Creating a Protected Group for LUNs

Prerequisites

• At least one production site has been created.
• At least one storage device has been added.
• LUNs in the backup (SAN) scenario must belong to the system vStore.

Context

• Protected objects in a protected group must reside on the same storage device.
• If the DR Star network is used and the protected object type is LUN, ensure that the LUNs used by the protected objects in the protected group must be in the same DR Star, and only the LUNs used by the protected objects can exist in the DR Star.

Procedure

1. In the menu bar, Choose Protection.
2. Click Create.
3. Select a protected object.
   1. Select Production Site and Disk Array.
   2. In LUN and Consistency Groups, select the protect object.
      • LUN

        If you want to protect one LUN only or multiple LUNs that reside in different remote replication consistency groups, set the protected object type to LUN.

      • Remote replication consistency group

        If you want to protect all LUNs of one remote replication consistency group, set the protected object type to Remote replication consistency group.

        

        If a DR Star network is used, you can select multiple remote replication consistency groups.

4. Click Next.
5. Set a protection policy.
   1. On the Protection Policy page, the system automatically matches supported protection policies. Select a policy based on your data protection solution.
      • When the parallel replication (synchronous and asynchronous) or cascading replication in the DR Star network (synchronous + asynchronous) DR technology is used, select Parallel Replication (Synchronous and Asynchronous):Geo-Redundant DR solution.
      • When the cascading replication (synchronous and asynchronous) or parallel replication in the DR Star network (synchronous + asynchronous) DR technology is used, select Cascading Replication (Synchronous and Asynchronous):Geo-Redundant DR solution.
      • When the cascading replication (asynchronous and asynchronous) DR technology is used, select Parallel Replication (Asynchronous and Asynchronous):Geo-Redundant DR solution.
      • When the parallel replication (asynchronous and asynchronous) DR technology is used, select Cascading Replication (Asynchronous and Asynchronous):Geo-Redundant DR solution.
      • When the SAN HyperMetro + SAN cascading replication (HyperMetro + asynchronous + asynchronous) DR technology is used, select SAN active-active + SAN cascading replication (active-active + asynchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution.
      • When the SAN HyperMetro + SAN parallel replication (HyperMetro + asynchronous + asynchronous) DR technology is used, select SAN active-active + SAN parallel replication (active-active + asynchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution.
      • When the SAN HyperMetro + SAN cascading replication (HyperMetro + synchronous + asynchronous) DR technology is used, select SAN active-active + SAN cascading replication (active-active + synchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution.
      • When the SAN HyperMetro + SAN parallel replication (HyperMetro + synchronous + asynchronous) DR technology is used, select SAN active-active + SAN parallel replication (active-active + synchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution.
      • When the SAN multi-DC cascading integrated DR and backup (HyperMetro + synchronous + asynchronous) technology is used, select SAN multi-DC cascading all-in-one backup (HyperMetro + synchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution.
      • When the SAN multi-DC parallel integrated DR and backup (HyperMetro + synchronous + asynchronous) technology is used, select SAN multi-DC parallel all-in-one backup (HyperMetro + synchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution.
      • When the HyperMetro (SAN) and asynchronous replication (SAN) DR technology is used, select HyperMetro and Array-Based Replication (Asynchronous):Geo-Redundant DR solution.
      • When the SAN multi-DC parallel integrated DR and backup (HyperMetro + asynchronous + asynchronous) technology is used, select SAN multi-DC parallel all-in-one backup .(HyperMetro + asynchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution.
      • When the SAN multi-DC cascading integrated DR and backup (HyperMetro + asynchronous + asynchronous) technology is used, select SAN multi-DC cascading all-in-one backup (HyperMetro + asynchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution.
      

      • If there are suitable protection policies, you can select a protection policy based on your data protection solution and modify the time policy of the protection policy.
      • If there is no suitable protection policy, check whether the storage devices used by protected objects have been configured as planned. If the storage devices have not been configured, configure them as planned. After configuration, perform the following operations: On the menu bar, select Resources. Select a node under the management server. In the site node, click Storage, in the line where the storage device resides, click Refresh to refresh the storage device information under the site. Then, recreate the protected group.
   2. Click Set to set the protection policy for the protected group.
      • For the SAN multi-DC cascading all-in-one backup (HyperMetro + synchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution and SAN multi-DC parallel all-in-one backup (HyperMetro + synchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution protection policies, in the Quick Backup area of Protection Policy, click Set to set the protection policy for the protected group. Click Enable Quick Backup and select Backup Type.
      • For the SAN multi-DC cascading all-in-one backup (HyperMetro + asynchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution and SAN multi-DC parallel all-in-one backup (HyperMetro + asynchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution protection policies, in the Quick Backup area of the Protection Policy, click Set to set the protection policy for the protected group. Click Enable Quick Backup and select Backup Type.
      

      • For the Parallel Replication (Synchronous and Asynchronous):Geo-Redundant DR solution, Cascading Replication (Synchronous and Asynchronous):Geo-Redundant DR solution protection policy, you need to set scheduling policy in synchronous end, set scheduling policy, consistency policy and replication policy in asynchronous end.
      • For the Parallel Replication (Asynchronous and Asynchronous):Geo-Redundant DR solution, Cascading Replication (Asynchronous and Asynchronous):Geo-Redundant DR solution protection policy, you need to set scheduling policy, consistency policy and replication policy in two asynchronous end.
      • For the SAN active-active + SAN cascading replication (active-active + asynchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution and SAN active-active + SAN parallel replication (active-active + asynchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution protection policies, you need to configure the time scheduling policy, replication policy, and consistency policy for the two asynchronous ends at the same time.
      • For the SAN active-active + SAN cascading replication (active-active + synchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution and SAN active-active + SAN parallel replication (active-active + synchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution protection policies, you need to configure the time scheduling policy at the synchronous end, the time scheduling policy at the asynchronous end, the replication policy, and the consistency policy.
      • For the SAN multi-DC cascading all-in-one backup (HyperMetro + synchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution and SAN multi-DC parallel all-in-one backup (HyperMetro + synchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution protection policies, configure the time scheduling policy, replication policy, and consistency policy for the asynchronous end at the same time.
      • For the SAN multi-DC cascading all-in-one backup (HyperMetro + asynchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution and SAN multi-DC parallel all-in-one backup (HyperMetro + asynchronous + asynchronous): Multi-DC Four-Copy DR Solution protection policies, configure the time scheduling policy, replication policy, and consistency policy for the asynchronous ends at the same time.
      • For the HyperMetro and Array-Based Replication (Asynchronous):Geo-Redundant DR solution protection policy, you need to set scheduling policy, consistency policy and replication policy in asynchronous end.
      1. Click the Scheduling Policy tab. In the Time Policy area, set the time policy for the protected group. Table 1 lists related parameters.

         

         Table 1 Time policies

         Time Policy	Description
         On-demand scheduling	Manually starts protection tasks.
         Period-based scheduling	Automatically starts protection tasks based on a period set by the system. NOTE: To ensure data consistency, the execution timetable for a protected group policy template must be set. You are advised to set the execution time to off-peak hours. Tasks can be executed at multiple time points of a day, a week, or a month. Alternatively, at a specific time segment of a day, a week, or a month with a fixed frequency. It is recommended that the starting time of the validate period is set to a time later than the completion of the initial synchronization. If daylight saving time (DST) is enabled on the eReplication management server, a DR protection task whose trigger time point falls within the DST shift period cannot be executed at the scheduled time. Details are as follows: (UTC-08:00) Pacific Time (United States and Canada) is used as an example. The DST starts at 2016-03-12 02:00:00, and ends at 2016-11-06 02:00:00. If the start time of the protection policy falls within the first hour (2016-03-12 02:00:00 to 03:00:00) after the DST starts, for example, 2016-03-12 02:30:00, the protection group will be automatically executed with a delay of one hour, that is 2016-03-12 03:30:00. If the start time of the protection policy falls with the last hour (2016-11-06 01:00:00 to 02:00:00) before the DST ends, for example, 2016-11-06 01:30:00, the protection group will be executed after the DST ends for half an hour.

      2. When the Scheduling Policy is set to Period-based scheduling, in the Expected RPO area, if you select Enable PRO Requirement Satisfaction Check, the actual RPO is check against the configured RPO. If the actual RPO exceeds the expected RPO, the system generates an alarm, indicating that the RPO requirement is not satisfied.

         

         Expected RPO can be set to 0-31 days, 0-23 hours, and 5-59 minutes.

         

         If days and hours are not set, the Expected RPO is 15 minutes by default.

      3. Click Replication Policy tab to set the remote replicate rate between storage arrays. Table 2 lists related parameters.

         

         Table 2 Replication policies

         Replication Policy	Description
         Default configuration	The remote replication rate is the default one set on the storage array.
         Manual configuration	Users can set the remote replication rate for each time segment. Configure the automatic remote replication rate of the storage based on the pre-set replication rate of time period. Select Manual configuration. Click a time color block to modify the replication rate during a time segment.

      4. If Enable consistency protection is selected, the system runs the application freezing script on a specific host (or host group) to ensure replica data consistency when a protection task is being executed. After replicas are generated or applications are not unfrozen within the allowed freezing timeout duration, the system automatically runs the unfreezing script to ensure normal service operation.

         

         • If Enable consistency protection is selected, select Application Host (Group) of the executed script and fill in Freezing Script, Unfreezing Script, Freezing Status Query Script, and Freezing Timeout.
         

         The scripts are not delivered with the eReplication. The script provider needs to ensure the correctness of the script. Before configuring a script, check whether the script is verified by tests.

         • Freezing Script: this script is used to unfreeze application I/Os.
         • Unfreezing Script: this script is used to check whether applications are frozen.
         • Freezing Status Query Script: this script is used to check whether applications are frozen.
         • Freezing Timeout indicates the maximum freezing duration supported by host services. The default value is 60 seconds.
      5. Click OK.

6. Click Next.
7. Set Name and Description of the protected group.
   • Name: contains 4 to 32 characters, including letters, digits, underscores (_), and hyphens (-), but cannot start with a hyphen (-).
   • Description: contains 0 to 255 characters.

8. Optional: If you do not want to manually create a recovery plan for the protected group, select Automatically create a recovery plan after creating protected groups in the lower left corner.
9. Click Finish.
10. Click OK.

Related Operations

• If the protected objects of a protected group or their used storage devices change. On the menu bar, select Resources. And refresh resources or storage devices where the protected objects reside. Then go to the protected group page and refresh protected objects of the protected group by clicking More > Refresh. After the command for refreshing information is sent, you can view details about the command execution in Background Task.
  

  If a recovery plan has been created for a protected group, you can refresh protected objects only when the recovery plan status is Ready, Clear completed, Rollback completed, or Reprotection completed.

• To ensure that information about protected groups is refreshed successfully, you must refresh information about storage devices and hosts at both the production site and DR site.