Source:About Replication - Jaglion

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Docs latest icon.png Welcome to the latest SEP sesam documentation version 4.4.3 Beefalo/4.4.3 Beefalo V2. For previous documentation version(s), check documentation archive.


Overview

SEP sesam provides different replication methods. The Si3 replication enables you to replicate the data between SEP sesam Remote Device Servers. You can also use HPE Catalyst stores, HPE Cloud Bank Storage, or S3 cloud storage for replicating your data.

SEP sesam replication only searches for new blocks of data in the source media pool and replicates these changes to a target media pool according to a defined schedule. Replication means that only changed data blocks are sent over a network and replicated to the target server. This reduces the data transferred over the network and gives you the ability to control your network usage by scheduling replication.

To optimize replication performance, you cannot replicate savesets with errors. It is possible to replicate savesets with status successful, savesets with warnings (status successful or with warnings) or partially restorable savesets (containing data from cancelled backups).

Prerequisites

To ensure error-free operation of SEP sesam and improve performance, make sure that the following conditions are met:

  • SEP sesam Server v. 4.4.3 Beefalo or higher. Check Hardware requirements for SEP sesam Server or RDS.
  • The valid license(s) are required for the replication. Depending on the replication method, you might need different licences for your systems and/or stores, i.e., Si3R, HPE StoreOnce VSA, Cloud Storage, etc. For details, see List of Licenses.
  • A reliable network connection between servers. Note that NAT (Network Address Translation) infrastructure is not supported.
  • Bandwidth can affect replication performance. Test SEP sesam replication processing to determine how much workload can be managed by your network.
  • It is important that you ensure sufficient amount of memory and CPU.
  • The same amount of disk space is required for source and target data stores. Ensure that enough disk space is available for both data stores, always keeping in mind that horizontal scaling might be necessary.
  • Determine the type of data that is going to be replicated. You can reduce network load by elaborate scheduling and replication scenarios.
Information sign.png Note
Antivirus programs may disrupt network communication and cause SEP sesam processes, such as backup and replication, to fail. One program that is known to cause SEP sesam processes to terminate is Sophos Firewall with IPS (Intrusion Prevention System) enabled. Make sure that there are no antivirus, firewall, IDS or IPS programs preventing interaction with SEP sesam.

Configuring replication

To configure a replication, you first have to configure the data stores. Depending on the replication method, you have to select the relevant data store type:

  • Si3 deduplication store: Enables you to replicate the data between SEP sesam Remote Device Servers (RDS), which can also be SEP sesam Servers or to S3 cloud.
  • HPE StoreOnce: Enables you to replicate the data between SEP sesam and Catalyst store, or between one Catalyst store to another.
  • HPE Cloud Bank Store: Enables you to replicate the data between Catalyst store and Cloud Bank store.

Afterwards, you have to create media pools, test your backups and create a replication task. You can start your replication manually or schedule a replication.

The replication configuration is pretty straightforward and does not differ much on the selected replication method. However, each replication method has its own requirements, e.g., specific pre-configuration steps, data store type, special licences, etc. Depending on which replication method you want to use, see Si3 Replication, S3 Cloud Replication and HPE StoreOnce Replication.

Initial replication

An initial transfer of data will replicate all data from the source to target server, therefore it will require a bigger amount of CPU, network bandwidth and time to successfully complete. You should start initial replication manually. For all following replication cycles you can create different schedules, because after the initial replication the process will transfer only data that has changed on the source server.

To start replication manually, proceed as follows:

  1. From the menu, select Activities -> Immediate start -> Migration.
  2. In the Immediate Start: Migration window, from the Task name drop-down list, select the replication task you want to start and click Start.

To make sure that your replication finished successfully, check its status. For details, see Checking replication status.

Scheduling replication

You can add your replication task to one or more schedules to automate your replication.

  1. From Main Selection -> Scheduling -> Schedules, click New Schedule. The New Schedule window appears.
  2. Scheduling replication Beefalo V2.jpg
  3. Configure your schedule and click OK. For details, see Creating a schedule.
  4. Right-click the schedule you have just created and select New Replication Event. The New Replication Event window opens.
  5. From the Task name drop-down list, select the task you want to link to the schedule. Optionally, under Sequence control, set up the Priority of your replication event. SEPuler always executes the schedules with higher priority first. Default priority level is 1, which is the lowest priority (the highest is 99). The only exception are the schedules with priority 0, which override all other priorities and are always executed. For details, see Setting Event Priorities. You can also enable the Blocking date. This option should be used together with high priority for special events. If checked, the blocking event will block events of the same type of a lower priority, ensuring the backup to be processed in case other backups are scheduled at the same time.
  6. Click OK to link the event to the schedule. Replication event Beefalo V2.jpg

Checking replication status

The status of your replication jobs is logged together with the migration jobs. Go to the Main Selection -> Job state -> Migrations and Replications and check your replication task in the first column Migration Task. The other columns provide details on status, start and end time, and media pools used for the task.

You can also examine the progress of the replication and see how much data is being transferred; you can check data size, physical and nominal data in the columns Data Size, Transferred, Transferred (Brutto) and Progress, respectively. For example, if you are replicating 100 GB of data, just 1 GB needs to be transferred physically over the network because this data has changed.

Migrations by state Beefalo.jpg

Information sign.png Note

If the replication is scheduled, but there is nothing to replicate because the data has not changed since the last run, the displayed status in the column State is successful with remark no savesets found.

As of 4.4.3 Beefalo V2, you can also monitor your replications online by using new Web UI. For details, see SEP sesam Web UI.