Configuration and Management of Symmetrix Replication Technologies

Copyright 2008 EMC Corporation. Do not Copy - All Rights Reserved.
Configuration and Management of Symmetrix Replication Technologies
Module 1: TimeFinder
2008 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved.
EMC TimeFinder has been the industry leading local replication product for over ten years. The first TimeFinder solution created a copy of a device by creating a mirror, synchronizing it, and then splitting it off for use in Business Continuance applications such as backup, or test. Today, in addition to the original TimeFinder, we have two other options: Clones, and pointer-based Snaps. As we look at each of these options, keep in mind that one option is not better than the another, rather each will have applications where it may be the appropriate solution.
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Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to: Compare and contrast how each of the three TimeFinder solutions make a point and time copy of a device Describe the concepts of ordered write consistency and how it can be achieved in the Symmetrix environment Create device groups and explain how the device group information is maintained on a host and across hosts Perform TimeFinder/Mirror operations using the Solutions Enabler Command Line Interface Perform TimeFinder/Clone operations using the Solutions Enabler Command Line Interface Perform TimeFinder/Snap operations using the Solutions Enabler Command Line Interface
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In this module we will start with an overview of all three TimeFinder options: Mirror, Clone, and Snaps. We will then dive into details on each with operational examples. Following the lecture will be a hands-on lab where you will configure and perform operations on each.
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Reference
Consolidated Reference Extensive use case examples Available on EMC Powerlink
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This document is an invaluable reference during and after this class.
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TimeFinder Lesson 1
Solution Overview
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TimeFinder Solutions
TimeFinder/Mirror
Provides a full - volume
STD BCV
mirror of the source

Dynamic Mirror
Point-in-time after Split
TimeFinder/Clone
Provides a full or partial
STD Target
copy of the source device
Point-in-time on Activation
TimeFinder/Snap
Provides a pointer-based
STD
VDEV
copy of the source device

Snapshot
SAV SAV
Point-in-time on Activation
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TimeFinder/Mirror - TimeFinder/Mirror (formerly called TimeFinder) has been the industryleading local replication product since it was first announced in 1997. It creates true mirror images of its source and because TimeFinder/Mirror business continuance volumes (BCVs) are full physical copies and appear as a mirror of the standard device, they can be used to increase availability by servicing I/O if the source volume and the source volumes protection are destroyed. Implemented using dynamic mirrors where the BCV becomes a mirror of the standard device and using one of the four internal mirror positions. TimeFinder/Clone - TimeFinder/Clone is the newest addition to the TimeFinder product family. Some recent enhancements include incremental update and restore, increased copy performance and a TimeFinder/Mirror emulation mode for open-systems environments. TimeFinder/Clone provides significant configuration flexibility because clone copies do not use Symmetrix mirror positions, the clone copies may be RAID 5 protected. TimeFinder/Snap - TimeFinder/Snap is different from TimeFinder/Clone and TimeFinder/Mirror as it does not actually create a full copy of the source data. The benefit to customers is that they only need to allocate a small percentage of additional capacity to support changes to the source volume. Of course, since it is not a full copy of the data (TimeFinder/Snap creates pointers back to the production data), if the source data goes away, the snap copy is not usable for a restore process. All three techniques could be used to support backup, data warehousing, application test, content refresh, etc.
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TimeFinder/Mirror
Uses a special Symmetrix devices called Business Continuance Volumes (BCVs)
Symmetrix device with a special attribute that allows it to be attached to another device, synchronized, and split
Host
(Production)
Host
(Backup)
Business continuance sequence:

1. Add BCV to device group
symbcv associate
2. Establish the BCV device as a mirror of a specific standard Symmetrix device

symmir establish
Standard BCV
3. Wait for device to synchronize

symmir query
4. Split the BCV

symmir split
Symmetrix
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TimeFinder/Mirror creates a full device copy by establishing a mirror, synchronizing, and then splitting it off. TimeFinder/Mirror uses a special type of device called a BCV to create the copy. A BCV is actually an independent device that is created like other Symmetrix devices except it has special attributes that allow it to be used with TimeFinder, synchronized, and then split off as an independent device. BCVs have an added benefit in that it is an independent device, yet, when established it can increase availability by servicing I/O requests if the source volume becomes unavailable. Business Continuance sequence: Associate BCV with Device Group Establish the BCV device as a mirror of a specific Standard device. When established, the BCV device becomes unavailable for host IO Monitor the synchronization the BCV with the Standard device. Once the BCV device is fully synchronized, it may be separated (split) from the standard device. Once split, the BCV device with the synchronized data becomes available for backup or other host processes through its own device address. Once host processing on the BCV device is complete, the BCV may again be attached and synchronized to a standard Symmetrix device, which can either be the same device to which it was previously paired, or a different device. If associated back to the original device, the resynchronization will be incremental by default.
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TimeFinder/Mirror Details
Establish can be full (initial) or incremental (re-establish) Restore for BCV back to original device or a different device Business Continuance Volumes (BCV)
Must be exactly the same size as standard
Mirror protected or unprotected but not RAID 5 protected Has its own unique Symmetrix device number May have a Channel Address if host accessible Not Ready to host until split Point-in-time is time of split
Standard Device
M1
M2
M3
M4
Leverages Symmetrix device mirror position

When a BCV is established, it becomes the next available mirror of the standard device BCV M2 (if there is one) is detached
BCV Device
Enables advanced features:

Protected Establish Protected Restore Concurrent BCVs
M1
M2
M3
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M4
Within the Symmetrix, each device is represented by four mirror positions: M1, M2, M3, and M4. These mirror positions are actually data structures that point to a physical location of a data mirror and the status of each track. A mirror position either represents a mirror (data copy) or is unused. For example, an unprotected volume will only use the M1 position to point to the only data copy. A RAID-1 protected volume will use the M1 and M2 positions. If this volume was also protected with SRDF, three mirror positions would be used, and if we add a BCV to this SRDF protected RAID-1 volume, all four mirror positions would be consumed. Normally, when a BCV has two mirrors, only the primary mirror (M1) joins the standard device in establish or restore operations. The content of the primary BCV mirror is refreshed by data from the standard, when the BCV is established. The secondary BCV mirror (M2) is refreshed by data from the primary BCV mirror (M1), after the BCV mirror is split from the standard. Usually, after a split, the fixed BCV mirror is refreshed from the moving BCV mirror. This can either be a full copy operation or a differential copy. In a differential copy, only the tracks that have changed on the moving mirror during the time it was synchronized with the standard are refreshed. In a reverse split operation, the direction of data flow between the BCV mirrors is reversed. The fixed BCV mirror (M2)will refresh the moving mirror (M1) after the split operation. This behavior may be desirable when you need to revert to an older copy of the data that was on the BCV before it was established/restored with the standard.
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TimeFinder/Mirror Establish and Split

Full Establish
BCV Not Ready for host access All tracks copied from Standard device to BCV M1 BCV M2 is detached
M1 M1 R/W
Standard
Device
NR
BCV Device
Full
M2
M3
M4 M1 M4 M1
M2
M3
M4 M4
Split
BCV becomes independent device and available for host access Changes to the Standard are not copied to BCV
Tracked as invalid tracks
R/W
Standard
Device
R/W
BCV Device
BCV M1 is use to synchronize BCV M2

Incremental
M1 M1
M2
M3
M4 M1 M4 M1
M2
M3
M4 M4
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Establish and splits are two of the most common TimeFinder/Mirror operations. The first time a BCV is established, a full synchronization is required. Subsequent establishes to the same standard device only require incremental synchronization. On establish, the BCV becomes a mirror of the standard device and is not ready for host access. By default on a full establish, the BCV M2 (if there is one) is detached, and all tracks of the M1 are marked as invalid. A track by track synchronization takes place as a background task at a lower priority than front-end activity. Once fully synchronized, the BCV continues to be a mirror of the standard device until it is split. One advantage of TimeFinder/Mirror is the added availability that the extra mirror provides. In the unlikely event that the Standard device M1 and or M2 become unavailable, the BCV can be used to service host read write request to the standard. When a BCV is split from a standard device, it once again becomes an independent device and is available for host access. If the BCV is mirror protected, the M1 is used to incrementally resynchronize the M2.
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TimeFinder/Mirror Incremental Establish and Restore Establish Incremental

R/W
NR
Tracks changed on both the Standard and BCV devices are copied for Standard to BCV Reestablish is performed incrementally by default
Standard
Device
Inc
BCV Device
M1 M1
M2
M3
M4 M1 M4 M1
M2
M3
M4 M4
Restore
BCV becomes next available mirror of Standard Data copied from BCV to Standard
Incremental to original standard device Full copy restore to different device
R/W
Standard
Device
NR
BCV Device
BCV is unavailable for host access Updated data available immediately

Instant Restore
M1
M2
M3
M4 M1 M4 M1
M2
M3
M4 M4
Changes to Standard copied to BCV

2008 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. TimeFinder - 9
To enable incremental operations, TimeFinder/Mirror keeps track of changes to the Standard and the BCV following a split. A full synchronization is always required initially, but subsequent establishes by default will be incremental, where only the data that has changed since it was split is resynchronized. Just as with the full establish, by default, the BCV M2 mirror (if there is one) is detached. During a restore, the BCV becomes a mirror to the Standard device and becomes not ready for host access. As with an establish, during a restore, the BCV M2 (if there is one) is detached. The BCV M1 become the valid mirror and is used to resynchronize the Standard Device. The updated data from the BCV is instantly available to the host attached to the Standard device while the resynchronization occurs in background. New changes to the Standard are also propagated to the BCV. When a Restore completes the BCV can be split of for use or remain attached as a mirror.
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TimeFinder/Mirror Protected Restore and Establish

Protected Restore
Data is copied (full or incremental) from BCV to Standard Changes to Standard are not copied to BCV Provides Golden Copy protection
R/W
Standard
Device
NR
BCV Device
M1 M1
M2
M3
M4 M1 M4 M1
M2
M3
M4 M4
Protective Establish
Synchronizes both the M1 and M2 BCV mirrors Provided an additional level of availability Not necessary to resynconize M2 after split
R/W
Standard
Device
NR
BCV Device
M1 M1
M2
M3
M4 M1 M4 M1
M2
M3
M4 M4
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Optionally when doing a restore, the BCV image can be protected so that changes to the standard are not copied to the BCV. This is useful in situations where the BCV contains the Golden Copy of the data and must be preserved. Take an example of where there is corruption to the standard device. The data on the BCV can be used to restore the production data and the application can be restarted while synchronization takes place in background. Because the BCV is a mirror of the standard, if the corruption occurs again, both the production data and the BCV data would be lost. The protected restore option allows one way synchronization from the BCV to the standard. Protected Establish is similar to a normal Establish except the M2 mirror is not detached and both mirrors are synchronized.
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TimeFinder/Mirror Advanced Operations

Reverse Split
BCV is split from standard Data is copied (full or differential) from the M2 mirror of the BCV to its M1 mirror BCV reflects view of the data prior to Establish
R/W
Standard Device
R/W
BCV Device
M1 M1
M2
M3
M4 M4
Concurrent BCV
Establishes two BCVs to Standard device Each BCV uses a mirror position Can be split together or independently
M1 M1 R/W
Standard
Device
NR
BCV Device
NR
BCV Device
M2
M3
M4 M4
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Reverse Split provides a way of rolling back the data image of the BCV to the state prior to establish. This is another way of preserving the BCV Golden Copy While a BCV is established, it becomes another mirror of the Standard Device. If there is data corruption, it will impact both the Standard and BCV devices. By performing a Reverse split, the BCV M2 mirror which was detached during Established, and thus protected from corruption, is used to synchronize the BCV M1, effectively rolling back the data image to where it was prior to the establish. With Concurrent BCVs, two BCVs can be established to the same standard device at the same time. After synchronization, they can be split together to have two copies of the same data or split separately to have two different point-in-time views of the data.
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Multiple BCVs
Maximum of two concurrent BCVs per Standard device Multiple BCVs can established, synchronized and split
Track the deltas of up to eight (by default) BCVs Uses SDDF sessions Enable incremental reestablish or restore
BCV Device 101
2:00 a.m.
Incremental establish
Establish Split
Standard Device BCV Device 102
4:00 a.m.
Standard Device
or
BCV Device
4:00 a.m.
Establish Split
BCV Device 103
6:00 a.m.
Incremental restore
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By default TimeFinder can remember up to fifteen (eight by default) BCVs This is done using SDDF sessions which is really just a bit map that tracks changed tracks. This means that different BCVs can be established and then split from a standard volume at different times of the day. For a single standard device, changes to up to eight BCVs tracked by the Symmetrix. In other words, a BCV that was split at 4:00 a.m. can be incrementally reestablished even though another BCV was established and split at 5:00 a.m. This way, a user can split and incrementally re-establish volumes throughout the day without the overhead of doing a full re-establish. Originally TimeFinder only kept track tables for the last, most recent BCV. Thus a BCV that was split at 3:00 a.m. could not be incrementally re-established to the standard if another BCV had been established and split at 4:00 a.m. The 3:00 a.m. BCV would require a full establish.
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TimeFinder/Clone
Similar to TF/Mirror in that it creates a full volume point-in-time copy of production data
May actually only copy accessed or modified tracks
Host
(Production)
Host
(Backup)
Target can be any Symmetrix device

Clones requires no special attribute Can be unprotected, mirrored, or RAID 5/6 protected Clones support up to 16 copies of the source Clone may be larger than Source
Business continuance sequence:

1. Create a Device Group and add source and target devices 2. Create pairing between source and target
symclone create
3. Activate
Establishes a point-in-time Target available immediately Data is copied to target on access symclone activate
Source Target
Copy sessions uses DeltaMark technology (SDDF) to keep track of changed tracks
Clones do not use additional mirror positions
Symmetrix
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TimeFinder/Clone is the newest Symmetrix local replication technologies and shares some of the same concepts as TimeFinder/Mirror in that it creates a full volume Point-in-time copy of a production device but has some very useful additional features. For example, full synchronization is not required before a clone is available for host access. By default the device available for host access immediately after it is activated. When a request is made to read or write to a track that has not been synchronized, it will be copied next. For temporary copies, such as for use in performing backup, this can significantly reduce back-end activity as only accessed tracks are copied. A, precopy option is also supported that starts the track-by-track copy before activation. The benefit of this is when fully synchronized, the clone is a complete independent device with no dependency on the standard device. Targets of clone operations can be any Symmetrix device that is exactly the same size as the source including RAID 5 devices and BCVs. TimeFinder/Cone is supported in both the Open Systems and Mainframe environments. While somewhat confusing, TimeFinder/Clones are called SNAPs in the Mainframe environment.
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TimeFinder/Clone Copy Session Options

Copy On Access
When activated, all tracks in the Source are marked as protected The first time a is accessed (read or write) track is copied from source to target
Protection bit cleared No copy required for subsequent changes to the same track ACOFW minimizes performance impact to source
Read Write Read Write
Source Device
Target Device
Protected Tracks
1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Default setting for Open Systems, option for Mainframe
Copy On Write
No copy on read Enabled when session is created using nocopy flag SYMAPI_CLONE_COPY_ON_WRITE = ENABLE in options file
Protection bits keep track of what tracks have been copied
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When activating a copy session, the default is CopyOnAccess. This means that after activating the copy session, only those tracks that have been written to the source or written/read from the target will be copied to the target device. A full data copy to the target device will not occur unless all of the device tracks are accessed or written to while participating in the active session. When a session is created using nocopy option, CopyOnWrite is activated and all reads will be handled from the source device and writes to either the source device or target device while the session is active will result in the data being copied to a target device. Copying data places additional work on the Symmetrix back-end. These options are available to minimize the need to copy data. The appropriate approach is very much application dependent. For example, if the objective is to use TF/Clone to create a point-in-time view for the backup that is performed off hours, and there no other processing is to be performed on the clone, the no copy on read may be appropriate. However, if the objective is to use the copy for testing, a full copy may be desired to eliminate the potential performance impact of contention on the source device. Copy Modes can be changed using symclone set mode command.
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TimeFinder/Clone Full Copy Options

Full Copy
When the Clone Session is created using copy option, a fully copy is initiated as background operation when the session is activated Default setting for Mainframe, option for Open Systems
Read Write Read Write
Source Device
Target Device
Pre-copy option
Start copying tracks in the background, before the clone session is activated Default setting for Mainframe, option for Open Systems
1 1 1 1
Protected Tracks
0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Modified Tracks
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
-differential option established a SDDF session to track modified tracks

Enable incremental restore/recreate
Protection bits keep track of what tracks have been copied
SDDF Session tracks modified tracks to enable differential operations
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If the session is created using the copy option, when the copy session is activated, data begins background copying so that a full copy of the data will become available on the target device. Using the -precopy option with the create argument to start copying tracks in the background, before activating the copy session. Optionally the differential option can be specified and a SDDF session is activated to track modified tracks and allow incremental restore or recreate operations. When looking at the copy options; copy on access, copy, and precopy, consider the additional back-end activity that may result. If your dataset is a few small devices, this will be negligible but if your dataset is 100s or 1000s of large devices, the copy on access or nocopy options could result in a significant reduction in back-end activity. ACOFW is a new feature that avoids the copy-on-first-write penalty for writes to source devices, however it does required a second cache slot.
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TimeFinder/Clone Operations
Create
Establish relationship between Source and Target Device Target device is not available to hosts No data copied unless precopy specified
R/W Source Device NR Target Device
Activate
Activating the Copy On Access process
Start background copy if copy
R/W Source Device
Copy on Access
RW Target Device
Production I/O is processed against Source as usual Clone Target device is immediately available for read/write operations
Establish
Performs Create and Activate in a single operation
R/W Source Device

Copy on Access
RW Target Device
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The create action defines the copy session requirements and sets the track protection bitmap on the source device to detect which tracks are being accessed by the target host or written to by the source host. The target device is made Not Ready to its host and placed on hold status for copy session activity. The activate action makes the clone ready to the host. It also starts the one of background copying processes. The process, Copy-On-Access or Full Copy, depends on the argument used when the clone session was created. The establish operation creates and then immediately activates a clone session with a single command. This operation in a clone environment is always a protected establish. Establish provides consistent terminology with legacy TimeFinder/Mirror.
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TimeFinder/Clone Operations
Re-Create
Recreates relationship and incremental changes are copied if session originally created using differential option
R/W Source Device R/W Source Device R/W Source Device R/W Standard Device
Copy
RW Target Device NR Target Device RW Target Device R/W Standard Device

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Restore
Copies data from Target to Source Incremental or full restore
Copy
Split
Split a clone device pair that is in the Restored state
Terminate
Stops copy session Terminates the relationship between the Source and Target
The recreate command allows you to incrementally copy all subsequent changes made to the source device. In another word, it refreshes the contents of the clone with any changes to the source since the clone was last activated. The restore action restores contents Target to the Source. The restore operation with clone is always a protected restore. Following a Restore, the clone must be Split. The terminate action terminates a source to clone relationship. Unless there was a full volume copy, the state of the clone is indeterminate.
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Key Differences Between Clones and Mirrors

Default modes for TF/Clones Copies tracks on access and Clone is available immediately for host access after activation
TF/Mirror must be fully synchronized before it can be split and made available for host access
Point of time for TF/Mirrors is at time of split (after synchronization completes)

Point of time for TF/Cones is at activation
Mirror Clone
TF/Mirror use additional mirror position, Clones do not TF/Clones can be RAID 5/6 protected, TF/Mirrors BCVs cannot
Raid 5/6 BCVs are processes at the SYMAPI level as clones
TF/Mirror supports one or two concurrent copies

TF/Clones up to 16
TF/Clone Emulation mode allows TF/Mirror scripts to leverage Clone functionality

2008 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. TimeFinder - 18
While TimeFinder/Mirror currently has more implementations, TimeFinder/Clone is becoming the preferred local replication solution today as it has all the benefits of TimeFinder/Mirror plus some additional functionality such as no dependency on mirror positions, instantly available while synchronization occurs in background, and does not require special device types. TimeFinder Clones has a Mirror emulation mode feature. Which allows scripts written using TimeFinder/Mirror commands to automatically use the equivalent Clone commands. Basically the symmir establish performs a symclone create precopy, and a symmir split command is converted to a symclone activate. Clone emulation environment variable: SYMCLI_CLONE_EMULATION=ENABLED
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Configuration and Management of Symmetrix Replication Technologies

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