Replication Configuration

The Replication Configuration page allows you to configure and manage replication targets and allowed replication sources on the DXi. A source sends replicated data to 1 or 2 targets, and a target receives replicated data from up to 10 sources (number of sources variable based on V5000 resources configured).

Note: The network configuration of the source and target DXi must be setup properly for data to be replicated to one or more DXi. You can use Advanced Reporting to test the replication configuration and ensure that data is replicated across the Ethernet ports that suit your environment. You may wish to review Understanding Interface Routing for additional details regarding network setup.

Additional Information

To access the Replication Configuration page, click the Configuration menu, and then click the Replication tab.

Tasks

Use the Replication Configuration page to perform the following tasks:

The Target DXis list displays the following information for each target system:

Target The IP address of the target system where the DXi is configured to send data.
Status The replication status of the DXi. For a detailed description of all possible replication statuses, see Replication .
Source IP The IP address that is used to uniquely identify the source system to the target.
Encryption

The type of encryption used when sending replicated data to the target system (None, 128-bit, 256-bit, or TLS with AES 256).

Important Information

  • If TLS with AES 256 is selected, the factory installed certificates are inadequate for security. The factory installed certificates should be considered public domain and are provided only for convenience. You must install new certificates for secure encryption.
  • TLS with AES 256 must be enabled for this encryption option to appear. See Data Encryption.
Original Data Size The original, native size of data sent during replication or failback. This value does not represent the amount of data actually sent over the network during replication or failback because data is deduplicated and compressed before being sent.
Actual Data Sent The amount of data actually sent over the network during replication or failback. This value is usually much less than the Original Data Size due to the benefits of data deduplication and compression.
Average Send Rate The average send rate (in B/s) of data sent over the network during replication or failback (Actual Data Sent divided by the amount of time required to complete replication or failback).

You can customize the appearance of the DXis 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.

Note: The statistics in the Target DXis list are for each target system rather than a cumulative total for all targets as is displayed on the Home page.

Add a replication target to configure the DXi to send replicated data to that target. You can add up to two targets. After you add a target, you can enable replication to that target for a NAS share. When replication is enabled for a share, replicated data is sent to the target system during scheduled or manual replication.

Additional Information

  • Before you can add a replication target, you must add the system to the list of allowed replication sources on the target system. See Adding a Replication Source.
  • To add a new target when two targets are already configured, first delete one target, then add the new target. See Deleting a Replication Target.
  • For more information about enabling and scheduling replication for a share, see Replication Send.

To add a replication target:

  1. Under Target DXis, click Add.

    The Add Target DXi window displays.

  2. In the Target Hostname or IP box, enter the hostname or IP address of the system that will receive the replicated data.

    Additional Information

    • When entering IP addresses, never use an address that is in a reserved IP address range. To see a list of reserved IP address ranges, click the quick tip icon to the right of the Target Hostname or IP field.
    • To use hostname format, you must specify at least one DNS IP address on the Network page. See Network.

  3. In the Encryption drop-down box, select the type of encryption to use when sending replication data to the target system (None, 128‑bit, 256-bit, or TLS with AES 256).

    Important Information

    • If TLS with AES 256 is selected, the factory installed certificates are inadequate for security. The factory installed certificates should be considered public domain and are provided only for convenience. You must install new certificates for secure encryption.
    • TLS with AES 256 must be enabled for this encryption option to appear. See Data Encryption.

    Caution: For encryption, select None or 128-bit if you are sending data to a system running a system software version prior to system 2.1 Software.

  4. In the Source IP box, enter the IP address that is used to uniquely identify the source system to the target. This may be different than the actual network IP address of the source system.

    The default value is 0.0.0.0

    Additional Information

    • The Source IP field does not accept fully qualified domain names. You must enter a valid IP address. Make sure this IP address is configured in the allowable sources list on the target system.
    • When configuring segmented network interfaces, if the source system replication, data, and management interfaces are on the same subnet, you must add a host route on the source system to make sure the replication interface is correctly selected when replicating data to the target system. See Understanding Interface Routing.
  5. Click Apply.

Note: The new target is not automatically added to existing replication schedules. You must add or edit scheduled events to schedule replication to the new target. See Scheduler.

Edit a replication target to change encryption options or the source IP address.

To edit a replication target:

  1. Under Target DXi, select the target and click Pause to pause replication.

  2. Select the target again and click Edit.

    The Edit Target DXi dialog displays.

    Note: If you are editing a target, you cannot change the Target Hostname or IP.

  3. In the Encryption drop-down box, select the type of encryption to use when sending replication data to the target system (None, 128‑bit, 256-bit, or TLS with AES 256).

    Important Information

    • If TLS with AES 256 is selected, the factory installed certificates are inadequate for security. The factory installed certificates should be considered public domain and are provided only for convenience. You must install new certificates for secure encryption.
    • TLS with AES 256 must be enabled for this encryption option to appear. See Data Encryption.

    Caution: For encryption, select None or 128-bit if you are sending data to a system running a system software version prior to system 2.1 Software.

  4. In the Source IP Address box, enter the IP address that is used to uniquely identify the source system to the target. This may be different than the actual network IP address of the source system.

    The default value is 0.0.0.0.

    Additional Information

    • The Source IP Address field does not accept fully qualified domain names. You must enter a valid IP address. Make sure this IP address is configured in the allowable sources list on the target system.
    • When configuring segmented network interfaces, if the source system replication, data, and management interfaces are on the same subnet, you must add a host route on the source system to make sure the replication interface is correctly selected when replicating data to the target system. See Understanding Interface Routing.
  5. Click Apply.
  6. Under Target DXis, select the target and click Resume to pause replication.

Delete a replication target if the DXi no longer needs to send replicated data to that target. After the target system is deleted, the DXi will no longer send replicated data to that system.

When a target is deleted:

  • All replication jobs to that target that are in progress or queued will transition to failed.
  • All replication job history for that combination of target and share is removed.
  • All share will be reconfigured to no longer replicate to that target.

To delete a replication target:

  1. Under Target DXis, select one or more targets to delete.
  2. Click Pause to pause replication to the target.
  3. Click Delete.

Note: The deleted target is not automatically removed from existing replication schedules. You must edit scheduled events to remove the deleted target. See Scheduler.

The source system controls the replication pause behavior.

  • To pause replication, select a target under Target DXis and click Pause. The system temporarily stops sending replicated data to the selected target.
  • To resume replication, select a target under Target DXis and click Resume. The system resumes sending replicated data to the selected target.

Additional Information

  • If namespace replication is paused midway through a replication job, the job will fail.
  • If namespace replication is paused before the replication job starts, the job will sit in the queue until replication is resumed. When resumed the job will start and replication will occur.
  • File/Directory replication can be paused midway through a replication job. When resumed the job will continue from the point in time where it was paused.

The Source DXi list displays the following information for each source system:

Source The IP address of the source system that is allowed to send data to the DXi.
Actual Data Received The amount of data actually received over the network during replication or failback.
Average Receive Rate The average receive rate (in MB/s) of data received over the network during replication or failback (Actual Data Received divided by the amount of time required to complete replication or failback).

You can customize the appearance of the Source DXi 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.

Note: The statistics in the Source DXi list are for each source system rather than a cumulative total for all sources as is displayed on the Home page.

Add a system to the list of replication sources to allow it to send replicated data to the DXi. You must add a source system to the list of allowed replication sources on the target system before you configure the source system to send replicated data to the target. The system can receive replicated data from 1 source to 10 sources, with the limit based on configured resources.

Additional Information

  • For more information about working with received snapshots, see Receive NAS.
  • It is typical for the target system to require additional disk space for replication data compared to the source system. This is because complete replication data is sent to the target before old data is deleted. For optimal performance, if the system is a replication target, Quantum recommends keeping the amount of free space at 20% or more. See Disk Usage.

To add a replication source:

  1. Under Source DXis, click Add.

    The Add Allowed Source window displays.

  2. In the Source Hostname or IP box, enter the hostname or IP address of the system that will send the replicated data to the DXi.

    Note: To use hostname format, you must specify at least one DNS IP address on the Network page. See Network.

  3. Click Apply.

Delete a system from the list of replication sources if it will no longer send replicated data to the DXi. After the source system is deleted, the DXi will no longer accept replicated data from that system.

To delete a replication source:

  1. Under Source DXis, select one or more sources to delete.
  2. Click Delete.

Note: If a source system is deleted from the list, its contribution to the cumulative totals on the Home page are not removed until you clear Receive statistics. See Replication Performance.

During scheduled or manual namespace data replication, the DXi receives a snapshot from the source system.

The DXi can retain up to 32 snapshots for each replicated share. Once the maximum number of snapshots have been saved, the oldest snapshot is deleted to make room for each new snapshot that is received.

To change the maximum number of received snapshots:

  • Under Source DXis, in the Maximum Snapshots drop-down box, select the number of snapshots to retain for each replicated share.
  • The default value is 10. The maximum value is 32.

Note: Retaining more than the default number of snapshots will use additional disk space on the target system. This can cause the target system to fill up more quickly.