synchronization).
Job Status The status of the most recent replication job (see Replication and Synchronization Status). Hold the cursor over the job status to display detailed job statistics.
Started The time the most recent replication job was started.
Finished The time the most recent replication job was completed.
Schedule A watch icon displays if replication is scheduled for the share or partition, as well as the next scheduled event (see Scheduling a Share or Partition For Replication).

Replication Jobs Customization

You can customize the appearance of the Replication Jobs list in the following ways:

Click the top banner row of the list to collapse or expand the list.

Click the arrow to the right of a column heading and select Sort Ascending or Sort Descending to sort the rows in the table by that column.

To show or hide a column, click the arrow to the right of a column heading, and then click Columns. Select the check box to show a column, or clear the check box to hide a column. (The following columns are hidden by default: Original Data Size, Actual Data Sent, and Average Data Sent.)

To filter content in a column, click the arrow to the right of a column heading, and then click Filters. Type or select the desired filter. (If one row for a share or partition matches the filter, all rows for the share or partition are displayed.)

A replication job can have one of the following statuses:

In Progress The replication job is in progress.
Partial A replication job was partially completed. Generate a replication report to see the files that were not replicated.
Queued The replication job is queued and will continue when the system is ready.
Success The replication job was completed successfully.
Failed The replication job was not completed.

A synchronization job can have one of the following statuses:

Queued The synchronization job is queued and will continue when the system is ready.
Success The synchronization job was completed successfully.
Recovering The recover operation is in process.
Replicating The replication operation is in process.
Failed The synchronization job was not completed.

Enable replication for a NAS share or VTL partition to allow the data on the share or partition to be replicated to other DXi systems (the targets). Disable replication if you do not want to replicate the share or partition to other DXi systems.

Note: To be eligible for replication, a share or partition must have data deduplication enabled at the time it is created.

To enable or disable replication for a share or partition:

  1. Select the share or partition and click Configure.

    The Share or Partition Configure window displays (see Figure 2).

    Figure 2: Share or Partition Configure Window

  2. Select the Enable Replication check box to enable replication for the share or partition.
  3. Or clear the Enable Replication check box to disable replication for the share or partition. Any jobs from that share or partition that are in progress or queued will transition to failure. Also, all replication job history for that combination of target and share or partition will be removed.
  4. Select the check box for each replication target you want to replicate the share or partition to. (You must select at least one target.) When the share or partition is replicated, its data will be sent to all selected targets.
  5. Click Apply.

Additional Information

Configure a NAS share or VTL partition for Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication to automatically replicate files or cartridges to other DXi systems (the targets). A file is automatically replicated when it is closed or a period of time after it is modified. A cartridge is automatically replicated when it is unmounted. After replication, the replicated files or cartridges are immediately available on the target systems. There is no need to recover the share or partition to make the files or cartridges available. Disable Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication if you do not want to automatically replicate files or cartridges.

When you configure a share or partition for Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication, you must specify a Sync ID. The Sync ID associates the share or partition on the source system with the share or partition on the target systems that will received the replicated data. The Sync ID for the source share or partition must match the Sync ID for the target share or partition.

If Cartridge Based Replication is enabled for a VTL partition, the following media behaviors apply:

  • When a cartridge is exported from the partition, the cartridge is deleted from the configured target systems.
  • When a cartridge is imported into the partition, the cartridge is replicated to the configured target systems.
  • When a cartridge is deleted on a source system, it is in the Unassigned partition, thus this action has no effect on Cartridge Based Replication activity.

To configure a source share or partition for Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication:

  1. If you have not already done so, configure the target share or partition on the target DXi (see Configuring a Target Share for Directory/File Based Replication or Configuring a Target Partition for Cartridge Based Replication.)

  2. On the source DXi , select the source share or partition and click Configure.

    The Share or Partition Configure window displays (see Figure 3).

    Figure 3: Share or Partition Configure Window

  3. If it is not already selected, select the Enable Replication check box to enable replication for the share or partition.

  4. Select the Enable Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication to target check box to enable Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication for the share or partition.

    Or clear the Enable Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication to target check box to disable Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication for the share or partition.

  5. Enter a Sync ID in the box.

    Additional Information

    • The Sync ID is used to identify the target share or partition that will receive replicated data from the source share or partition. The Sync IDmust be identical to the Sync ID of the target share or partition on the target system.
    • The Sync ID must contain no more than 32 characters (NAS share) or 12 characters (VTL partition) and can contain only alphanumeric characters, underscores, and hyphens. (An underscore or hyphen must not be the first character.)
    • If you are performing Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication with a system running a DXi software version prior to 2.3, you may need to change the Sync ID on the system running pre-2.3 software to match the above Sync ID name restrictions.

  6. Select the check box for each replication target you want to replicate the share or partition to. (You must select at least one target.) When the share or partition is replicated, its data will be sent to all selected targets.

    Note: Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication will be configured for all selected targets. You cannot configure one share or partition for multiple replication types.

  7. Click Apply.

Note: After you configure a share or partition for Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication, you should synchronize it to ensure it is in sync with the target share or partition (see Synchronizing a Share or Partition).

Replicate a NAS share or VTL partition to send a snapshot of the share or partition to the target systems. A snapshot is required to recover the data on the targets at a later time. If you have not configured a replication schedule for a share or partition, replication only occurs when you manually initiate it (see ).

Caution: Do not replicate a partition containing media in an Exported state.

To replicate a share or partition:

  1. Select the share or partition to replicate.

    If multiple targets are configured, click the arrow next to the share or partition to display all targets, and then select the desired target.

  2. Click Replicate Now.

The status of the replication job displays in the Job Status column.

To cancel the replication job, select the share or partition and click Abort.

Synchronize a NAS share or VTL partition to synchronize its contents with the corresponding share or partition on the target systems. To synchronize a share or partition, it must be configured for Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication (see Configuring a Target Share for Directory/File Based Replication).

Synchronizing a share or partition ensures that the contents of the source share or partition are the same as the target share or partition. The synchronization verifies that the same files or cartridges exist in both locations, and that no additional files or cartridges exist in either location.

You should perform a synchronization in any of the following situations:

  • When Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication is first enabled for a share or partition.
  • If a Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication job fails.
  • If Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication is disabled for a time and then is re-enabled.

Manually performing a synchronization is not necessary except in the cases described above. When synchronization is manually initiated for a share or partition, the replication queue for that share or partition is cleared. All file write and delete requests are queued after the synchronization, and they are not processed until the synchronization is complete. This can cause replication to appear to be slow, especially for a share or partition that is frequently accessed.

Caution: Before synchronizing a share or partition, make sure all media are unmounted and there are no active backup jobs to the share or partition. (After the synchronization reaches the Replicating state, backup jobs are allowed.)

Additional Information

To synchronize a share or partition:

  1. Select the share or partition to synchronize.

    If multiple targets are configured, click the arrow next to the share or partition to display all targets, and then select the desired target.

  2. Click Synchronize Now.

The status of the synchronization job displays in the Job Status column.

To cancel the synchronization job, select the share or partition and click Abort.

The Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication displays replication statistics for shares or partitions that are configured for Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication (see Configuring Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication).

To view the Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication Queue:

  1. Select a share or partition that is configured for Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication.

    If multiple targets are configured, click the arrow next to the share or partition to display all targets, and then select the desired target.

  2. Click Queue.

    The Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication Queue displays the following information for the share or partition:

    File/Directory or Barcode The file/directory or cartridge to be replicated.
    State The replication state for the file/directory or cartridge.
    Progress The percentage complete for replication of the file/directory or cartridge.
    Estimated Duration

    The estimated time it will take to complete replication for the file/directory or cartridge.

    Note: The estimated duration may display as unknown if replication has been very recently initiated. After the system has enough information to calculate a value, the estimated duration will display.

    Additional Information

    • The contents of the Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication Queue are dynamic. Because of this, statistics are subject to change if items are added to the queue.
    • The queue may show a large number of deletion entries after a single directory is deleted. This is expected behavior, and occurs because several recursive file or subdirectory deletions may be required.
  3. To close the Directory/File or Cartridge Based Replication Queue, click the Close icon.

When a share or partition is enabled for replication, it is important to regularly replicate the share or partition to the target systems. Quantum recommends scheduling replication to run after backups are complete.

To schedule a share or partition for replication, click Scheduler. The Scheduler window displays (see Figure 4).

For details about using the Scheduler to add or edit a replication schedule, see Scheduling a for Replication.

Figure 4: Scheduler Window

The Target DXis list allows you to configure and manage replication targets on the DXi6900. Click the arrows at the upper right, or click the top banner row, to expand or collapse the Target DXis list.