Enabling ActiveDR for ESXi Storage

ActiveDR
Audience
Public
Product
FlashArray
FlashArray > Purity//FA
Content Type
User Guides
Source Type
Documentation

If a FlashArray is running Purity 6.0 or later, ActiveDR can be enabled for VMware-based storage.

Overview and ActiveDR Configuration

There are a few terms worth understanding for ActiveDR:

  • ActiveDR: Asynchronous continuous replication between two FlashArrays.
  • Pod: A namespace for volumes that can be enabled for ActiveDR replication.
  • Local pod: The local pod hosts the volumes that are being replicated.
  • Remote pod: The remote pod hosts the volumes that are replicated copies of the volumes in the local pod.
  • Promotion: An operation run on a pod that makes the included volumes read/write accessible with the latest copy of the data. This is the state of the volumes whether or not they are presented to a host or hosts.
  • Demotion: An operation run on a pod that makes the included volumes read/write inaccessible with the latest copy of the data. This is the state of the volumes whether or not they are presented to a host or hosts.
  • Replica link: A replication connection between two pods, each on a different array.
  • Recovery point: The latest available point-in-time of the data on the remote pod.
  • Lag: The difference in time between the local pod data and the remote pod data. This is commonly referred to as the Recovery Point Objective (RPO).

    There are many methods to provision FlashArray storage to a VMware environment; the FlashArray management tools directly (GUI, CLI, REST), the Everpure vSphere Client Plugin, PowerShell, vRealize Orchestrator, and many more. Enabling ActiveDR for a volume can be achieved in three ways:

  • Creating a new volume in the promoted pod
  • Removing the replica link and moving a volume into the pod and then re-adding the replica link
  • Creating a replica link to a target pod for a pod hosting volumes

This document will focus on using the Everpure Plugin for the vSphere Client in combination with the FlashArray GUI when necessary. This is meant to be instructive--other options for provisioning are perfectly acceptable. Refer to your preferred method of provisioning for additional details.

Note:

Note that volumes cannot be moved into a pod with an active replica link. The pods must be first unlinked, then you can move volumes into the local pod. New volumes can be created in a pod at any time, regardless to link status.