Software
MetroCluster Solution
Achieve continuous data availability for business-critical
applications at half the cost and half the complexity
KEY BENEFITS
Potential for 50% lower cost, no
host-based clustering required, added
efficiency through data deduplication
and server virtualization
Enables zero unplanned downtime
through transparent failover with
protection from hardware plus network
and environmental faults
Enables zero planned downtime
through nondisruptive upgrades for
storage hardware and software
Set it once: Simple to deploy, with
no scripts or dependencies on the
application or operating system
Enables zero change management
through automatic mirroring of changes
to user, configuration, and application
data
THE CHALLENGE
Provide high availability for business-
critical applications and data
Revenue cannot be generated unless
your business is up and running, which
results in relentless pressure to provide
100% availability for your business-critical
applications and data. Unfortunately,
failures are, for the most part, unavoidable
and can lead to unplanned downtime, the
consequences of which can be disastrous.
When application or data availability is
compromised through failures of any type,
your business is at risk for lost revenue,
lost market share, reduced productivity,
and reduced competitiveness. It’s a risk
you can’t afford to take.
THE SOLUTION
Enable continuous availability with
NetApp MetroCluster
NetApp® MetroCluster helps protect
business-critical data and enhances
application availability.
Automatic and transparent recovery from
failures beyond the array, such as power,
cooling, and network, and automated
single-command recovery for site-wide
failures highlight the value of MetroCluster:
an easy-to-administer solution that helps
keep your data available and current at
all times. By combining MetroCluster with
leading third-party server-based clustering
or server virtualization tools, you can deploy
a comprehensive solution to address both
application and data availability. MetroCluster
enables you to protect all new and existing
data so you can automatically recover from
a failure with no data loss. Whether you
have a single data center or a campus or
metropolitan environment, MetroCluster is
a cost-effective solution that can provide the
continuous availability and data protection you
need to keep your business moving.
 Data Center/Campus Level Protection
Main Data Center
High
Availability
Cluster
MetroCluster
Figure 1)
Using MetroCluster to provide continuous availability in a
data center or a campus environment up to 500m.
ELIMINATE DOWNTIME
Invoking a site failover to recover from
subsystem failures within the data center
can result in long recovery times and
possible data corruption, both of which
can impact your bottom line—but not with
MetroCluster. Automatic recovery from any
failure within the data center enables zero
downtime with no disruption to applications,
clients, or users. Because MetroCluster
helps protect against more failure scenarios
than traditional remote mirroring solutions,
your critical data and applications are
continuously available, keeping your
business alive and helping generate
revenue.
SIMPLIFY MANAGEMENT
Managing today’s complex IT infrastructures,
getting a handle on exponential data growth,
and continually adding new functionality
to applications increase the likelihood of
Same or Alternate
Data Center
system and application failures due
to configuration inconsistencies. With
MetroCluster, it’s easy to reduce configuration
and management complexities: You simply
set it once and MetroCluster does all the
work for you. MetroCluster also enables you
to eliminate repetitive change management
activities. Any changes you make to your
primary storage are automatically reflected
in your secondary storage. Not only does
this save time and simplify management, it
also helps reduce exposure to human error,
a major cause of downtime according to
leading industry analysts.
PROTECT YOUR DATA
To help protect your data from building or
site disasters, NetApp MetroCluster enables
you to extend failover capability from within a
data center to a site located nearby (up to
100 kilometers away). Because MetroCluster
mirrors data from your primary storage to
your secondary storage, data on your
secondary storage is always current.
And the combination of failover and data
mirroring means that you can recover from
a disaster—with no loss of data—in seconds,
rather than hours or days.
EXTEND PROTECTION
To help protect your data in the event
of a regional disaster, you can integrate
MetroCluster with SnapMirror® for
asynchronous replication over unlimited
distances. This multisite solution is desirable
if your business requires zero data loss. Using
MetroCluster to synchronously mirror data
locally and SnapMirror to asynchronously
replicate data across long distances, you
 Metropolitan Area Protection Campus and Regional Protection

MetroCluster
Node B

Disaster Disaster
Recovery Site Recovery Site

MetroCluster SnapMirror
Node A
MetroCluster
Node B

MetroCluster
Node A

Main Data Center Alternate Campus Main Data Center Alternate Campus
Data Center Data Center

Figure 2) Figure 3)
Using MetroCluster to geographically extend your Combining MetroCluster with SnapMirror for
continuous availability solution into metropolitan integrated, multisite HA and DR protection.
distances.

get the best of both worlds: seamless
failover capabilities with the potential for
zero data loss over metropolitan areas and
disaster protection over wide areas.
HELP PROTECT EXISTING INVESTMENTS
With NetApp V-Series products, you can
transform any storage array into a NetApp
solution. By combining MetroCluster with
NetApp V-Series products it can help
provide continuous availability for all of
your data and applications across your
heterogeneous storage environment. You get
lower TCO, increased availability, and the
ability to protect more of your data.
REDUCE COSTS
Doing more with a flat or shrinking budget
is a requirement in today’s business
environment. With MetroCluster, you get
a single, continuously availability solution
to help meet your SLAs. MetroCluster is
simple to deploy and administer solution
that eliminates application and operating
system specific configuration and scripting.
MetroCluster can reduce your TCO by as
much as 50% over competitive solutions,
based on an independent study which included
acquisition and ongoing maintenance costs.
Your TCO can be further reduced by adding
NetApp deduplication to your primary storage,
helping you achieve substantial savings and
maximizing your storage efficiency.
PARTNER FOR SUCCESS
When you partner with our Professional
Services and Global Support teams, you
gain access to our extensive storage
expertise, innovative technologies, and
best practices. These services can help you
accelerate the return on your infrastructure
investments and get the most business
benefit from them. We respond quickly to
your problems, no matter where in the world
they occur, and, with one of the most flexible
support programs in the industry, you get
just the support you need for your unique IT
and business requirements.
 NetApp creates innovative storage and
data management solutions that accelerate
business breakthroughs and deliver
outstanding cost efficiency. Discover our
passion for helping companies around the
world go further, faster at www.netapp.com.
www.netapp.com
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change without notice. NetApp, the NetApp logo, Go further, faster,
and SnapMirror are trademarks or registered trademarks of NetApp,
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