HP LeftHand P4000 Virtual SAN Appliance Software - Manual (Page 17)

What the system does
The system creates the remote snapshot in the cluster that contains the remote volume, and then
copies the primary snapshot onto the remote snapshot. The process of copying the data may take
some time.
The remote snapshot appears below the remote volume in the navigation window when the copy
completes.
NOTE: If you create a remote snapshot of a volume while a remote snapshot is in progress, the
second remote snapshot does not begin copying until the first remote snapshot is complete.
Creating the first copy
Creating the first copy of data is the first step when setting up a Remote Copy solution. Three
methods for creating the first copy are described below.
Copy data directly to the remote site over the WAN.
Use this method if you are implementing the Remote Copy solution before you accumulate much
data in the primary site, and your hardware is already installed in the remote site.
With this method, you create the primary management group and the remote management group
in their respective locations, and then create the initial copy of the data directly over the WAN
using Remote Copy.
Use the storage systems intended for the remote site to configure the remote management group
onsite and copy data locally, and then ship the remote storage systems to the remote site.
Use this method if you initially have all the storage systems for the Remote Copy solution at the
primary site.
1. Configure both the primary and remote management groups.
2. Create the first copy of the data locally over the gigabit Ethernet.
3. Ship the storage systems for the remote site and install the remote management group just as
you configured it in the primary site.
4. Allow adequate time between the arrival of the storage systems and the first remote copy
operation.
NOTE: The subsequent snapshots from the primary volume to the remote volume are
incremental.
Use the PrimeSync method of Remote Copy to configure a temporary management group, create
the first copy locally, ship the temporary storage system, and then copy locally to the remote target.
Use this method if you have the primary (Site A) and remote site (Site B) configured and operational.
1. While at the primary Site A, use available storage systems to create a new temporary
management group, cluster, and volume.
This management group, cluster, and volume are the PrimeSync that you will set up at the
primary Site A.
2. Make a remote snapshot of the primary Site A volume, and then copy it to the temporary
PrimeSync management group over gigabit Ethernet. See
“Creating a remote snapshot”
(page 13) .
3. Ship the storage systems to the remote Site B.
4. Power them on and discover them in the CMC to display the temporary PrimeSync management
group, cluster, and volume.
5. Copy the remote snapshot from the temporary PrimeSync management group to the existing
remote Site B management group.
6. Disassociate the temporary PrimeSync management group from the remote Site B management
group. For more information, see
“Disassociating remote management groups” (page 32) .
Working with remote snapshots 17