EMC RECOVERPOINT/EX - emc2.hk · This white paper discusses how EMC® RecoverPoint/EX can be ... RecoverPoint/EX and covers application and disaster recovery scenarios. RecoverPoint

White Paper

Abstract

This white paper discusses how EMC® RecoverPoint/EX can be used with the EMC Symmetrix VMAX 20K and Symmetrix VMAX 40K with Enginuity™ 5876 and the Symmetrix VMAX 10K with Enginuity 5875 or 5876. It also covers its use with VPLEX Local, VPLEX Metro platforms with GeoSynchrony 5.1 as well as the VNX™ series and CLARiiON® CX3 and CX4 storage arrays. This paper lists the software capabilities and business benefits of RecoverPoint/EX and covers application and disaster recovery scenarios. RecoverPoint technology enables you to dramatically reduce recovery time and increase the number of recovery points for your application environments. April 2012

EMC RECOVERPOINT/EX Applied Technology

2 EMC RecoverPoint/EX

Copyright © 2011, 2012 EMC Corporation. All Rights Reserved. EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change without notice. The information in this publication is provided “as is.” EMC Corporation makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to the information in this publication, and specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Use, copying, and distribution of any EMC software described in this publication requires an applicable software license. For the most up-to-date listing of EMC product names, see EMC Corporation Trademarks on EMC.com. VMware, ESX, vMotion, and VMware vCenter are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. Part Number H8246.3


Table of Contents

Executive summary .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Introduction ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Audience ........................................................................................................................... 5 Overview ........................................................................................................................... 5 Support for the RecoverPoint Symmetrix write splitter ....................................................... 7 Support for the RecoverPoint VPLEX write splitter .............................................................. 7 Protecting data with EMC RecoverPoint/EX ........................................................................ 7

RecoverPoint/Cluster Enabler ........................................................................................ 7 RecoverPoint/EX local replication .................................................................................. 8

RecoverPoint/EX CRR ......................................................................................................... 8 RecoverPoint support of storage arrays ......................................................................... 9 Ordering structure for RecoverPoint/EX .......................................................................... 9 WAN deduplication for remote replication ..................................................................... 9 RecoverPoint splitter ................................................................................................... 10 RecoverPoint/EX and EMC replication solutions .......................................................... 10

Positioning RecoverPoint/EX ........................................................................................... 11 Concurrent local and remote data protection ................................................................... 12 Array-based write splitter support .................................................................................... 12 Point-in-time data recovery .............................................................................................. 12 Guaranteed data consistency and write-order fidelity ...................................................... 13 Bandwidth reduction and replication data compression .................................................. 13 Consistent write-order protection over long distances ..................................................... 13 Read/write processing on replica volumes ...................................................................... 13 Application integration capability .................................................................................... 13 Integration with backup and archiving systems ............................................................... 14

Using TimeFinder for Symmetrix with RecoverPoint/EX ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 EMC TimeFinder products ................................................................................................ 14

Using SnapView with RecoverPoint/EX ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Using array features with RecoverPoint/EX ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Performing operations on RecoverPoint/EX production volumes ...................................... 15 Performing operations on RecoverPoint/EX replica volumes ............................................ 16

Conclusion ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

References .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17


Executive summary The EMC® RecoverPoint family provides DVR-like point-in-time recovery, continuous data protection (CDP), and continuous local and synchronous and asynchronous continuous remote replication (CRR) solutions. RecoverPoint/EX is the offering that simplifies continuous data protection and replication by using array-based write splitting for the Symmetrix VMAX 20K and Symmetrix VMAX 40K with Enginuity™ 5876, Symmetrix VMAX 10K with Enginuity 5875 or 5876, VPLEX Local and VPLEX Metro with GeoSyncrocy 5.1, VNX™ series, Celerra® unified, and CLARiiON® CX3 UltraScale™ and CX4 series of arrays. RecoverPoint/SE is the VNX- and CLARiiON-specific offering designed for continuous data protection and replication for VNX series, CLARiiON AX4-5, CX™, CX3, and CX4 storage arrays. RecoverPoint/CL is the full-featured offering that supports EMC and non-EMC arrays and intelligent fabrics and open platform hosts.

All three products are appliance-based, out-of-band data protection solutions designed to ensure the integrity of production data at local and/or remote sites. These products enable customers to centralize and simplify their data protection management and allow for the recovery of data to nearly any point in time.

RecoverPoint provides local continuous replication of every write between a pair of local volumes residing on one or more arrays. RecoverPoint also provides remote replication between pairs of volumes residing in two different sites. For remote asynchronous replication multiple writes are collected at the local site, deduplicated, compressed, and sent across periodically to the remote site where they are uncompressed, written to a journal, and then distributed to the target volumes. For local replication and synchronous remote replication every write is collected and written to a local or remote journal and then distributed to the target volumes. In either case the journal data provides the ability to roll back the target volume to any point in time.

RecoverPoint utilizes policies that map the recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) by consistency groups, allowing for flexibility in protecting multiple applications.

EMC RecoverPoint 3.5 introduces several capabilities, including an integrated RecoverPoint splitter for the Symmetrix VMAX series with Enginuity, VPLEX Local and VPLEX Metro platforms..

Introduction This white paper describes and illustrates the key features and functions of RecoverPoint/EX and provides an overview of the software capabilities of the RecoverPoint version 3 family, including RecoverPoint/SE, RecoverPoint/EX, and RecoverPoint/CL.


All products in the RecoverPoint family are appliance-based, out-of-band data protection solutions designed to ensure the integrity of production data at local and/or remote sites. These products enable customers to centralize and simplify their data protection management and allow for the recovery of data to nearly any point in time. RecoverPoint features and functions are fully covered in the other EMC documents listed in the References section on page 17.

RecoverPoint/EX provides block-level local and remote synchronous replication between LUNs in the Symmetrix VMAX series, VPLEX Local, VPLEX Metro, VNX series, CLARiiON CX3 or CX4, or Celerra unified arrays using true-CDP technology that journals every write for later recovery to any point in time.

RecoverPoint/EX provides asynchronous replication between block LUNs in two different sites using near-CDP technology that journals groups of writes for later recovery to significant points in time. RecoverPoint utilizes policies that enable the customer to map their RTOs and RPOs into RecoverPoint consistency groups, allowing for flexibility in protecting multiple applications.

Concurrent local and remote (CLR) data protection is possible when RecoverPoint protects the same LUNs locally as well a remotely. CLR provides simultaneous block-level local and remote replication for the same application LUNs. Recovery of one copy can occur without affecting the other copy.

Audience

This white paper is intended for EMC employees, partners, IT planners, storage architects, administrators, and any others involved in evaluating, acquiring, managing, operating, or designing an EMC networked storage environment.

Overview

RecoverPoint/EX systems are made up of the following modular components:

• A RecoverPoint appliance (RPA) – A 1U server that runs the RecoverPoint software and includes four 4 Gb FC connections and two 1 Gigabit Ethernet connections. For local-only replication, two RPAs are installed in the production site. For remote or local and remote four RPAs are installed, two in the production site and two in the remote site.

• RecoverPoint software – This software is installed on the RPA by EMC or an EMC Velocity Authorized Service Network partner and controls all of the local and remote replication and recovery processes.

• RecoverPoint enabler for the VNX series, CLARiiON CX3 and CX4 array-based write splitter – An EMC customer engineer or certified partner will install the patch upgrade (if required) and the RecoverPoint enabler onto a VNX series, CLARiiON CX3 or CX4.

• RecoverPoint host agent software – This software includes agents that integrate with Microsoft® Exchange Server and Microsoft SQL Server and also includes other


host utilities that are used when creating scripts to automate the RecoverPoint/EX data protection and recovery process.

• RecoverPoint Storage Replication Adapter for VMware® Site Recovery Manager – This software is downloaded from the VMware website and enables the integration of RecoverPoint with VMware Site Recovery Manager.

• Licensing – The EMC licensing group controls RecoverPoint and RecoverPoint/EX configurations, features, and functions. RecoverPoint/EX systems can be upgraded to equivalent RecoverPoint/CL systems without the loss of configuration or replication data.

• Write-splitting software – This software is provided at no charge and is already installed in Symmetrix VMAX 40K, Symmetrix VMAX 10K and VNX series arrays. It is available for Symmetrix VMAX 20K arrays running Enginuity 5876 or later, for VPLEX Local and VPLEX Metro with GenSyncrocy 5.1 or later and is available as a patch upgrade to CLARiiON arrays running FLARE® 26, FLARE 28 or later.

Table 1 summarizes differences among members of the RecoverPoint family.

Table 1. Overview of RecoverPoint family

Features RecoverPoint/SE RecoverPoint/EX RecoverPoint/CL

Operating system supported*

Windows Server 2000, 2003, 2008 All qualified open systems hosts supported with VNX / CLARiiON splitter

Heterogeneous Heterogeneous

Storage arrays supported

VNX series, CLARiiON AX4-5, CX4, CX3, and CX series; block LUNs from Fibre Channel Celerra NS20, NS40, NS80, NS-120, NS-240, and NS-960

Symmetrix VMAX 40K, Symmetrix VMAX 20K, Symmetrix VMAX 10K, VPLEX Local/Metro, VNX series, CLARiiON CX4, and CX3; block LUNs from Fibre Channel Celerra NS20, NS40, NS80, NS-120, NS-240, and NS-960

Heterogeneous*

Number of arrays Two in CRR/CLR, one in CDP Unlimited Unlimited

Splitter types VNX/CLARiiON array-based

Symmetrix VMAX series array-based, VNX, and CLARiiON array-based; VPLEX Local and VPLEX Metro platform based

Intelligent fabric-based, array-based, host-based

Licensing Two arrays, one at each site, licensed for 300 TB of replicated data

Multiple arrays at either site, licensed for 300 TB of replicated data

Per replicated capacity, 300 TB maximum in 1 TB increments

Number of appliances Two to eight per site Two to eight per site Two to eight per site

Bandwidth reduction Built in Built in Built in

Journal compression Not supported Built in Built in

Virtualization support Hyper-V, VMware vCenter™ Hyper-V, VMware vCenter Hyper-V, VMware vCenter


Features RecoverPoint/SE RecoverPoint/EX RecoverPoint/CL

monitoring, VMware SRM monitoring, VMware SRM monitoring, VMware SRM

Multipathing* Heterogeneous Heterogeneous Heterogeneous

Capacity 300 TB 300 TB As licensed, 1 TB to 300 TB

Synchronous replication Supported Supported Supported

Intelligent fabric Not supported Not supported Supported

*Consult the EMC Support Matrix on EMC.com **If the Windows host-based splitter is used, there is no integration with Unisphere

Support for the RecoverPoint Symmetrix write splitter

Customers with a Symmetrix VMAX 10K running Enginuity 5875 or 5876 are supported with RecoverPoint 3.4.1 or later. Customers with a Symmetrix VMAX series who have who want to use the RecoverPoint Symmetrix write splitter must have Enginuity 5876 and RecoverPoint 3.5 or later.

Support for the RecoverPoint VPLEX write splitter

Customers running VPLEX Local or VPLEX Metro with GeoSyncrocy 5.1 or later can use RecoverPoint replication with their virtual volumes.

Protecting data with EMC RecoverPoint/EX

EMC RecoverPoint/EX is a comprehensive replication and data protection solution designed and built from scalable and highly available hardware appliances and software modules. As shown in Figure 1, RecoverPoint/EX provides continuous remote replication, continuous data protection, and concurrent local and remote data protection for block-based SAN volumes residing in a Symmetrix VMAX series, VNX series, CLARiiON CX3 or CX4, or Celerra unified array. RecoverPoint/EX also supports virtual volumes from VPLEX Local or VPLEX Metro platforms running GeoSyncrocy 5.1. In the event of a local data corruption or a regional disaster, customers can, depending on the nature of the crisis, data can be recovered either at the local or remote site and does not have to reside in the same type of array or platform as the production volumes. Since the array-based write splitter is used, RecoverPoint/EX also supports iSCSI volumes for local and remote replication that reside in the VNX series or CLARiiON.

RecoverPoint/Cluster Enabler

EMC RecoverPoint/Cluster Enabler (RecoverPoint/CE) is separate software that enables geographically dispersed Microsoft Failover Clusters to replicate their data using RecoverPoint. Geographically dispersed clusters offer increased levels of high availability, disaster recovery, and automation over those solutions that are not clustered. RecoverPoint/CE works seamlessly with applications designed to take


advantage of Failover Clusters, such as SharePoint, Exchange 2003 and 2008, and SQL Server, in Microsoft Windows 2003 and 2008 environments.

RecoverPoint/EX local replication

The RecoverPoint/EX local replication protects volumes residing in one or more platforms or arrays by synchronously replicating the production volume to a local copy as well as journaling all data changes to a local journal volume. RecoverPoint/EX is designed to synchronously replicate FC SAN volumes and can replicate up to 300 TB of production volumes regardless of the storage model used. RecoverPoint/EX supports iSCSI volumes residing in a VNX series or CLARiiON CX3 or CX4 as production or replicas. RecoverPoint/EX is ideal for application or operational recovery and protects critical data from physical or logical failures such as server outages, data corruption, software errors, viruses, and common user errors. Advanced data reduction technologies for the journal volume and a DVR-like any-point-in-time recovery make this solution superior to traditional data mirroring and snapshot techniques previously used to provide this sort of protection.

Figure 1. RecoverPoint/EX local replication

RecoverPoint/EX CRR

The RecoverPoint/EX CRR product provides remote replication between volumes in two or more storage arrays in two sites. RecoverPoint/EX CRR enables protection from site disasters and provides volume recovery to significant or application-consistent points in time with no data loss. RecoverPoint/EX CRR provides bidirectional replication with no distance limitation, guaranteed data consistency, and advanced bandwidth reduction technology, which reduces the IP network bandwidth utilized for replication by up to 90 percent. Application integration, intelligent bookmarks, and data change journaling enable customers to support RTO service-level agreements measured in seconds or minutes instead of hours or days.

Prod LUNs

Local copy

Application servers

SAN

RecoverPoint appliance

Storage arrays Platform/array-based splitter

iSCSI

PRODUCTION SITE


Figure 2. RecoverPoint/EX remote replication

RecoverPoint support of storage arrays

Customers with RecoverPoint 3.4.1 or later can use any Symmetrix VMAX 10K, VNX series, CLARiiON CX3 or CX4, or Celerra unified array for the production source or local or remote copy with an array-based write splitter. Customers with RecoverPoint 3.5 or later can use a Symmetrix VMAX 20K and Symmetrix 40K series with Enginuity 5876 and VPLEX Local and VPLEX Metro with GeoSyncrocy 5.1. A list of all supported arrays is available in the EMC Support Matrix.

Ordering structure for RecoverPoint/EX

Each RecoverPoint/EX configuration contains a base license component per array/platform and separate components for the registered capacity (the amount to replicate) for that specific array. For example, assume the customer has three arrays in the first site and one array in the remote site and wants to remotely replicate across all four arrays. Since there are four arrays, then there are four base license components for remote replication. Additionally, each array may have a different registered capacity that needs to be replicated. The RecoverPoint/EX license issued gives the customer the right to replicate up to the sum of all four registered capacities.

WAN deduplication for remote replication

WAN costs continue to rise and are a concern for most customers. These customers have approached EMC to request that RecoverPoint continue to reduce the WAN bandwidth used for replication. To address this request, RecoverPoint adds support for deduplication of data sent over WAN and combines it with its other intelligent data compression and bandwidth reduction technologies, which result in up to a 90 percent reduction in WAN bandwidth.

The WAN deduplication process requires that the local and remote RecoverPoint/EX clusters all use GEN4 RecoverPoint appliances. If the clusters are not homogeneous GEN4 appliances, then the deduplication option is not provided. Deduplication can be enabled on a consistency group basis using the RecoverPoint Administrative GUI

SAN

REMOTE RECOVERY SITE PRODUCTION SITE

Prod LUNs FC/WAN

Local copy

Application servers

SAN


Remote copy

Standby servers


Storage array Storage array Platform/array-based splitter

RecoverPoint Bi-directional replication

90% Bandwidth Reduction

Application HA Product


or the RecoverPoint command line interface. Deduplication operates on the data replicated between sites across the WAN. When deduplication of data is enabled, then during replication a fingerprint is created for each 512-byte block of data. If the fingerprint does not exist at the remote site then the data is transferred and the fingerprint is stored. If the fingerprint does exist, then the data is not sent to the remote site.

RecoverPoint splitter

RecoverPoint/CL 3.4.1 and higher and RecoverPoint/EX 3.4.1 and higher include support for a Symmetrix VMAX 10K array-based write splitter that runs inside Enginuity 5875. RecoverPoint/CL 3.5 includes a RecoverPoint Symmetrix write splitter that runs inside Enginuity 5876 and a RecoverPoint VPLEX write splitter that runs inside GeoSyncrocy 5.1 for VPLEX Local and VPLEX Metro. Customers running RecoverPoint/EX must utilize the array-based write splitter for their Symmetrix VMAX 40K, Symmetrix VMAX 20K, Symmetrix 10K, VPLEX Local and VPLEX Metro as well as for their VNX series, CLARiiON CX3, and CX4 series arrays.

RecoverPoint/EX and EMC replication solutions

RecoverPoint/EX provides replication inside and between Symmetrix VMAX series, VPLEX Local, VPLEX Metro, VNX series, CLARiiON CX3 and CX4, and Celerra unified arrays using array-based write splitters only. It offers a single product solution for local and remote data protection along with excellent price/performance and supports up to 300 TB of production data. The following table summarizes the differences between the various replication solutions supported by EMC storage arrays.


Table 2. Replication technology comparison

Solution Recovery point objectives

Maximum volumes

Consistency groups

Compression Replication technology

TimeFinder for VMAX 16 copies per vol N/A** N/A Uses “thin” for

Symmetrix VMAX 10K

Inside the array

SnapView™ (clones or snaps)

N/A 512 N/A N/A Inside the array

RecoverPoint/EX Zero RPO – limited distances

2,048 128 – across multiple hosts and arrays

N/A FC

RecoverPoint/EX (asynchronous)

RPO – zero or greater, unlimited distance

2,048 128 – across multiple hosts and arrays

Bandwidth reduction up to 90%, bandwidth optimization

TCP over shared or dedicated IP or FC

MirrorView™/Synchronous Zero RPO – limited distances

1024 64* None Dedicated IP or FC

MirrorView/Asynchronous RPO –30 minutes or greater, unlimited distance

256 64* None Dedicated IP or FC

TImeFinder/Clone 16 copies per volume

>50,000 Requires TimeFinder/CG

Thick or thin Inside the array

VPLEX Metro Zero RPO – 5ms RTT- mirroring

8000 N/A Uses “thin” Dedicated IP, FC, or 10GigE

TimeFinder/Snap 128 copies per volume

32,000 Requires TimeFinder/CG

Uses “thin” for Symmetrix VMAX 10K

Inside the array

*There are a total of 64 groups available that must be shared between MirrorView/Synchronous and MirrorView/Asynchronous. **There is no limit on the number of TimeFinder volumes for Symmetrix VMAX 10K however there is a limit of 32K volumes for the entire Symmetrix VMAX 10K

Positioning RecoverPoint/EX

For the Symmetrix VMAX series, VPLEX Local, VPLEX Metro, VNX series, CLARiiON CX3 and CX4, and Celerra unified arrays it is important to understand how RecoverPoint compares to the equivalent array-based local and remote replication technologies.


Table 2 summarizes the differences in replication technologies and the following gives some additional guidance between the technologies. RecoverPoint should be used for remote replication unless the same volume must be replicated to more than two sites.

Concurrent local and remote data protection

Some customers need to protect their application data locally from data corruption, as well as remotely to protect from a local or regional disaster. These customers can implement both local and remote replication for the same data volume. The volume will be protected locally by replicating all changes to a copy in a local storage array as well as replicating significant changes to a copy in a remote storage array. Recovery and use of the local and remote copies can be performed independent of each other and without affecting the ongoing local and remote replication of the production data.

Array-based write splitter support

RecoverPoint/EX replicates data by intercepting the application writes through the use of intelligent write-splitting modules. The RecoverPoint write-splitting module resides on a Symmetrix VMAX 10K, Symmetrix VMAX 20K, Symmetrix VMAX 40K, VPLEX Local, VPLEX Metro, VNX series, CLARiiON CX3 or CX4, or Celerra unified array. The RecoverPoint Symmetrix splitter is part of Enginuity, the RecoverPoint VPLEX splitter is part of GeoSyncrocy, the VNX array-based splitter is part of the VNX Operating Environment, and the CLARiiON array-based splitter is part of FLARE.

The VNX and CLARiiON array-based splitters run in each storage processor of a VNX series or CLARiiON CX3 and CX4 array. All array-based write splitters will split (that is, mirror) all writes to a SAN volume, sending one copy to the original target and the other copy to the RecoverPoint appliance. Additionally, the array-based write splitter for VNX series and CLARiiON CX3 and CX4 arrays will split writes to an iSCSI volume. For the Symmetrix VMAX 40K, Symmetrix VMAX 10K and VNX series the splitter is included with the array. For CLARiiON arrays the splitter is provided through a patch upgrade to FLARE 26 and FLARE 28 and for Symmetrix VMAX 20K the splitter is provided with Enginuity 5876.

The array-based write splitter also supports SAN LUNs presented from the CLARiiON CX3 backing a Celerra NS20FC, NS40FC, or NS80FC, and the CLARiiON CX4 backing a Celerra NS-120, NS-480, and NS-960. The array-based RecoverPoint splitter supports all operating systems that are qualified for attachment to VMAX series, VPLEX Local, VPLEX Metro, VNX series, and CLARiiON CX3 or CX4 arrays. Additionally it supports all arrays that can be attached via FTS to a Symmetrix VMAX 20K and Symmetrix VMAX 40K and behind a VPLEX Local and VPLEX Metro platform.

Point-in-time data recovery

RecoverPoint stores changed data and time together, enabling immediate recovery to any point in time for local copy volumes, and to significant points in time for remote copy volumes. RecoverPoint can recover applications quickly to a selected time or event with guaranteed write-order consistency, even when data spans multiple


heterogeneous storage and servers. For local copy volumes, every change is retained in a local history journal for later recovery. For remote asynchronous replication, RecoverPoint supports multiple transactional-consistent snapshots at the remote site, allowing reliable recovery in database environments. Frequent snapshots taken seconds apart are utilized to minimize the risk of data loss due to data corruption.

Guaranteed data consistency and write-order fidelity

RecoverPoint guarantees a consistent replica of business-critical data in the event of any possible failure or disaster. Many products available today cannot guarantee consistency through rolling disasters or during resynchronization. With RecoverPoint, consistency is maintained at all times, even for data spanning multiple heterogeneous storage and servers.

Bandwidth reduction and replication data compression

RecoverPoint uses unique intelligent bandwidth reduction technologies that minimize bandwidth requirements. This enables the system to provide the best possible level of protection for the available bandwidth, while dramatically reducing WAN costs, particularly over long distances. Transmission size is reduced through data deduplication, data compression, and network-aware algorithmic techniques that conserve bandwidth to the extent not possible with traditional technologies.

Consistent write-order protection over long distances

RecoverPoint achieves write-order consistency for remotely replicated data by tagging each replicated write, enabling the writes to be reassembled into the correct order at the remote site. This enables RecoverPoint to provide synchronous levels of protection with no application degradation and no distance limitations. This unique capability shatters today’s distance/latency limitations, and enables completely up-to-date protection from regional disasters while minimizing impact to application performance.

Read/write processing on replica volumes

RecoverPoint enables direct read/write access to data on the replica volumes without the need to first make an additional copy or the requirement to halt data protection. The system supports robust failover and failback capabilities, reducing management and operational costs. Data volumes at the selected point in time are instantly available upon request, with full read/write capability, offloading backups and allowing live application testing, on-demand recovery, data migration, and many other valuable data processing applications.

Application integration capability

RecoverPoint/EX provides a scripting interface that enables business applications to integrate RecoverPoint/EX into their existing application protection and recovery processes, dramatically reducing recovery time and eliminating potential data loss. The user can create RecoverPoint/EX scripts to create application-specific bookmarks that represent transaction and event boundaries. Without these bookmarks, the


application would need to perform “crash-recover” on the image, which will increase the RTO, and may result in some data loss. Using these bookmarks to select the recovery image ensures that the applications can be restarted from an application-consistent point-in-time image, minimizing RTO and data loss.

RecoverPoint also ships with application agents for Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft SQL Server. These agents utilize Microsoft application programming interfaces (APIs) to ensure the applications are in a consistent state before creating an application bookmark. Selecting a recovery image using one of these bookmarks facilitates easy recovery with minimal RTO and no data loss.

Integration with backup and archiving systems

RecoverPoint is integrated with EMC NetWorker® for enhanced backup and recovery. Additionally, RecoverPoint supports third-party backup and archiving tools such as IBM Tivoli Storage Manager and Symantec’s Veritas Backup Exec, providing continuous protection from disk to tape. Continuous protection means that protection gaps are eliminated, compliance to guidelines and regulatory requirement is facilitated, and the data protection lifecycle is considerably simplified. Furthermore, backup windows are no longer needed, since with RecoverPoint archiving is performed on the local and/or remote replica volumes and their associated journals, without impact to production servers.

Using TimeFinder for Symmetrix with RecoverPoint/EX The EMC TimeFinder® family of software provides a local copy of Symmetrix VMAX data, independent of the host and operating system, application, and database. The Symmetrix also provides array-based full or space-efficient replicas. The production or local or remote replica volumes can be the source for a TimeFinder operation with a few considerations detailed in the following sections. Typical applications for using TimeFinder with RecoverPoint/EX replication would be data warehousing or other applications that require a full-volume, independent host-addressable, local point-in-time copy of a Symmetrix production device. Examples include using RecoverPoint/EX to replicate SharePoint remotely and then using TimeFinder at the remote site to create a fully writeable replica for use in a SQL Server database. RecoverPoint/EX’s continuous local and remote data protection with DVR-like rollback capabilities is very complementary to TimeFinder.

EMC TimeFinder products • TimeFinder/Clone: Available on Symmetrix VMAX 40K, Symmetrix VMAX 20K,

Symmetrix 10K, this creates a functional, full-volume, independent host-addressable, local point-in-time copy of a production device and allows up to 16 active clones of single production device, all of which are immediately available for both read and write access and can use RAID 5 and/or RAID 6 protection schemes (and RAID 1 and RAID 10 on a Symmetrix VMAX 20K and Symmetrix VMAX 40K). On a Symmetrix VMAX 10K it can also create a space-saving replica by generating pointers back to the source. No synchronization, copy, or additional storage utilization occurs unless a write occurs on the target copy.


• TimeFinder/Snap: Available on Symmetrix VMAX 20K and Symmetrix VMAX 40K, TimeFinder/Snap creates space-saving, logical point-in-time images called snapshots. A snapshot is a functional, pointer-based logical copy of the production device that consumes less storage space on physical drives. TimeFinder/Snap allows up to 128 active snaps of a single production device, all of which are immediately available for both read and write access and can use RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 6 and/or RAID 10 protection schemes.

• TimeFinder/Consistency Groups: Ensures dependent-write consistency of the application data when creating a point-in-time image across multiple devices associated with an application within a single Symmetrix VMAX 10K array or applications that also span multiple Symmetrix VMAX 10K storage arrays.

• TimeFinder/Exchange Integration Module and TimeFinder SQL Integration Module: Integrates the TimeFinder family with Microsoft Exchange and SQL applications for automated backup and restore.

Using SnapView with RecoverPoint/EX The VNX series and CLARiiON CX3 and CX4 also provide array-based full or differential volume copies using SnapView. RecoverPoint/EX production or replica volumes can be the source for VNX series or CLARiiON array snapshot operations with a few considerations detailed in the following sections. In addition, the RecoverPoint/EX local and/or remote replica copies can be the source for array-based clones or snapshots performed by SnapView. Typical applications for using SnapView clones with RecoverPoint/EX would be data warehousing or other applications that require a full, fractured replica. Examples include using RecoverPoint/EX to replicate an Oracle database remotely and then using SnapView at the remote site to create a fully writeable replica for use in a SQL Server database. RecoverPoint’s continuous local and remote data protection with DVR-like recovery capabilities is very complementary to array-based snapshot and replication facilities.

Using array features with RecoverPoint/EX TimeFinder and SnapView fully coexist with RecoverPoint/EX and may use the same production volumes as long as care is taken to ensure that only one product is active at a single time. The following two examples show how these products can be used on the RecoverPoint/EX production and replica volumes.

Note: When you are using the Symmetrix RecoverPoint splitter the same production or replica volumes cannot be used by RecoverPoint and by SRDF

Performing operations on RecoverPoint/EX production volumes

There are many ways that RecoverPoint/EX can be combined with native array capabilities. A common request from customers is to combine array-based snapshots with remote replication using RecoverPoint/EX. For example, the production volumes for an Oracle application can be protected locally using TimeFinder and replicated using RecoverPoint/EX. The RecoverPoint splitter will intercept all writes by the


Oracle application to the protected volumes and a copy will be sent to the RecoverPoint appliance. Additionally, the write will be intercepted by TimeFinder/Snap VP and used to maintain the replica as required.

If the production volume needs to be resynchronized it is necessary to disable the specific RecoverPoint consistency group that contains the affected volumes before re-creating those volumes. For example, if the Oracle production volume needs to be resynchronized by TimeFinder, it will be necessary to disable the specific RecoverPoint/EX consistency group that contains the affected volumes before re-creating those volumes. When this is completed and TimeFinder resumes normal operations the user enables the RecoverPoint/EX consistency group. At this point RecoverPoint/EX will perform a full sweep of its production and replica copies to bring the RecoverPoint/EX replica back into sync with the production volume.

Performing operations on RecoverPoint/EX replica volumes

RecoverPoint/EX supports the use of TimeFinder and SnapView on local and remote replica copies. To use one of these layered array operations, it is first necessary to access the point-in-time image as a physical volume hosted by the appropriate array. The user accomplishes this by selecting “enable image access” for the specific consistency group copy that contains the selected volumes. The user performs a DVR-like recovery by selecting an appropriate point-in-time image or consistent bookmark from the RecoverPoint/EX journal requesting logged access as the image access mode. This causes RecoverPoint/EX to re-create the physical volumes as they existed at the requested point in time.

Once the RecoverPoint/EX volume is rolled back to the point in time and is visible in the SAN, it becomes possible for TimeFinder or SnapView to create a copy of this volume. Once the volume copy is created, the RecoverPoint image is no longer needed. At this point the user may select “disable image access” for the consistency group copy, which causes RecoverPoint to resynchronize its replica copies. These volume copies can now be used for any purpose without any impact to RecoverPoint. If these volume copies need to be resynchronized, the user repeats the “image access” steps, selecting a different point-in-time copy. Once the RecoverPoint image is available, the user can resynchronize the copy from the RecoverPoint image and continue with processing.

Conclusion EMC RecoverPoint offers continuous data protection, continuous remote replication, and concurrent local and remote data protection functionalities. With its customer-defined RPOs and RTOs, RecoverPoint allows critical business processes to be available locally for operational recovery, or remotely at a disaster recovery site hundreds or thousands of miles away from the primary site. With support for a VMAX-based write splitter, RecoverPoint enables easy installation and configuration for Symmetrix VMAX replication. With support for consistency groups, RecoverPoint is a no-data-loss model with full write-order consistency for replicated volumes that can span multiple heterogeneous storage systems and servers.


References More information on EMC RecoverPoint can be found at the RecoverPoint page on EMC.com and in the following documents on the EMC Powerlink® website:

• Introduction to EMC RecoverPoint 3.5: New Features and Functions — Applied Technology white paper

• EMC RecoverPoint Family Overview – A Detailed Review white paper

• Solving Data Protection Challenges with EMC RecoverPoint – Best Practices Planning white paper

• Using EMC RecoverPoint Concurrent Local and Remote for Operational and Disaster Recovery — Applied Technology white paper

Documents

EMC RECOVERPOINT/EX - emc2.hk · This white paper discusses how EMC® RecoverPoint/EX can be ... RecoverPoint/EX and covers application and disaster recovery scenarios. RecoverPoint