ActiveDRâ„¢ is Everpure continuous asynchronous replication capability for FlashArray. It replicates pod data from a source FlashArray to a target FlashArray with a near-zero Recovery Point Objective (RPO), without requiring the target FlashArray to acknowledge each host write before the source confirms it.
Overview
ActiveDR is designed for production-to-DR deployments across two FlashArray systems within the same data center or across long distances. It sits between traditional periodic asynchronous replication and ActiveCluster: it keeps the target much closer to current state than periodic snapshot replication, while avoiding the host-write latency trade-off of synchronous replication.
At a high level, ActiveDR uses pods as the unit of replication. Changes written to the source pod are tracked and continuously forwarded to a replica pod on the target FlashArray, where they are applied and periodically refreshed for use during testing or failover.
Key Benefits
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Near-zero RPO for DR workloads, typically in single-digit seconds under the right workload and network conditions.
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Low-RTO failover model with pod-based replication and support for test failover without sacrificing ongoing replication.
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Simplified management because snapshots, protection groups, volume attributes, and related pod content are replicated together.
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Easy operational recovery because ActiveDR automatically attempts to re-synchronize after an outage and only the changed delta must be resent.
Audience and Use Cases
This feature is for storage administrators, DR architects, virtualization teams, and application owners who need low-data-loss recovery to a second FlashArray without the latency requirements of synchronous replication.
Use ActiveDR when you need:
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A production-to-DR replication model across metro, regional, or long-distance sites.
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Near-zero RPO with manual or REST API-driven failover and failback control.
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DR testing against a target copy while replication continues.
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Pod-based consistency across volumes, protection groups, and snapshot histories.
How it Works
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You create or choose a source pod on the production FlashArray.
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You place new or existing volumes into that source pod.
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You create a replica link from the source pod to a new or existing target pod on the recovery FlashArray.
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ActiveDR continuously tracks and forwards source changes to the target FlashArray, keeping the remote copy as current as possible without waiting on remote write acknowledgment.
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When needed, you promote the target pod for DR testing or failover, then reverse or re-establish protection as part of recovery operations.
Prerequisites
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Two FlashArray systems with a minimum Purity//FA version of 6.0.0 or newer.
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Replication pairs can run different Purity//FA versions, but they must remain within two minor versions of each other.
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ActiveDR uses the existing IP interconnect or, starting in Purity//FA 6.1.7, Fibre Channel interconnect between the two FlashArray systems.
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For IP replication, plan for four replication IP addresses per FlashArray, and every replication IP on one FlashArray must be able to reach every replication IP on the peer FlashArray.
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For FC replication, plan for four dedicated replication ports per FlashArray, with switched fabrics supported and direct-connect switch-less deployments unsupported.
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ActiveDR is supported on both block (FC, iSCSI, and NVMe-oF) and file protocols (SMB and NFS).
For more information on ActiveDR implementation requirements, see ActiveDR Best Practices.
Deployment
At a high-level, to deploy ActiveDR, you will need to perform the following steps:
Connect the 2 FlashArray systems for replication.
Create a pod on the first FlashArray with all of the objects that you wish to replicate.
Create a replica link to the second FlashArray and wait for it to become online on both FlashArray systems before connecting hosts on the remote side.
For step-by-step instructions, follow the ActiveDR Quick Start Guide.
Additional Information
ActiveDR FAQ — core behavior, RPO expectations, topology support, limits, failover behavior, and interoperability notes.
Overview of ActiveDR — conceptual architecture and replication flow.
Purity//FA REST API — entry point for FlashArray REST API documentation.