A PRESENTATION ON DATA REPLICATION INFRASTRUCTURE

By: Nikhil Verma (00576807710 /IT-Vth Sem/ EVE) Vivek Pasi (02176803109/ IT-Vth Sem/ EVE)

Department of Information Technology Guru Tegh Bahadur Institute of Technology Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University

INTRODUCTION
This Project is based on the study of an ongoing process of MTNL in which data of a main telephone exchange of one city (also known as main site) is backed up to a local exchange (also known as the remote site) which in turn has a backup routed to a main site of another city. This main site of second city has its own data being backed up at its remote site location which in turn has a backup routed to the main site of previous city. Thus a network of data backups is formed between these sites through which any data can be accessed by a server at any time and in case of a disaster, this can help in restoring the affected site to its previous state.

VARIOUS TECHNOLOGIES & EQUIPMENT USED IN THE PROJECT

The following is the list of main equipment used in this project: 1. DS 8000 Copy services environment: DS-8000 copy services environment was developed by IBM Corp. It was developed to associate data replication for large scale companies in an efficient & hassle free way. It uses the IBM Corps AIX Server Operating System based on UNIX. 2. ROUTER: A router is a device that forwards data packets between telecommunications networks, creating an overlay internetwork. Router is provided by CISCO.

3. SWITCH: A network switch or switching hub is a computer networking device that connects network segments.
4. SERVER: A server computer is a computer, or series of computers, that link other computers or electronic devices together. Servers are provided by IBM.

What Is Data Replication

Data replication may be defined as the effective sharing of information between two remote sources so as to establish a common consistent link between them. Usually it is done between two remote servers, or similar types of machines like workstations, where the workload is very high and there is constant flow of data. Data replication is very useful in managing large amount of data particularly in ISP Servers. Data Replication can be done through various techniques like database replication, disk replication, file based replication etc.

Simple Block Diagram Of Data Replication Infrastructure

Types Of Data Replication

The following are the types of data replication techniques:
1. Database Replication - Database replication can be used on many database management systems, usually with a master/slave relationship between the original and the copies. The master logs the updates, which then ripple through to the slaves. The slave outputs a message stating that it has received the update successfully, thus allowing the sending (and potentially re-sending until successfully applied) of subsequent updates.

2. Disk Storage Replication - Active (real-time) storage replication is usually implemented by distributing updates of a block device to several physical hard disks. This way, any file system supported by the operating system can be replicated without modification, as the file system code works on a level above the block device driver layer. It is implemented either in hardware (in a disk array controller) or in software (in a device driver)
3. File Based Replication - File base replication is replicating files at a logical level rather than replicating at the storage block level. There are many different ways of performing this and unlike storage level replication , they are almost exclusively software solutions.

Uses of Data Replication

There are many Practical applications of Data Replication, almost everywhere where there is need for data handling and transfer of large packets of data Internet Service Providers (ISP) use this technique to backup their usage data and everything else. Backing up of data can be very hectic task but it can be easily managed through data replication techniques. Sometimes, if the data of a critical storage location for any company (or any organization) gets lost due to any unwanted problem or disasters, then this technique can be very helpful in recovering process.

ROLE OF DATA REPLICATION Data Replication can play a very important role in saving substantial amount of data for a company in case of any disaster occurrence. It can also help in restoring balance to the main framework after a disaster has occurred in order to make the main frame work recover from it

The Concept of Mirroring

The Process of Disk mirroring may be defined as the process of replicating the contents of a main disk onto another disk so that the contents of the real disk are replicated on the subordinate one.
This method is used to backup data from a main disk onto a secondary disk for two reasons:

i.

To keep the main Disk free from data clogging

The Concept of data replication uses the process of mirroring for its operation

ii. To back up important files that can be lost if the main disk fails

Usually, the equipment involved in this type of operation is the IBM Corp.s DS-8000 Copy Services Environment which uses the IBM AIX Server OS.

Types Of Mirroring
The following are the types of mirroring: Metro Mirror:

Metro Mirror maybe defined as the type of a disk mirroring function which can provide real time copying (instantaneous copying of data) between two disk volumes.
The location of the two disk volumes can be up to 300 km and they are termed as remote disk volume (the disk onto which the data is being copied) and the main frame disk (the disk from which the data is being copied). It is a synchronous type copying function in which both reading and writing functions can be performed on both the disks simultaneously.

Simultaneous exchanging of data can be made between the two participating disks (copying and accessing the data).

Basic Diagram of Metro Mirror

Types Of Mirroring (contd.)

Global Mirror: The Global Mirror function maybe defined as the process in which the exchanging of data between the two volumes takes place after a set interval of time. This technology is asynchronous in nature that can provide long distance copying functions between two remotely located sites (the main frame and remote location). The range of global mirror functions is very high, only depending on the network capabilities (like the channel through which the copying is done etc.) It works like a distributed application which is based on a client server relationship, where the server functions as a supervisor and instructs the client, which is able to do the work but is reliable on the server for instructions.

Basic Diagram Of Global Mirror

List of Basic Commands Used For Metro Mirror Operation

TASK Command with DS-CLI (CLI = Command Line Inter Face) lsavailpprcport Command With DLS-GUI (GUI = Graphical User Interface)
This information is shown during the process when a path is established

List available I/O ports that can be used to establish Metro Mirror

List established Metro Mirror paths. Establish path. Delete path. Failback.

lspprcpath mkpprcpath rmpprcpath failbackpprc

Copy Services Paths Copy Services Paths Create Copy Services Paths Delete Copy Services Metro Mirror / Global Copy Recovery Failback

Failover.

failoverpprc

Copy Services Metro Mirror / Global Copy Recovery Failover

COMPARISION BETWEEN METRO MIRROR & GLOBAL MIRROR

METRO MIRROR
Mode of operation is Synchronous Data consistency is maintained as long as there are no failures Data transferring is almost instantaneous The remote site is always up to date with the main site

GLOBAL MIRROR
Mode of operation is asynchronous Data Consistency is maintained at the remote site Data at the remote site lags behind the main site a little The data transferred at the remote site is a little behind the main site

List of Basic Commands for use with Global Mirror Operation

TASK
Start Global Mirror session Stop Global Mirror session Pause Global Mirror session Resume Global Mirror session Show Global Mirror status Create a Global Mirror session mkgmir rmgmir pausegmir resumegmir showgmir mksession

DS CLI

DLI SM
CS GM Create CS GM Delete CS GM Pause CS GM Resume CS GM Properties CS GM Create Or CS GM Modify CS GM Delete Or CS GM Modify CS GM Modify CS GM View session volumes

Remove a Global Mirror session

rmsession

Change a Global Mirror session Display a Global Mirror session

chsession lssession

List of commands for use with Global Mirror Operations (contd.)

TASK
Create a complete Global Mirror environment

DS CLI
mkpprcpath mkpprc mkflash mksession mkgmir
rmgmir failoverpprc lsflash revertflash or commitflash reverseflash mkflash mkpprcpath failbackpprc lspprc mkpprcpath failoverpprc failbackpprc resumegmir

DLI SM
CS CS CS CS P Create MM Create FC Create GM Create

Fail over Global Mirror

CS GM Delete CS MM Failover CS FC Properties CS FC Reverse relationship CSFCCreate

Fail back Global Mirror

CSPCreate CSMMFailback CSMM Properties CSMM Failover CSMM Failback CSGM Resume

Failover And Failback Functions

The failover and failback functions may be defined as the two main disaster management functions that can be employed if any unwanted situation causes the main site of data generation (data center) to crash or stop functioning. In this, there may be two steps involved: 1. During the first step, if the data center stops functioning in the normal way, then the data replication is handled from a remote data site. This process can be termed as the failover function. 2. During the second step, when the main data center is working properly, the work is shifted again from the remote site to the main center, with the emphasis being laid on updating the main data center before continuing any work on it. This process can be termed as the failback function.

SUMMARY
Data Replication Infrastructure is a network of interconnected Locations (known as main & remote sites) which does replication (copying) between two subsequent Main & Remote Sites.

1.

It is used to backup critical data from a main site to a remote one so that the data can be backed up to a safe location which may be used at the time of need
Most prominent form of data replication is the disk replication system In disk replication system, there are further two types: Metro Mirroring

2.

Global Mirroring
Mirroring can be defined as the process of replicating the exact contents of a disk on to another one In metro mirror, the data from the main site is replicated to the remote site instantaneously.

In global mirror, the data from the main site is replicated to the remote site after a time interval.
Failover and failback functions are the two functions which help in the disaster recovery process. This whole process is based on the IBM Corps AIX Server OS, using DS 8000 Data Replication Services.

SNAPSHOTS OF VARIOUS EQUIPMENT BEING USED AT MTNL

A HARDWARE MANAGEMENT CONSOLE (USED FOR MAINTAINING A SERVER)

A ROUTER & SWITCH ASSEMBLY

SERVER

This is the detailed view of a server in operation

A STORAGE SECTION

THIS IS THE AREA WHERE THE DATA IS STORED FOR ANY EXCHANGE. THE TOTAL CAPACITY IS ABOUT 40 TB. IT COMPRISES OF INDIVIDUAL HDDs OF CAPACITY 300 GBs EACH (SHOWN HERE WITH WHITE LABELS).

References
DS-8000 Copy Services Environment (IBM Redbooks Publications/ISBN-0738431141) DS-8000 Architecture (IBM Redbooks Publications/ISBN0738435066) DS-8000 Performance & Monitoring (IBM Redbooks Publications/ISBN-0738432695) Disaster Recovery Strategies (IBM Redbooks Publications/ISBN0738426504) IBM AIX Enterprise Edition System Administration Guide (IBM Redbooks Publications/ISBN-0738432903) Other sources The Internet

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