Starting a background copy of a FlashCopy relationship

Complete this task to start a background copy of a FlashCopy^® volume pair that allows data to be copied from the source volume to the target volume.

When you issue a FlashCopy command with the Initiate background copy option, the FlashCopy relationship is established but it is put in a queue for background copying. The exact time that the background copying starts for the specific relationship depends on the number of FlashCopy relationships that have already begun, or are waiting to begin, background copying. When the background copy starts, the state of that FlashCopy volume pair is displayed as "background copy running".

A background copy causes all data on the source volume to be physically copied to the target volume. After a FlashCopy pair is established, an automatic withdrawal of the FlashCopy relationship occurs when all source tracks have been physically copied to the target volume (unless the FlashCopy relationship was designated as persistent when it was established).

Note: The amount of time that the actual physical copy can take depends on the amount of data that is copied and other activities that are occurring on the storage unit. You can monitor when the copy completes by viewing the Properties selection from the FlashCopy action pull-down menu.

Perform the following steps to start a background copy of a FlashCopy relationship between a source volume and target volume.

In the navigation, select Real-time Manager > Copy Services > FlashCopy. A list of FlashCopy volumes is displayed. Select one or more volumes on which to perform an action.
On the FlashCopy main page, select Initiate background copy from the Select Action drop-down menu. Click Go. The Initiate background copy page is displayed.
On the Initiate background copy page, confirm the FlashCopy relationships on which the background copy will run. If the source volume has multiple targets, the relationships are selected together and the background copy is started on all relationships.
Select the FlashCopy relationships, and click OK to complete the task, or click Cancel to exit without performing the task. The FlashCopy main page is displayed.