Recoverpoint Fundamentals SRG PDF

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Copyright © 2013 EMC Corporation. Do not copy - All Rights Reserved. RecoverPoint Fundamentals 1
This course covers overview of the RecoverPoint architecture, features, and functionality.
This module focuses on explaining the basics of the RecoverPoint Replication Solution and how it
can benefit IT infrastructures needing a replication and disaster recovery solution.
As you investigate various replication solutions, you notice that with each approach to replication, synchronous or
asynchronous, several key areas must be understood. EMC typically refers to these as the “pain points” of remote
replication. They are:
• The impact on response time of your production application. For example, with a remote‐synchronous solution,
your application must wait for the acknowledgement from the remote system before proceeding with the next
dependent write. You also have speed‐of‐light issues, which impact the maximum distance your locations can be
from each other.
• The infrastructure – What additional equipment do you require to support the replication process?
• The communication links – How big and how expensive will the communication link need to be in order to support
the process?
• And, most importantly, what is the recovery point at the target? That is, how much data exposure do you
experience as part of the operation; none, seconds, minutes, hours?
Each of these pain points must be carefully balanced. Without choice and flexibility, you cannot begin to architect a
solution that meets your particular replication service levels. One of the best ways to appreciate RecoverPoint is to
look at how these pain points are addressed by this technology.
RecoverPoint offers the following capabilities:
• Integration with existing (heterogeneous) storage arrays, switches, and server environments – no “rip and
replace.”
• Intelligent use of bandwidth and data compression that enables supporting data centers that, due to regulatory
requirements, have established a large physical separation between their primary and secondary sites, without
requiring expensive, high‐bandwidth, long‐distance WAN connections.
• A policy‐driven engine that supports multiple applications with different data‐protection requirements (recovery,
corruption, testing, etc.).
• True bi‐directional local and remote support, enabling flexible protection and recovery schemes that can be
tailored to business processes.
Key customers issues today are working within a budget and containing costs. The cost of
maintaining a production and disaster recovery site is significant. Additionally, you are being asked
to deliver the same or better service. Ensuring that disaster recovery plans meet the service levels
established for RTO and RPO requirements requires resources and access to the environment.
Additionally, you have to be able to test your plans to demonstrate to the business that you do
have the right solution.
EMC RecoverPoint is an enterprise‐scale solution designed to protect application data on
heterogeneous SAN‐attached servers and storage arrays. RecoverPoint provides many features that
make it a unique and tested solution for backup and recovery.
RecoverPoint allows for the access of a point‐in‐time image, either locally or at another site, while
still performing replication. The ability to access data from a copy allows for testing without
sacrificing protection. This feature also is integrated with various applications, such as Exchange,
SQL, and VMware. This allows for application‐driven point‐in‐time copies. RecoverPoint also can be
used with VMAX’s SRDF feature to create additional protection.
Point in time copies can be created for each write, or the user can choose the amount of data lag
that can be tolerated for an application. This option is configurable for each group of volumes, and
can be edited at any time.
The right remote‐replication solution can limit your exposure to planned and unplanned downtime,
enabling non‐stop operation. Perhaps you also need to provide your organization with efficient
data replication to meet corporate or governmental standards, while still meeting your total‐cost‐
of‐ownership requirements. In addition, you need a flexible solution that changes as your needs
change.
No matter what your challenge is, there is one underlying theme: data protection and faster
business restart in the event of a disaster or unplanned outage are critical across the organization.
Using replication software to maintain a complete copy of the data in a remote location allows for
business continuity and increased functionality. When disaster recovery is required, remote
replication software and remote clusters ensure that all your mission‐critical information has been
captured. Using replicas rather than tape means you can be up and running in hours as opposed to
days. In addition, the second cluster can be used for application testing and remote backups.
Replication enables non‐stop operation with full access to the production data and the replicas.
RecoverPoint provides many features and benefits that build on previous RecoverPoint versions.
The multiple sites feature allows you to keep up to four individually journaled copies of your
production data, enabling greater data protection, increased access to different point‐in‐time (PIT)
copies, and a wider range of DR, testing, and backup topologies. And with synchronous replication
over IP, one of these remote copies can be a synchronous copy without the need for remote fibre
connectivity. The introduction of vRPAs relieves the need for physical RPAs.
The introduction of Unisphere for RecoverPoint allows for consistent management interfaces and
methodologies across EMC technologies.
The RecoverPoint REST API interface enables custom scripting and applications via standard RESTful
protocols.
Improved integration with VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) allows for testing and failover to
any point‐in‐time copy. Integration of RecoverPoint local replication and SRDF allows for local
journal copies in conjunction with remote SRDF copies. This enables access to local any point‐in‐
time copies, while still maintaining SRDF functionality.
Complete FIPS 140‐2 compliance ensures that the RecoverPoint environment is secure. Other
performance and scalability enhancements, such as 400 MB/s replication for asynchronous
distributed consistency groups, enable even more efficiency with the same physical configuration.
RecoverPoint gives you a choice of the physical location of the copies of the production data. Local
copies for operational recovery or remote for disaster recovery. With RecoverPoint 4.0 and above,
recoverable copies can exist in multiple physical locations simultaneously.
RecoverPoint is integrated with all of EMC’s block storage, including VMAX (10K/20K/40K), VPLEX,
VNX series and the Vblock 300/700. When using the VPLEX write splitter, which comes installed in
the VPLEX Geosynchrony code, RecoverPoint supports non‐EMC storage.
RecoverPoint provides local data protection and replication for virtual machines. It uses continuous
data capture for local SAN data protection to protect the virtual machines as well as the VMware
ESX server platform from data corruption, and guarantees recoverability locally with no data loss.
RecoverPoint also supports virtual‐to‐virtual replication between equivalent storage configurations,
such as VMFS to VMFS or RDM/P to RDM/P. This support uses the VNX series or CLARiiON array‐
based write splitter or an intelligent‐fabric write splitter. Similarly, RecoverPoint supports physical
and physical‐to‐virtual replication. It also supports virtual‐to‐virtual replication using host‐based
RecoverPoint write splitters installed in each guest operating system. Physical RDM(RDM/P)‐
attached volumes are replicated locally and/or remotely.
RecoverPoint’s VMware support can be used to enhance existing VMware vMotion and Storage
vMotion solutions. RecoverPoint integrates with vCenter Server to allow the RecoverPoint
administrator to quickly view virtual machines fully protected by RecoverPoint. For those not fully
protected, it allows the administrator to see which of the virtual machine’s LUNs/data stores are
not protected. Additionally, RecoverPoint is integrated with VMware vCenter Site Recovery
Manager to simplify and automate disaster recovery in VMware Infrastructure. RecoverPoint also
has a vCenter Server plug‐in that automates failback for SRM configurations.
The RecoverPoint management GUI can be used to monitor virtual machine protection status as
well as physical LUNs. This ability to monitor physical and virtual storage extends to heterogeneous
storage.
If you are considering Microsoft Hyper‐V, RecoverPoint can fully protect any Hyper‐V virtualized
application as long as its data resides on a SAN. RecoverPoint supports Microsoft VSS and VDI,
Windows Server Core, as well as Cluster Enabler version 4 under Hyper‐V.
EMC has delivered a disaster recovery solution with VMAX 10K and RecoverPoint which ensures
you are able to meet your service level agreements. Enginuity with EMC RecoverPoint splitter
enables heterogeneous replication for site recovery and DVR‐like recovery for business continuity.
Additionally, EMC is able to leverage integration with VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager to
better support VMware environments.
EMC RecoverPoint helps you reduce costs as you are able to use one product across your storage
environment, whether it is EMC or not. This helps you further reduce costs as you are able to
increase the productivity of your workforce; they don’t have to learn a new product for every piece
of hardware you have – it is the same tool again and again.
You are able to reduce setup time and meet your service levels by leveraging EMC’s integration
with VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager.
You are able to automate site failover and site failback, ensuring application availability.
Here, we have an overview of the architecture. It includes a single production Oracle 11g database
on a Symmetrix VMAX 10K. EMC RecoverPoint splitter is leveraged for continuous local and
remote replication. The recovery site is built on an EMC VNX 5700. VMware vCenter Site Recovery
Manager with EMC Site Recovery Manager Adapter for RecoverPoint is leveraged, and enables
management across the two sites.
RecoverPoint is also integrated with VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager. Virtual machines can
be brought back online rapidly with no data loss when RecoverPoint is used with VMware vCenter
Site Recovery Manager to orchestrate and streamline data protection and failover processes.
RecoverPoint is the most flexible approach to protecting virtualized data – replicating VMware
vStorage VMFS to protect and recover a single virtual machine or the entire VMware ESX server.
This module covered an introduction to RecoverPoint’s solution to Replication challenges.
This module focuses on the architecture and components of the RecoverPoint solution. The goal of
this module is for you to understand the basic concepts that allow RecoverPoint to do what it does.
A RecoverPoint system is all of the RecoverPoint components that are used to replicate and
protect data. A system can include a single RecoverPoint cluster or many connected
together. A RecoverPoint system consists of: RecoverPoint appliances (physical or virtual),
RecoverPoint Clusters, Write splitters, and RecoverPoint volumes.
With RecoverPoint 4.0 and later, a RecoverPoint system can replicate data to up to four remote
copies. Shown here is an example with all four copies in four different remote clusters. Each of
these copies has its own journal and can be individually accessed. If we had a local copy, we could
have up to three remote copies. Having two remote copies in the same remote cluster is also a
supported configuration. Please note that RecoverPoint/SE supports a maximum of two clusters.
Additionally, RecoverPoint 4.0 supports synchronous replication to a remote copy over IP.
Previously, this was only supported with fibre connectivity. Regardless of whether over fibre or IP,
only one remote copy per RecoverPoint consistency group can be replicated synchronously. Since a
local copy can also be synchronous, this means that RecoverPoint can maintain two synchronous
copies at the same time. A general guideline for synchronous replication over IP is for the link to
have a latency (round‐trip) less than 10 ms.
Multi‐cluster configurations allow for greater protection, increased access to PiT copies, and
implementation of a wide range of disaster recovery, testing, and backup topologies. It also enables
a single point of management and minimizes the number of RPAs required compared with previous
shared splitter solutions.
RecoverPoint uses software running on the CPUs of the arrays to perform Write‐Splitting. This
software copies all incoming writes for volumes protected with RecoverPoint. A copy is written to
the production volume and a copy is sent to the RecoverPoint appliance. Previous versions of
RecoverPoint used Write‐Splitters located on the Host or SAN. RecoverPoint 4.0 and above only
uses the array‐based version of Write‐Splitters.
The VNX/CLARiiON splitter runs in each storage processor of a VNX, CLARiiON CX3 or CX4
array and splits (“mirrors”) all writes to a VNX/CLARiiON volume, sending one copy to the
original target and the other copy to the RecoverPoint appliance.
Both RecoverPoint and RecoverPoint/SE support the VNX/CLARiiON splitter. The
VNX/CLARiiON splitter is supported on VNX arrays, CLARiiON CX3 UltraScale™ arrays as well
as CLARiiON CX4 UltraFlex™ arrays.
The VNX/CLARiiON splitter is supported on both iSCSI and FC attached volumes.
The RecoverPoint supports the RecoverPoint Symmetrix write splitter on the VMAX family
of arrays. VMAX helps customers achieve enterprise‐class reliability, availability and
serviceability. Customers who need to protect their application data locally or remotely can
use VMAX with RecoverPoint.
For existing or prospective customers, the Symmetrix splitter for VMAX offers an
embedded, cost‐effective, and simple RecoverPoint solution for those that use the VMAX
Array.
Starting with RecoverPoint 3.5, the VPLEX write splitter provides any point‐in‐time business
continuity recovery to protect the VPLEX platform across a mixture of EMC and non‐EMC
arrays. In addition, RecoverPoint can test replicated data on virtual volumes without impact
to production applications.
Before RecoverPoint 3.5 there were three types of available write splitters: host, array and
intelligent fabric splitters. A VPLEX Splitter contains a “write splitter” that is built into the
VPLEX engine. This is a simple method to implement a RecoverPoint business continuity
solution to protect the mobility, availability, and collaboration of VPLEX ‘Access Anywhere’
for both data and enterprise applications with VPLEX.
The VPLEX write splitter supports local and Remote Replication using any supported array
type. The RecoverPoint VPLEX splitter supports virtualized environments and clustering
environments. These environments include VMware HA, Microsoft MSCS/Failover
clustering, Oracle stretched RAC, Oracle OVM and AIX stretched clusters.
The RecoverPoint Appliance (RPA) is the data‐protection controller for RecoverPoint. RPA nodes
utilize private LAN and shared RPA volumes for communications using standard TCP protocol. No
FC/IP converters are needed to replicate across the WAN. The set of RPAs at each cluster
constitutes an RPA cluster, where each cluster can include between one and eight RPAs, as set
during RecoverPoint system installation.
The cluster size must be the same at all clusters in an installation. In normal operation, all RPAs in a
cluster are active all of the time. Consequently, if one of the RPAs in a cluster goes down, the
RecoverPoint system supports immediate switchover of the functions of that box to another RPA in
the cluster.
Generation 5 RPAs perform hardware status notifications. If a hard drive or power supply
on the RecoverPoint appliance fails, a hardware event notification will be raised in the
system logs. If configured, the event will also create a call‐home event, sending a system
request to EMC Customer Service.
RPAs are deployed in a two‐to‐eight‐node cluster configuration that allows active‐active failover
between the nodes. The RecoverPoint environment can consist of up to five clusters which can
either be local or at different locations.
Each RPA has the following interfaces:
• Four Fibre Channel ports used for data exchange with local host applications and storage
subsystems, providing redundant connectivity to the SAN‐attached storage and the hosts.
• One Ethernet interface used to transfer data to other clusters.
• One Ethernet interface used to manage the RecoverPoint system
• Four Ethernet connections (one management LAN connection and one data WAN connection –
per node)
• Five IP addresses (2 nodes x 2 Ethernet connections + 1 floating IP address for management)
• Eight Fibre Channel connections (Gen4: 2 nodes x 1 HBAs per node x 4 ports per HBA – Gen3: 2
nodes x 2 HBAs per node x 2 ports per HBA)
In preparation for RecoverPoint deployment, ensure that there is one RPA Fibre Channel port
available per RPA per fabric. This ensures high availability by providing redundancy between all
components at the cluster.
A dual fabric configuration is required at all clusters for RPA, host, and storage connectivity.
The network connection consists of a management network and a replication network. The
management network has a static IP address for each appliance and a floating static IP address for
each cluster. The management network manages the appliances as well as access to the
replication’s management CLI and GUI.
The replication network consists of a static IP address for each appliance. It communicates to the
appliances on the opposite cluster and replicates data between the clusters. An NTP server ensures
proper time synchronization with the outside world. It is located only on the primary cluster, since
the appliances have an internal synchronization method to ensure all appliances are synchronized.
An NTP server is recommended but not required and is typically connected through the
management network.
The RecoverPoint replication solution contains a SAN Discovery feature that enables the appliances
to automatically detect and display information about the LUNs that the appliances can see on the
storage. This information includes: WWN, LUN, size, and storage type. To determine which LUNs
are associated with which replication volume, the WWN, LUN, and size must be determined ahead
of time. Volume replication pairs are a match of replication volumes that will be replicating
between each other. Once the replication volumes have been determined based on the WWN,
LUN, and size, they need to be associated into these replication pairs.
RecoverPoint 4.0 introduces the Virtual RecoverPoint Appliance (vRPA). vRPAs are virtual machines
that run the RecoverPoint software. They access the repository, journal, production, and copy
volumes via the iSCSI protocol, and therefore do not require any FC infrastructure. vRPAs are a
great way to get many of the benefits of RecoverPoint without the need for physical appliances or a
SAN infrastructure. One important consideration is that vRPAs are only available for use with the
VNX storage array. Another important consideration is that since RP 4.0 supports synchronous
replication over IP, if the WAN is sufficiently robust, vRPAs can be used for remote synchronous
replication. vRPAs can replicate any block data, regardless of how the hosts are connected to the
VNX.
Since the vRPAs access the repository, journal, production, and copy volumes via the iSCSI protocol,
iSCSI SLICs are required for the VNX arrays.
A special volume must be dedicated on the SAN‐attached storage for each RPA cluster. This volume
stores configuration information about the RPAs, the cluster, and consistency groups. This enables
a properly functioning RPA to seamlessly assume the replication activities of a failing RPA from the
same RPA cluster.
There is a Repository volume for every RecoverPoint cluster. The volume is presented to each RPA,
either via the SAN or using iSCSI for virtual RPAs.
Each copy of data in a consistency group must contain one or more volumes that are dedicated to
holding point in time history of the data. The type and amount of information contained in the
journal differs according to the journal type.
There are 2 types of journal volumes:
• Copy Journals
• Production Journals
Journal volumes hold snapshots of data to be replicated. Each Journal volume holds as many point
in time images as its capacity allows, after which the oldest image is removed to make space for
the newest. Journals consist of 1 or more volumes presented to all the RPAs for the cluster. Space
can be added, to allow a longer history to be stored, without affecting replication.
The size of a Journal volume is based several factors:
• The change rate of the data being protected.
• The amount of time between point in time images (could be as small as each write).
• The number of point in time images that are kept.
Consistency groups define protection for a set of volumes. If two data sets are dependent on one
another (such as a database and a database log), they should be part of the same consistency
group. consistency groups maintain write order between the data sets. Settings and policies for
data protection are defined for each consistency group. Examples of these parameters are:
compression, bandwidth limits, and maximum lag.
Imagine a motion picture film. The video frames are saved on one volume, the audio on another.
Neither volume will make sense without the other. The saves must be coordinated so that they will
always be consistent with one another. In other words, the volumes must be replicated together in
one consistency group to guarantee that at any point in time, the saved data will represent a true
state of the film. The consistency group ensures that updates to the production volumes are also
written to the copies in consistent and correct write‐order so the copy can always be used to
continue working from, or to restore the production source.
The terms “local copy” and “remote copy” are always relative to the production copy.
In the case of a disaster in the production storage, the lag of data between the production
copy and the remote replica will cause data loss. Therefore, the ability to minimize or
eliminate data loss for the most important data is a key feature of a robust replication
environment. Prioritizing consistency groups in RecoverPoint 4.0 is done by choosing the
priority level from a drop down menu. The options are Idle, Low, Normal, High, and Critical.
This makes it easy to ensure that the most important data has the least possibility of data
loss.
Please note that this feature has replaced the System Optimized Lag and RPO lag settings
found in previous RecoverPoint versions.
RecoverPoint copies are all of the volumes of a consistency group that are either a source or a
target of replication at a given RPA cluster
The following types of copies exist in a consistency group:
• The production copy – The production copy consists of all of the volumes that are the sources of
replication of a consistency group, as well as the production journal volumes
• Local copies – A local copy consists of all of the volumes that are the targets of replication, for a
specific consistency group
The following limitations apply to copies:
• A maximum of one production copy and up to four non‐production copies can be configured per
consistency group.
• In local replication, there can be only one production copy and one local copy.
• In remote replication If a local copy exists there can be up to three remote copies. If a local copy
does not exist, there can be up to four remote copies.
Consistency groups are comprised of one or more replication sets. Each replication set consists of a
production volume and any local or remote copy volumes to which it is replicating. The number of
replication sets in your system is equal to the number of production volumes being replicated.
There are three major phases performed by RecoverPoint to guarantee data consistency and availability
(RTO and RPO) during replication.
The RecoverPoint replication phases are:
• “The write phase” (the splitting phase)
• “The transfer phase”
• “The distribution phase”
Each of these phases are processes performed by each consistency group’s Primary RPA, and are controlled
by the policies and settings set by the user, through Unisphere for RecoverPoint or the RecoverPoint CLI.
The write phase is the RecoverPoint replication phase in which host writes are intercepted by the splitter
and received by the local RPA, prior to transfer. A general description of the flow of data for write
transactions is as follows:
1. The production host writes data to the production volumes, but is first intercepted by the splitter. The
splitter sends the write data to the RPA.
2. Immediately upon receipt of the write data, the local RPA returns an ACK to the splitter.
3. The splitter then writes the data to the production storage volume.
4. The storage system returns an ACK to the splitter upon successfully writing the data to storage.
5. The splitter sends an ACK to the host that the write has been completed successfully.
The sequence of events 1‐5 can be repeated multiple times, and in parallel, for multiple writes. These writes
are grouped together and readied for the next phase, which is the transfer phase. The number of writes
that are grouped together is a configurable setting. It can be one or many. This setting is referred to as a
“snapshot.” Snapshots determine the amount of data that is lost (RPO). These snapshots are saved in the
copy journal volume, as we will see during the distribution phase.
The transfer phase is the RecoverPoint replication phase in which host writes are sent from a
source RPA to a target RPA, after “The write phase” and before “The distribution phase.” The
transfer phase differs slightly depending on various consistency group Settings. Here, we will
explain the Non‐Distributed Group setting.
For non‐distributed consistency groups, the flow of data during the transfer phase is as follows:
1. After processing the data (for example, applying the various compression techniques), the
source RPA sends the data to the target RPA.
2. The target RPA writes the data to the journal.
3. Upon the successful writing of the data to the journal, the target RPA returns an ACK to the
source RPA.
The distribution phase is the RecoverPoint replication phase responsible for the writing of the
production snapshots to the copy storage, and it is performed by the target RPA, after “The transfer
phase.” Since the copy storage is being written to during this process, during distribution, the state
of the copy Storage is No Access.
The copy journal history consists of snapshots that have already been distributed to the copy
storage and snapshots that are still waiting for distribution in the queue of snapshots waiting for
distribution. When data is received by the RPA faster than it can be distributed to the copy storage
volumes, it accumulates in the queue of snapshots waiting for distribution in the copy journal. This
can be avoided by proper design, but RecoverPoint allows for this condition.
RecoverPoint 4.0 simplifies RecoverPoint licensing. Licensing details for the three RecoverPoint
products are shown in this table. Please note that all licenses are based on whether the replication
type is local or remote.
RecoverPoint/SE licenses are based per array and can only be purchased via VNX software suites.
RecoverPoint/EX licenses are based per array for the VNX and per registered capacity for the
VMAX, VMAX10K, and VPLEX. Registered capacity means the amount of data on the array that is
being protected.
RecoverPoint/CL licenses are based on the replicated capacity, which simply means the amount of
data that is being replicated. RP/CL licenses are not tied to any arrays. This makes the replication
environment very flexible, since adding, changing, and refreshing arrays does not require any
change to the RecoverPoint license. RecoverPoint/Cluster Enabler (RP/CE) is included with all RP
4.0 offerings.
With RecoverPoint/EX and CL, a RecoverPoint system can consist of up to 5 clusters.
RecoverPoint/SE supports 1 or 2 cluster topologies only. Multi‐cluster configurations allow for
greater protection, increased access to PIT copies, and implementation of a wide range of disaster
recovery, testing, and backup topologies. It also enables a single point of management and
minimizes the number of RPAs required. RecoverPoint 4.0 supports synchronous replication to a
remote copy over IP. Previously, this was only supported with fibre channel connectivity.
This module provided an overview of the RecoverPoint architecture.
This module focuses on the capabilities of RecoverPoint and how to use some of its most
commonly used features.
A key feature of RecoverPoint is the ability to test point‐in‐time images of the production data.
When replicating normally, a host writes to the production volumes of a consistency group. These
writes are also written to the journal at each copy. They are compiled into an image, which is
stored in the journal. An image or “snapshot” could consist of one or many writes; this depends on
polices set for the consistency group.
To test a copy to verify that it is a reliable and consistent copy of the production storage image, it is
necessary to select a copy to test, then enable access for a host to test that data. After a point in
time image is selected, that image is distributed to the copy and is made ready for a host to test.
This can be done while still continuing writing to production and making point‐in‐time copies.
For detailed procedures on how to test a copy, always refer to the latest RecoverPoint
Administrators Guide.
RecoverPoint allows for the recovery of production data after file or logical corruption occurs. The
production data can be rolled back to a previous point‐in‐time.
Failing over a consistency group to a local copy or a remote copy allows system operations to
continue as usual from the copy. Hosts attached to the copy continue operations by running
applications. Snapshots are now transferred from the (former) copy to the (former) production
journal and from the production journal to the production storage. The same failover procedure
can be used for planned maintenance at the production site while the copy site takes over normal
operations. When the production storage has been restored or the planned maintenance
complete, system operations can be resumed at the original production source by failing over
again.
With RecoverPoint 4.0, a RecoverPoint system can replicate data to up to four remote copies.
Shown here is an example with all four copies in four different remote clusters. Each of these
copies has its own journal and can be individually accessed. If we had a local copy, we could have
up to three remote copies. Having two remote copies in the same remote cluster is also a
supported configuration. Please note that RecoverPoint/SE supports a maximum of two clusters.
The VSI RecoverPoint Management plug‐in is a plug‐in to the vSphere client that enables
RecoverPoint Management integration with vSphere. The VSI software is free and is available at
support.emc.com. The software is installed on the vSphere client as shown here. Installing and
configuring the VSI plug‐in enables the VMware administrator to test and failover Site Recovery
Manager protection groups to any point‐in‐time. These protection groups must be based on
datastores accessed by the ESXi server(s) with either the Fibre Channel, FCoE or iSCSI protocols.
NFS datastores cannot be protected using VSI RecoverPoint Management. Installation will only
succeed on hosts that already have the vSphere client installed. The vSphere client cannot be
opened at the time of installation – an error will appear and the installation will terminate.
Although physical RPAs are shown here, this functionality is available with virtual RPAs as well.
RecoverPoint 4.0 integration with SRM enables users to test or failover SRM protection
groups to any point‐in‐time. This is done using the vSphere client and the Virtual Storage
Integrator (VSI) RecoverPoint Management. VSI is free of charge and downloadable from
support.emc.com. Installation, configuration, and usage of VSI RecoverPoint Management
is quick, easy, and very similar to all other VSI products.
The process is simple. Apply the point‐in‐time copy to use with SRM, run the SRM test or
failover procedure and the test or failover will occur using the point‐in‐time specified.
Starting with RecoverPoint 4.0, SRDF and RecoverPoint are supported with the same source device.
SRDF R1 devices can be replicated locally with RecoverPoint local replication at the same time that
the R1 is being replicated via SRDF to the R2 device. The any point‐in‐time feature of RecoverPoint
enables protection against local corruption, while SRDF provides the disaster recovery solution. If
SRDF is already configured, one can add the RecoverPoint local protection. If RecoverPoint local
protection is already configured, one can add SRDF for remote protection.
Typical usage for this solution would be a customer that currently has a database
application set up with synchronous SRDF for compliance reasons. SRDF can protect against
site failure, but not against logical corruption of the database. By adding CDP to the R1
device the customer gets ‘DVR’ like recovery with minimal or zero RPO in case of data
corruption.
This solution will also provide a better RPO and RTO when compared with local replication
solutions such as TimeFinder Snap and Clones with backup of database logs.
RecoverPoint supports virtual provisioning. Virtual provisioning is the ability to present an
application with more capacity than is physically allocated to it in the storage array. The physical
storage is then allocated to the application “on‐demand” as it is needed from a shared pool of
capacity. RecoverPoint replicates only the allocated space that is in use by the application. For
example, the application may believe it has 8 GB allocated, but may only have 2 GB in use.
RecoverPoint replicates only the 2 GB.
Some additional features of RecoverPoint include the simplified prioritization of
consistency groups, full FIPS 140‐2 compliance, and a robust REST API interface.
The simplified prioritization of consistency groups makes it easy to ensure that the most
important data has the least possibility of data loss.
Full FIPS 140‐2 compliance ensures that the environment is secure by fully complying with
the US Department of Commerce FIPS 140‐2 specification. A robust REST API interface
enables custom scripting and applications via standard RESTful protocols.
This module covered features, functions, and capabilities of RecoverPoint.
This module focuses on Unisphere for RecoverPoint and how to use it.
Unisphere for RecoverPoint provides a single point of management for the entire RecoverPoint
system. Users familiar with any one of the many other Unipshere interfaces will find it easy and
intuitive to navigate through Unisphere for RecoverPoint. This significantly reduces the learning
curve for new users. You can run Unisphere for RecoverPoint on any supported web browser from
any system that has TCP/IP connectivity to the RecoverPoint appliances. Check the release notes
for RecoverPoint to find a list of the supported browsers.
Use https://<RecoverPoint site management IP> to access Unisphere for RecoverPoint .
RecoverPoint 4.0 introduces the Unisphere for RecoverPoint user interface, a web based client that
replaces the RecoverPoint Management Application available with previous versions of
RecoverPoint. Users familiar with any one of the EMC Common User Interface Toolkit (ECUIT)
based interfaces will find it easy and intuitive to navigate through the Unisphere for RecoverPoint
GUI. This significantly reduces the learning curve for users. When logged in, users are immediately
presented with a topology of their RecoverPoint system, as well as health and traffic information.
All protection and recovery operations are wizard‐based with clearly defined, intuitive steps.
RecoverPoint offers a command line interface for use with both replication and system
maintenance tasks. This interface allows for multiple users to access the RecoverPoint cluster at
the same time. Replication tasks, such as failover commands, can be scripted using this interface.
The maintenance user capability allows for checking system health and for log collection.
RecoverPoint 4.0 also introduces eLicensing. For new RecoverPoint 4.0 installations, once
the license authorization code (LAC) is received, simply log into support.emc.com, fill out
the necessary information, and download the license file. Everything is self‐service and
does not require a service request. All RP licensing records will be available online, which
makes it quick and easy to verify licensing purchases and prove compliance during
company audits.
Please note that upgrades from previous RecoverPoint licenses to RecoverPoint 4.0 will
require a service request. After the initial upgrade, all further upgrades and changes can be
done using the eLicensing service.
RecoverPoint 4.0 also introduces Deployment Manager 2.0. With this version of DM, one can
install, maintain, or upgrade to RecoverPoint 4.0. This tool can be used for both physical and virtual
RPAs. Deployment Manager can also be used to install and maintain earlier versions of
RecoverPoint.
This module covered the topics listed here. If interested in learning more about any of these topics
please refer to the Education Services catalog to see what other RecoverPoint training we offer.
This course covered an overview of the RecoverPoint Product and the solutions it provides.
This concludes the training.

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Welcome to RecoverPoint Fundamentals.

Revision Date: 06/2013

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