Dell PowerFlex Rack with PowerFlex 3.x Administration Guide

Add storage data replication to PowerFlex

Use this procedure to add storage data replication to PowerFlex.

1. Connect to the PowerFlex GUI presentation server through https://<ipaddress>:8443 using MDM.
2. Click the Protection tab in the left pane.
   NOTE:In the PowerFlex GUI version 3.5 and earlier, the tab is Replication.
3. Click SDR > Add, and enter the storage data replication name.
4. Choose the protection domain.
5. Enter the IP address to be used and choose, and click Add IP. Repeat this for each IP address you are adding, and click Add SDR.
   NOTE:While adding storage data replication it is recommended to add IP addresses for flex-data1-<vlanid>, flex-data2-<vlanid>, flex-data3-<vlanid> (if required), and flex-data4-<vlanid> (if required) along with flex-rep1-<vlanid>, and flex-rep2-<vlanid>. Choose the role of Application and Storage for all data IP addresses and choose role as External for the replication IP addresses.
6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 for all the storage data replicator you are adding. If you are expanding a replication-enabled PowerFlex node, skip steps 7 through 11.
7. Click Protection > Journal Capacity > Add, and provide the capacity percentage as 10%, which is the default. You can customize if needed.
8. Extract and add the MDM certificate:
   NOTE:You can perform steps 8 through 13 only when the Secondary Site is up and running.
   1. Log in to the primary MDM, by using the SSH on source and destination.
   2. Type scli command scli --login --username admin. Provide the MDM cluster password, when prompted.
   3. See the following example and run the command to extract the certificate on source and destination primary MDM.

      Example for source: scli --extract_root_ca --certificate_file /tmp/Source.crt

      Example for destination: scli --extract_root_ca --certificate_file /tmp/destination.crt

   4. Copy the extracted certificated of source (primary MDM) to destination (primary MDM) using the SCP and vice-versa.
   5. See the following example to add the copied certificate:

      Example for source: scli --add_trusted_ca --certificate_file /tmp/destination.crt --comment destination_crt

      Example for destination: scli --add_trusted_ca --certificate_file /tmp/source.crt --comment source_crt

   6. Type scli --list_trusted_ca to verify the added certificate.
9. Once all the Journal Capacity is set, log in to the primary MDM via SSH, and log in to the scli command using the following command for adding the Peer:
   1. Type scli --login --username admin once prompted for password, provide MDM cluster password. Make a note of the system ID, because you need it in the subsequent step.
   2. Use the following appropriate command to add the peer system:
      • To add a peer system on the primary site: scli --add_replication_peer_system --peer_system_ip <destination primary mdm Mgmt ip,destination secondary mdm Mgmt ip> --peer_system_id (system id of destination site) --peer_system_name (destination sitename).
      • To add a peer system on the remote site: scli --add_replication_peer_system --peer_system_ip (primary mdm Mgmt ip,secondary mdm Mgmt ip) --peer_system_id (system id of primary site) --peer_system_name (primary sitename).

   NOTE:

   • For a three node cluster, add two management IP addresses (primary and secondary).
   • For a five node cluster, add three management IP addresses (primary, secondary, and tertiary).
10. Create the remote consistency group (RCG):
    Connect to the PowerFlex GUI presentation server through https://<ipaddress>:8443.

    NOTE:Use the primary MDM IP and credentials to log in to the PowerFlex cluster.
11. Click the Protection tab from the left pane.
12. Choose RCG (Remote Consistency Group), and click ADD.
13. On the General tab:
    1. Enter the RCG name and RPO.
    2. Select the Source Protection Domain from the drop-down list.
    3. Select the target system and Target protection domain from the drop-down list, and click Next.
    4. Under the Pair tab, select the source and destination volumes.
       NOTE:The source and destination volumes must be identical in size and provisioning type. Do not map the volume on the destination site of a volume pair. Retain the read-only permission. Do not create a pair containing a destination volume that is mapped to the SDCs with a read_write permission.
    5. Click Add pair, select the added pair to be replicated, and click Next.
    6. In the Review Pairs tab, select the added pair, and select Add RCG, and start replication according to the requirement.