Creating remote FlashCopy transactions

Complete this task to create a remote FlashCopy^® (inband FlashCopy on the ESS 2105) at a target (remote) site using remote FlashCopy commands.

Remote FlashCopy operations can only be processed using the DS CLI and not the DS Storage Manager. (Part of the Remote FlashCopy operation requires that you create paths and volume pairs first. You can issue those requests using either the DS Storage Manager or the DS CLI.)

To establish a FlashCopy relationship at the target site, remote FlashCopy commands are issued to a source volume of a remote mirror and copy volume pair on a source (local) storage unit and sent across paths (acting as a conduit) to a target storage unit. This eliminates the need for a network connection to the target site solely for the management of FlashCopy relationships.

Limitation: Remote FlashCopy commands establish a FlashCopy relationship at the target (remote) site when a network connection to the target site is lost. The Remote FlashCopy operation is not supported through the DS Storage Manager, because network connections to both the source and target sites are required. If the network connection to the target site is lost, the DS Storage Manager cannot connect to the target site. Whether you use the DS Storage Manager or the DS CLI for Steps 1 and 2, you must perform Step 3 from the DS CLI.

Note: You can perform all steps from the DS CLI.

Perform the following steps to create a remote FlashCopy operation:

Create paths between the source LSS and the target LSS. For example, IBM^®.1750-1300861 and IBM.1750-1300871. You need to know which volumes are available for use before you can issue the request to establish the path.
Create Metro Mirror volume pairs from the source LSS to the target LSS. For example, volume 2200 (IBM.2107-1300861/0001) from LSS22 and volume 2A00 (IBM.2107-1300871/0001) from LSS22.
Enable a Remote FlashCopy operation at the target site using volume B as the source volume and volume C as the target volume. Assume that the target site network connection is lost. You can create the FlashCopy relationship from volume B to volume C (both volumes at the target site). However, you cannot use the DS Storage Manager for this step because connections to the target site are lost. You must use the DS CLI for this step (see Processing remote FlashCopy (inband) transactions for additional information.