HP 3PAR Operating System Software - Manual (Page 22)

Fibre Channel Networks
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Remote Copy over Fibre Channel (RCFC) can only be set up on storage systems that
communicate over Fibre Channel Storage Area Networks (FC SAN).
◦ Be sure you understand the FC SAN that will be used to connect the storage systems.
◦ Remote Copy systems must be configured to be in the same FC SAN and Zone.
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Each storage system should have a pair of Host Bus Adapters (HBAs) installed for load sharing
and fault tolerance.
◦ The HBA pair on each system must be dedicated to Remote Copy.
◦ The HBAs on each storage system must use Fibre Channel cable connections to connect
the systems through the FC SAN.
Fibre Channel over IP Networks
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In a Fibre Channel over IP (RCFC over IP) network setup, all systems use Fibre Channel
connections that pass through routers in order to cross an IP network.
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You can only use RCFC over IP network connections for Remote Copy in asynchronous periodic
mode.
For more information, see “Volume Group Modes” (page 194) .
General Considerations
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The distance between the systems.
Systems in the same room can be connected over direct Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) links or
via GigE switches, or through Fibre Channel networks.
Longer distances require other topologies.
◦
◦ To use Remote Copy for disaster recovery, you should place the backup storage system
at a remote site some distance from the primary system. This distance should be great
enough that the two sites are unlikely to be affected by the same disaster.
◦ The latency of Remote Copy writes increases with distance.
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The bandwidth of the connection.
Remote Copy over IP (RCIP) configurations can fully use all the 1Gbps links during the
synchronization process. If you use networks with lower throughput, the throughput between
systems running Remote Copy might be capped by the network.
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The requirements of the connection.
For more information, see “Considering Requirements and Restrictions” (page 23) .
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Data availability and speed.
◦ To maintain availability, you must use more than one link to connect storage systems.
◦ Remote Copy allows at least two separate network connections between storage systems.
For optimal availability, the two connections should be connected to separate network
equipment.
◦ When there are multiple physical links between the storage systems, Remote Copy uses
all the available links to transmit data in parallel.
22 Choosing Network Connections