Creating temporary storage on the secondary site using the DR wizard (array-based replication)

To enable you to install applications, the DR wizard can create a temporary disk group, DR_APP_INSTALL_DG, which contains the volumes and mount points for use in application installation. The temporary configuration uses 500 MB volumes or the volume size at the primary site, depending on which is smaller. The wizard deletes the temporary configuration after application installation.

Note:

The DR wizard cannot be used if you are setting up DR in a non-shared storage environment.

If you have already installed the application on all nodes, you can skip this storage cloning step by unchecking the Perform storage cloning check box on the Storage Cloning panel.

If you are starting the wizard for the first time, refer to the following topic before continuing with the storage cloning procedure:

See About configuring disaster recovery with the DR wizard.

To create temporary storage for application installation (array-based replication)

  1. If you have not yet done so, start the Disaster Recovery Configuration Wizard and specify the information for the primary site system, the service group, and the secondary site system.
  2. In the Replication Options panel, select the array-based replication method you plan to use and click Next:
    • EMC SRDF

    • Hitachi TrueCopy

    • Global Cluster Option only (select if you are using another agent-supported array-based replication method)

  3. If you selected Hitachi TrueCopy replication, the Hitachi TrueCopy File Paths panel is displayed. The wizard populates the fields if it locates the files in the default location. Otherwise, fill in the file path information for both the primary and secondary sites as follows:

    RAID Manager bin path

    Path to the RAID Manager Command Line interface

    The default path is C:\HORCM\etc, where C is the system drive.

    HORCM files location

    Path to the horcm configuration files (horcmnn.conf)

    The default path is: C:\Windows, where C is the system drive.

    The horcm configuration file is required by the RAID Manager on all nodes; however, the wizard does not validate its presence.

  4. In the Storage Cloning panel, you can choose whether or not to perform storage cloning, which creates a temporary storage disk group and volumes for application installation. The wizard will delete the temporary storage once you confirm application installation is complete.

    Choose one of the following:

    • If you have not yet installed the application on all nodes, leave Perform storage cloning checked and click Next. Continue with the next step in this procedure.

    • If you have already installed the application on all nodes, uncheck Perform storage cloning and click Next. Continue with the procedure for service group cloning.

  5. The Storage Validation Results panel shows the temporary storage configuration that the wizard will configure at the secondary site. You can click Show Summary to toggle to a summary view and toggle back to a detailed view by clicking Show Details.

    The detailed view shows the following:

    Disk Group

    Displays the name of the single disk group required on the secondary site for temporary storage: DR_APP_INSTALL__DG

    Volume

    Displays the list of volumes required at the secondary site.

    Size

    Displays the size of the volumes required on the secondary site.

    Mount

    Displays the mounts required at the secondary site.

    Recommended Action

    Indicates the action that the wizard will take at the secondary site.

    The summary view shows the following:

    Existing configuration

    Displays the existing secondary configuration.

    Free disks present on secondary

    Displays the list of free disks that exist on the secondary along with details about the free space and total disk space information.

    If the panel displays a message indicating that the available disks on the secondary are inadequate, you can free some disks on the secondary or add more storage. Then, click Refresh/Validate so that the wizard can update its information about the secondary storage configuration. Click Next.

  6. In the Disk Selection for Storage Cloning panel, a default disk selection is shown for the temporary storage at the secondary site. You can change the selection by moving disks to and from the Available Disks and Selected Disks pane. Under the Available Disks label, a drop-down list allows you to filter available disks by disk enclosure name. The default is All, which displays all free disks available on all enclosures. Click Next.
  7. The Volume Layout for Secondary Site Storage panel shows a default volume layout for the temporary storage based on the primary site volume layout. Optionally, you can change the default disk assignment and layout for any volume:

    Disk Group

    Displays the DR_APP_INSTALL__DG disk group.

    Volume (Volume Size)

    Displays the name and the size of the volume to be created on the secondary.

    Available Disks

    Displays the disks that are available for the volumes. To select a disk, either double-click on the host name or click the >> button to move the hosts into the Selected Disks pane.

    Layout

    By default, the same layout as the one specified for the primary volume is selected. Click Edit to change the layout to suit your specific requirements.

    Selected Disks

    Displays the list of disks that have been selected for the volume. To remove a disk from the list, select it and click the << button.

    View Primary Layout

    Displays the volume layout at the primary site.

    Click Next.

  8. In the Storage Configuration Cloning Summary panel, review the displayed information. If you want to change any selection, click Back. Otherwise, click Next to allow the wizard to implement the temporary storage configuration at the secondary site.
  9. In the Implementation panel, wait until the status for all the completed tasks is marked with a check symbol, indicating successful completion. Wait until the wizard completes cloning the storage. The progress bar indicates the status of the tasks. If some task could not be completed successfully, then the task is marked with an (x) symbol. The Information column displays details about the reasons for task failure.

    Click Next.

    Note:

    If SCSI-3 support is enabled for using Persistent Group Reservations (PGR), and if one of the selected disks is not SCSI-3 compliant, the following error is displayed: "Unable to reserve a majority of dynamic disk group members. Failed to start SCSI reservation thread."

    Recommended action: Click Finish to exit the wizard. Either replace the non-compliant disk with a SCSI-3 compliant disk, or enable SCSI-2 support, and then run the wizard again.

  10. In the Storage Configuration Cloning Result screen, view the results and click Next.
  11. In the Application Installation panel, review the information and do one of the following:

    • For applications that require installing components on shared storage, before you begin installation, ensure that your disk groups are imported and volumes are mounted. If volumes were mounted as drive paths (folder mount) on the primary site, the wizard does not mount the volumes on the secondary site. You must manually format the volumes and assign the drive path to the volumes using Veritas Enterprise Administrator. Use the same letters and folder names that were assigned on the primary site.

    • If you keep the wizard running during installation, once application installation is complete, click Next to proceed with service group cloning. Otherwise, restart the DR wizard and continue through the wizard from the Welcome panel.

    Once the application is installed, the temporary cloned storage is no longer needed. Before beginning service group cloning, the wizard displays the Temporary Storage Deletion panel to confirm the deletion of the temporary storage.