Automated Replication Volume Configuration for Disaster Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current Disaster Recovery (DR) solutions with asymmetric 'active/active' setups face challenges in seamlessly orchestrating failover to a secondary site during catastrophic failures, as they lack automated facilities for rapidly mounting and configuring replication volumes, leading to significant time and effort in recovery.
Innovation Solution
A method is provided to automatically configure replication volumes during a failover procedure by obtaining configuration information and preparing the replication target site for use by applications, including configuring volume groups and mount points, using scripts that detect disk mappings and build metadata for automated configuration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If automated configuration of replication volumes is implemented, then recovery time is reduced, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by detecting disk mappings and building metadata configurations before failover occurs. The configuration information is prepared in advance and stored, so that when failover is triggered, the replication volumes can be automatically configured using pre-prepared metadata, significantly reducing recovery time without requiring complex real-time processing during the disaster event.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism in the form of metadata that bridges the replication source and replication target. This metadata contains configuration information about replication volumes, volume groups, and mount points, serving as a mediator that enables automated configuration without requiring direct complex interactions between the source and target systems during failover.
2Device complexity
If manual configuration of replication volumes is performed, then system complexity is reduced, but recovery time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service by enabling the replication target to automatically configure its own volumes using the metadata and configuration information obtained from the replication source. The automated configuration process includes detecting disk mappings, building metadata, configuring volume groups, and setting up mount points without requiring manual administrative intervention, thus reducing recovery time while keeping the system architecture relatively simple.
3Manufacturing precision
If replication volumes are configured for the replication target during data replication, then configuration accuracy is improved, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by configuring replication volumes differently at the source and target sites. The replication source has fully configured volumes with complete metadata, while the replication target maintains volumes in a non-configured state during normal data replication. This asymmetric approach ensures configuration accuracy at the source while maintaining productivity at the target by avoiding unnecessary configuration operations during active replication.
Data Source
AI summary
Orchestrated disaster recovery is provided in which replication volumes are automatically configured as part of a failover procedure. An example method includes obtaining replication volume configuration information identifying configuration of a replication volume in a data replication relationship in which data is replicated from a replication source to a replication target. The replication volume is configured for the replication source and replication volume remains at least partially non-configured for the replication target during data replication from the replication source to the replication target. Based on an indication of failover, the obtained configuration information is used in automatically configuring the replication volume for the replication target in preparation for use by application(s) of the replication target site. Automatically configuring includes configuring, for the replication volume, a volume group and a mount point.