Deciding whether to use this guide

This guide describes how to quickly configure and monitor SnapMirror relationships between volumes in different Data ONTAP clusters. You should use this guide if you want to configure and monitor SnapMirror relationships for disaster recovery and do not need a lot of conceptual background for the tasks.

SnapMirror provides scheduled asynchronous, block-level data protection. SnapMirror replicates Snapshot copies and can replicate NAS or SAN volumes on which deduplication, data compression, or both are run, including volumes containing qtrees and LUNs. SnapMirror configuration information is stored in a database that Data ONTAP replicates to all the nodes in the cluster.

This guide is written with the following assumptions:

• You have clustered Data ONTAP 8.2.x running on the source and destination clusters.
• You are a cluster administrator.
• You are using FlexVol volumes and not an Infinite Volume.
• You are using OnCommand System Manager 3.0 or later for the tasks.

If you want to write a script that creates multiple SnapMirror relationships, you might want to use the set of commands provided by Data ONTAP for configuring and managing SnapMirror relationships. See the Data ONTAP Data Protection Express Guide or the Clustered Data ONTAP Commands: Manual Page Reference for more information about the SnapMirror commands.

If these assumptions are not correct for your situation, or if you want more conceptual background information, you should see the following documentation instead, available from the NetApp Support Site:

• Clustered Data ONTAP Data Protection Guide
• Clustered Data ONTAP Logical Storage Management Guide
• SnapMirror Configuration and Best Practices Guide for Data ONTAP 8.1 Operating in Cluster-Mode (TR-4015)

Related information

Documentation on the NetApp Support Site: support.netapp.com

Technical Report: SnapMirror Configuration and Best Practices Guide for Clustered Data ONTAP: media.netapp.com/documents/tr-4015.pdf

SnapMirror intercluster configuration workflow

You can configure and monitor SnapMirror relationships between volumes residing on different clusters (intercluster) for disaster recovery. To configure SnapMirror relationships between intercluster volumes, you must create the SnapMirror relationship, which includes creating a destination volume, selecting an update schedule and mirror policy, and initializing the relationship.

Creating SnapMirror relationships

You can create a SnapMirror relationship between volumes on different clusters for disaster recovery. You must create a new destination volume for creating a SnapMirror relationship.

Before you begin

• The source and destination clusters must be peered.
• The source and destination Vservers must be peered and the peer relationship must be in the peered state. For details, see the Data ONTAP Cluster and Vserver Peering Express Guide. For verifying the peer relationship state, see Monitoring the status of SnapMirror data transfers on page 10.
• You must have the administrator user name and password for the source and destination clusters.
• The source and destination clusters must be added to System Manager.
• The SnapMirror license must be enabled on both the source and the destination clusters.
• All storage must be configured and set up appropriately to meet the needs of your environment regarding user access, authentication, and client access.

Steps

1. From the System Manager home page, double-click the appropriate cluster.
2. Expand the Vservers hierarchy in the left navigation pane.
3. Select the source Vserver from the left navigation pane that contains the volume you want to protect, and then select Storage > Volumes.
4. In the Details tab, select the volume you want to protect, and then click Protect by > Mirror. The Create Mirror Relationship window is displayed.
5. In the Destination Volume section, specify the following details:
   1. Select the cluster.
   2. Select the Vserver.
   3. Click New Volume.
   4. Enter the volume name.
   5. Select the aggregate for the new volume.

6. In the Configuration Details section, specify the following details:
   1. Retain the default policy DPDefault as the mirror policy.
   2. Select the mirror schedule as hourly.
   3. Ensure that the Initialize Relationship check box is selected. Initializing the SnapMirror relationship ensures that the destination volume has a baseline to start protecting the source volume.

7. Click Create.
8. Select the volume from the Volumes list and click Data protection.
9. In the Data protection tab, verify that the SnapMirror relationship you created is listed and the relationship state is Snapmirrored.

After you finish

You must understand the requirements and workflow for SnapMirror failover and resynchronization to fail over and resynchronize data.

Monitoring the status of SnapMirror data transfers

You should periodically monitor the status of SnapMirror relationships, including the status of the cluster peer and Vserver peer relationships, to ensure that the SnapMirror data transfers are occurring per the specified schedule.

About this task

You can perform this task either from the source or destination cluster.

Steps

1. From the System Manager home page, double-click the appropriate cluster.
2. Expand the Cluster hierarchy in the left navigation pane.
3. Click Configuration > Peers, and then verify that the peer cluster is available.

4. Expand the Vservers hierarchy in the left navigation pane.
5. Select the source Vserver from the "Vservers window," and then verify that the peer relationship with the destination Vserver is in the peered state.

6. Click Protection, and then verify the status of the SnapMirror relationships in the Details section. The Details section displays the health status of the SnapMirror relationship, and also shows the transfer errors and lag time.

• The Is Healthy field must display Yes. For most SnapMirror data transfer failures, the Is Healthy field displays No. In some failure cases, however, the Is Healthy field continues to display Yes. You must check the transfer errors in the Details section to be certain that no SnapMirror data transfer failure occurred.
• The Relationship State field must either display Uninitialized or Snapmirrored.
• The Lag Time must be no more than two times the transfer schedule. For example, if the SnapMirror relationship is assigned a transfer schedule of hourly, the transfer occurs once every day at 05 minutes past the hour. The lag time should be no more than 2 hours since the last transfer.

Where to find additional information

There are additional documents to help you learn more about data protection and other related subjects.

All of the following documentation is available from the NetApp Support Site:

• Technical Report 4015: SnapMirror Configuration and Best Practices Guide for Clustered Data ONTAP 8.2
  Provides information and best practices related to configuring replication in clustered Data ONTAP.
• OnCommand System Manager Help
  Describes how to use OnCommand System Manager to complete typical tasks. Available both from within the product and as a PDF download.
• Clustered Data ONTAP Data Protection Guide
  Describes how to manage your backup and recover data on clustered systems.
• Clustered Data ONTAP Logical Storage Management Guide
  Describes how to efficiently manage your logical storage resources on systems running clustered Data ONTAP, using volumes, FlexClone volumes, files and LUNs, FlexCache volumes, deduplication, compression, qtrees, and quotas.
• Clustered Data ONTAP Network Management Guide
  Describes how to connect your cluster to your Ethernet networks and how to manage logical interfaces (LIFs).
• Clustered Data ONTAP System Administration Guide for Cluster Administrators
  Describes general system administration for NetApp systems running clustered Data ONTAP.

Related information

Documentation on the NetApp Support Site: support.netapp.com

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Index

C

cluster peers
monitoring for SnapMirror relationship health 10

clusters
requirements for using Express Guide to configure SnapMirror relationships for disaster recovery between volumes on different 4
SnapMirror intercluster configuration workflow diagram 5

D

data protection
where to get additional information about 13

diagrams
SnapMirror intercluster configuration workflow 5

disaster recovery
requirements for using Express Guide to configure SnapMirror relationships between volumes on different clusters for 4

E

express guides
requirements for using to configure SnapMirror relationships for disaster recovery 4

F

flowcharts
SnapMirror intercluster configuration workflow 5

I

interclusters
creating SnapMirror relationships between volumes on, for disaster recovery 6
SnapMirror configuration workflow diagram 5

L

lag times
monitoring for SnapMirror relationship health 10

M

mirror relationships
creating between volumes on different clusters for disaster recovery 6
monitoring health of 10
requirements for using Express Guide to configure, for disaster recovery 4

mirrors
intercluster configuration workflow diagram 5

P

protection
where to get additional information about data 13

R

relationships
creating SnapMirror, between volumes on different clusters for disaster recovery 6
monitoring health of SnapMirror 10
requirements for using Express Guide to configure SnapMirror, for disaster recovery 4

S

SnapMirror
intercluster configuration workflow diagram 5

SnapMirror relationships
creating between volumes on different clusters for disaster recovery 6
monitoring health of 10
requirements for using Express Guide to configure for disaster recovery 4

V

volumes
requirements for using Express Guide to configure SnapMirror relationships for disaster recovery between 4
SnapMirror intercluster configuration workflow diagram 5

Vserver peering

intercluster
SnapMirror intercluster configuration diagram 5

W

workflows
SnapMirror intercluster configuration diagram 5