Timefinder VP Snap Local Repl WP

White Paper
IMPLEMENTING TimeFinder VP SNAP FOR

LOCAL REPLICATION
Applied technology for thin environments on Symmetrix VMAX
Family systems
Abstract
This paper describes TimeFinder VP Snap in thin environments
on the Symmetrix VMAX Family storage systems for Open
Systems platforms. TimeFinder VP Snap is described, as well as
associated features for business continuance. Implementation
guidelines, including the associated restrictions and limitations
for this product, are described.
December 2013
Copyright 2013 EMC Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate as
of its publication date. The information is subject to change
without notice.
The information in this publication is provided as is. EMC
Corporation makes no representations or warranties of any kind
with respect to the information in this publication, and
specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or
fitness for a particular purpose.
Use, copying, and distribution of any EMC software described in
this publication requires an applicable software license.
For the most up-to-date listing of EMC product names, see EMC
Corporation Trademarks on EMC.com.
Implementing TimeFinder VP Snap for Local Replication
Table of Contents
Executive summary.................................................................................................. 4
Audience ............................................................................................................................ 4
Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 4
TimeFinder VP Snap ................................................................................................. 5

VP Snap operations ............................................................................................................ 6
Handling of Unallocated Source Tracks .............................................................................. 7
VP Snap considerations...................................................................................................... 7
Interoperability............................................................................................................... 9
Environment variables .................................................................................................. 10
Implementing VP Snap ..................................................................................................... 10
Configuring the devices (Optional) ............................................................................... 11
Creating a device group .................................................................................................... 12
Using symclone to execute VP Snap sessions ................................................................... 13
Restoring VP Snap sessions ............................................................................................. 20
Incremental resynchronization of a clone with cascaded VP Snap ................................ 22
Clone incremental restore to a VP Snap source device .................................................. 29
VP Snap Restore to Target (RTT) .................................................................................... 32
Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 38
References ....................................................................................................................... 38
Executive summary
EMC TimeFinder for local replication is software that delivers point-in-time copies of
devices that can be used for backups, decision support, data warehouse refreshes, or
any other process that requires parallel access to production data. TimeFinder allows
users to make copies of data on multiple target devices from a single source device.
Enguinity provides new TimeFinder functionality called VP Snap that offers spaceefficient snaps for virtual pool devices. TimeFinder VP Snap delivers the efficiency of
snap technology, with improved cache utilization and simplified pool management.
This document describes TimeFinder VP Snap technology, its associated features for
business continuance, and implementation guidelines, including restrictions and
limitations for this product.
The features discussed are valid for any environment running Enginuity 5876 on
VMAX 10K, VMAX 20K, or VMAX 40K Series arrays.
Audience
This white paper is intended for storage administrators, database administrators, and
technologists who have an interest in understanding the concepts surrounding
TimeFinder VP Snap.
Introduction
EMC Symmetrix VMAX 40K Series arrays are a technology refresh built on the
foundation of the industry-leading Virtual Matrix Architecture, which provides higher
levels of scalability, performance, and consolidation for the most demanding virtual
data-center environments.
The capabilities of Enginuity to network, share, and tier storage resources allows data
centers to consolidate their applications to deliver new levels of efficiency with
increased utilization rates, improved mobility, reduced power and footprint
requirements, and simplified storage management.
Enginuity 5876 delivers the following new capabilities:
Fully Automated Storage Tiering for Virtual Pools (FAST VP) and Virtual
Provisioning for IBM System z and IBM i environments
VLUN VP Migration support for IBM System z and IBM i environments
Increased efficiency
FAST VP support for SRDF and SRDFe configurations
Increased consolidation and reduced TCO
RecoverPoint Splitter
TimeFinder VP Snap
Ease-of-integration and management
Unisphere for VMAX
Dynamic back end
Federated Live Migration cluster support
TimeFinder VP Snap
TimeFinder VP Snap allows multiple snaps to share capacity allocations within a thin
pool, thus reducing the storage required for saved tracks. TimeFinder VP Snap is
available with Enginuity 5876 and Solutions Enabler V7.4 and higher, and it is
designed to create point-in-time replicas that are conceptually similar to those
created by TF/Snap. Both source and target devices must be thin, and the copied data
resides on allocations in a thin pool. VP Snap sessions are unique because thin-pool
allocations can be shared amongst target devices. For example, source updates that
are new to multiple point-in-time copies are saved in a single set of allocations that
are shared by two or more target devices. When data being copied from a source
device is needed by more than one target, only a single shared copy will be moved to
the target thin pool. Allowing multiple targets to reference the same shared copy
provides cost-effective space savings.
Figure depicts a source device with three targets that are sharing a single-track
allocation within the thin pool.
Figure 1. VP Snap track-allocation sharing
VP Snap operations
TimeFinder VP Snap sessions copy data from a source device to a target device only if
triggered by a host write I/O. Therefore, read I/Os to protected tracks on a target
device do not result in data being copied.
For a single activated VP Snap session on a source device, the target represents a
single point-in-time copy of the source. Copied data resides on allocations in the thin
pool. For example, if tracks 100, 200, and 300 are written on a source device, the
copied data for each track resides in a unique allocation in the thin pool.
When there is a second VP Snap session from the same source device to a different
target, the allocations can be shared. For example, if tracks 1,100, 1,200, and 1,300
are written on the source device, the data is a new point-in-time copy to both targets,
and it can be saved in a single set of allocations that is shared by both target devices.
However, if there is another write to tracks 100, 200, or 300 on the source device,
since the data is a new point-in-time copy for only the second session, when the
tracks are copied to the second target device, they are put into a set of allocations
that are uniquely referenced by the second target device. In other words, the
allocations for these tracks cannot be shared.
If more VP Snap sessions are added to the same source device, data is copied to the
targets based on whether the source data is new with respect to the point in time of
each copy. When data is copied to more than one target, the targets will reference a
single shared copy in the thin pool.
If there is a write I/O to one or more of the tracks stored in a shared allocation, the
affected allocation for that target splits off from the shared group because the data is
now different than the data for the other targets that are using that allocation. The
new data of the written target is stored in a separate allocation, while the shared
allocation still contains the data of the other targets.
When VP Snap sessions are terminated, the target device is removed from any shared
allocations that were part of the session, and any non-shared allocations for that
device are deallocated. When all but one of the VP Snap sessions are terminated, the
last remaining session uses the same space in the thin pool, but it is no longer a
shared allocation. Upon termination of the last session, the space is deallocated.
Similarly, when a recreate command is issued to a VP Snap session, the target device
is removed from any shared allocations and any non-shared allocations are
deallocated. The recreate will activate a new point-in-time image and resets all of the
virtual pointers to point to the source device. The result is effectively the same as
terminating a session and then creating and activating it again, all in a single
command. The point-in-time for all other VP Snaps from the same source device will
not be affected.
Handling of Unallocated Source Tracks

When a VP Snap session is activated, the microcode will clear protection for source
tracks that are on unallocated extents. The "symclone query" command looks at the
number of tracks that had protection cleared to calculate the percent copied for the
pair. Even though VP Snap sessions are copy-on-write sessions, this behavior may
give the appearance that the session is copying from source to target even when the
source volume has not been updated.
Clearing protection on a source track that has no data before host access helps
performance in two ways:
Asynchronous Copy On First Write (ACOFW) process will not be needed if the
host writes to the source track.
Redirect will not be needed if the host accesses the track on the VP Snap (read
or write).
VP Snap considerations
TimeFinder VP Snap has the following characteristics:
This feature is invoked by using symclone command syntax.
A VP Snap session is created using the vse attribute. It may only be applied
at session creation.
The vse attribute is not required with the recreate command.
Support of this feature is limited to Open Systems devices (FBA and AS400 D910
iSeries) and thin-to-thin device clone pairs.
Persistent preallocations:
A device with persistent preallocations can be used as a VP Snap source.
A device with persistent preallocations cannot be used as a VP Snap target.
If a device is the target of a VP Snap session, then persistent preallocation

cannot be set on that device.
Cascaded sessions from clone targets is supported with the following

considerations:
Regular TimeFinder/Clone sessions must be in the Copied or Split state for a

VP Snap session to be created from its target device.
The target of a VP Snap session may not be used as a source for any other
clone or snap session.
VP Snap allows a total of 48 sessions on a source device16 traditional sessions

(TimeFinder/Clone and TimeFinder/Clone Emulation), plus 32 additional VP Snap
sessions.
Differential restores are persistent, which results in increased usage of thin

pools.
A differential restore results in an additional session charged to the source

device.
The VP Snap will be not ready to the user after the restore command is issued.
The user can set it to ready if they wish to access the VP Snap while restore is
in progress. This is consistent with TF Snap behavior.
Once a VP Snap session is created, you cannot change it to any other mode by
attempting to use set mode.
Incremental restores of VP Snap sessions are supported with the following

restrictions:
All clone sessions associated with the selected source device must be fully
copied or split.
The VP Snap source device may have only one restored session at a time. (This
is consistent with all TimeFinder/Snap and TimeFinder/Clone behavior.)
Once restored, the only operation allowed is terminate of the restored

session.
The Clone Larger Target feature is not supported.
All VP Snap target volumes for a particular VP Snap source device must be bound
to the same pool.
VP Snap targets may be either bound to the same pool as their source, or placed
in a separate or dedicated pool. Several points should be considered when
making your decision:
System management may be simpler if the VP Snap source and targets share a
pool, and some systems may contain only one pool. However, placing the VP
Snap target volumes in a separate pool prevents production volumes from
being impacted if activities on the targets create a pool-full condition. Target
activity includes the copy process and host writes to the targets.
It is important to ensure that the pool housing VP Snap target devices has
enough data and performance capacity to support the I/O workload it will
receive. Included in this are the read/write activity related to COFW destage, as
well as I/O addressed directly to the VP Snap volumes.
The pool must have sufficient capacity to accommodate the expected change
rate of the target volumes, and the pool needs to be properly monitored after
implementation.
Some users may opt to use VP Snaps to replicate data to a slower tier.
However, if the VP Snaps are expected to be readily accessed by the user, then
the target pool should typically have at least the same performance
characteristics as the source pool.
Just as with any other Virtual Provisioning pool, a sufficient number of physical
drives must be configured, regardless of size and speed, to spread the
workload across the back end and help prevent bottlenecks.
Interoperability
TimeFinder VP Snap is interoperable with other EMC Symmetrix software products
under the following conditions:
SRDF
The use of R2 devices as VP Snap sources require that SRDF/A Device-level Write
Pacing is configured with autostart on the R1 side, or that the Device-level Write
Pacing is activated and supported during the SRDF/A session.
A TimeFinder VP Snap target cannot be an RDF device.
ORS
A TimeFinder VP Snap source device may be used as the control device for ORS
push operations, but not for pull operations. A VP Snap target device is not permitted
to be used with ORS.
FAST VP
VP Snap source devices are optimized by FAST VP. FAST VP will not move data
between tiers on VP Snap target volumes that have shared allocations.
Best practice is to make sure that all VP Snap targets for a particular source have
the same FAST VP profile, which is associated to policies that incorporate the same
pools.
Read miss I/Os to tracks on a VP Snap target device that are redirected to the
source device will increment the FAST VP metrics for the source device, not the target
device.
VP Allocation by FAST Policy:
Beginning with the 2013 Q2 5876 Service Release, VP Snap targets can take
advantage of VP Allocation by FAST Policy for host writes and the clone copy process.
Shared allocations can be placed in pools other than the bound pool according to
FAST Policy only if all VP Snap targets for a particular source are in the same FAST
Policy. If they are in different policies or some targets are not in a policy and the
bound pool is full then the sessions will fail when they try to create another shared
allocation.
Prior to the 2013 Q2 5876 Service Release, VP Snap Targets could not create shared
allocations in pools other than the bound pool. Once the bound pool was full, the
sessions would fail at the next attempt to create a shared allocation.
VLUN
VP Snap source devices can be migrated with VLUN. VP Snap target devices
cannot be migrated with VLUN.
FTS
TimeFinder VP Snap target devices configured in FTS pools will only share extents
when the target devices are non-encapsulated. When target devices are
encapsulated, extent sharing is not possible. However, encapsulated target devices
will still get the benefit of the extra 32 sessions and restore capabilities.
Environment variables
Users can specify a symcli environment variable to change the default
TimeFinder/Clone copy mode. Set SYMCLI_CLONE_COPY_MODE to determine the type of
clone session that is to be created by default. A new copy mode VSE_NODIFF is
available for VP Snap sessions, however, if the user specifies -precopy, -copy, or nocopy during the create, the default is overridden.
SYMCLI_CLONE_COPY_MODE specifies the mode in which clone sessions are created.
The available clone copy modes are:
NOCOPY_NODIFF
COPY_NODIFF
PRECOPY_NODIFF
COPY_DIFF
PRECOPY_DIFF
VSE_NODIFF
Implementing VP Snap
Implementing VP Snap requires a series of steps to ensure that the proper devices are
available, to verify the existence of a virtual pool where target devices will reside, and
to create VP Snap sessions.
Note: The following tests can be run on all Symmetrix VMAX Family storage systems.
1. Ensure that the systems are running Enginuity 5876 and Solutions Enabler V7.4
or later.
Execute the following commands to display the Enginuity level and Solutions
Enabler (SE) code release:
2.
symcfg list
10
symcli
Configuring the devices (Optional)

Configuring devices and creating a thin pool is optional. Users may choose to use
devices and a thin pool that already exists. The following instructions can be used as
a guide in the event that configuring a new environment is required.
1.
Create the target devices (TDEVs).
symconfigure -sid 455 commit -nop -cmd "create dev count=64, size=4GB,
emulation=fba, config=TDEV;"
2.
Show the current thin pools on the storage array.
symcfg -sid 455 list -pool
3.
Create a thin pool named VSE.
symconfigure -sid 455 -cmd "create pool VSE type=thin;" commit -nop
4.
Create DATA devices.
symconfigure -sid 455 -cmd "create dev count=8, config=RAID-5,

data_member_count=7, disk_group=5, attribute=datadev, emulation=fba,
size=16344;" commit -nop
5.
Add the DATA devices to thin pool.
symconfigure -sid 455 -cmd "add dev 527:52e to pool VSE type=thin,
member_state=enable;" commit -nop
6.
Bind the TDEVs to the pool.
symconfigure -sid 455 -cmd "bind tdev 4df:4ed to pool VSE;" commit nop
7.
Display the pool devices.
symcfg show -sid 455 -pool VSE -detail thin
11
Creating a device group
1.
Create a device group to simplify the manipulation of devices during testing.
Add the source and target devices that will be used for the TimeFinder VP Snap
sessions.
symdg create testdg
symld sid 455 g testdg add dev 4df
symld sid 455 g testdg addall RANGE 4df:4ed -tgt
Using symcli output, determine the Symmetrix logical device names, and
Symm device IDs.
2.
symdg show testdg
12
Using symclone to execute VP Snap sessions
1.
Display the status of the thin pool to determine space and track
allocations.
a.
Review the number of allocated and shared tracks in the pool:
symcfg -sid 455 show -pool VSE -thin -detail
Note: In this example, as in most customer environments, the SRC device contained
data before the start of the test. Therefore, the Total Written Tracks already stands at
25 percent.
13
2.
Execute the SYMCLI symclone command to create and activate four VP Snap
sessions using source and target devices.
symclone sid 455 g testdg create vse DEV001 sym ld TGT001 nop
symclone sid 455 g testdg activate DEV001 sym ld TGT001 nop
symclone sid 455 g testdg create vse DEV001 sym ld TGT002 -nop
symclone sid 455 g testdg activate DEV001 sym ld TGT002 -nop
a.
Query the result.
symclone list vse
14
Note: The V and X target device flags and their definitions are provided in the legend
in the following graphic.
3.
After the initial activation, all written tracks on the source device are protected
(as shown in the preceding graphic). Allocations can only be shared when a second
VP Snap session from the same source device is created, using a different target.
Review the thin pool details to see that the allocated and shared tracks have not
changed.
symcfg show sid 455 pool VSE detail -thin
15
Note: 04DF is the SRC device, and 04EA:04ED are the targets (TGTs).
4.
Create and activate four additional VP Snap sessions.
symclone sid 455 g testdg create vse DEV001 sym ld TGT005 nop
5.
Query the VP Snap sessions. They all contain the same number of protected
tracks.
symclone list vse
16
6.
The IOMeter utility was used to generate I/O to the SRC device.
17
7.
View the pool information again after the second set of write I/O is replicated
to the eight target devices. The number of allocated tracks and shared tracks in the
pool has increased.
8.
The amount of space savings can only be recognized and calculated when
you compare the allocated tracks between the VP Snap sessions and regular clone
copy sessions.
a. Take note of the number of allocated and shared tracks in the pool (as shown in
the preceding graphic).
9. By terminating the vse clones and using the same devices as (regular) copy
clones, you see the full benefit and space efficiency of VP Snap.
a.
symclone sid 455 g testdg terminate DEV001 sym ld TGT001
b.
Terminate all remaining targets for TGT002-TGT008.
c.
symclone list vse
18
10.
Recreate the sessions using as traditional TimeFinder/Clone copy sessions.
a.
symclone sid 455 g testdg create copy nop
b.
symclone sid 455 g testdg activate nop
c.
Create all remaining sessions for TGT002-TGT008.
d.
Activate all remaining sessions for TGT002-TGT008.
11. Again, query the clone sessions. They should appear as regular clone sessions,
as indicated by the legend.
a.
symclone sid 455 list
12.
Display the thin pool details again. Then, compare this output to the number
of allocated and shared tracks produced in step Error! Reference source not found..
a.
The number of allocated tracks consumed after activating the copy clones(414528)
is almost four times greater than the number of allocated tracks with the vse clones
(127392).
19
Restoring VP Snap sessions

VP Snap provides the ability to perform incremental restore operations. This means
that target data is not deallocated, as the restores are persistent until all sessions
have been terminated.
1.
Execute a restore for each target device. Each session must be restored and
then terminated before moving onto the next session.
symclone sid 455 g testdg restore DEV001 sym ld TGT001 nop
2.
Review the status of the restore.
symclone sid 455 vse list
3.
Review the thin pool details for each restored session. Notice that the target
tracks are not deallocated.
symcfg show -sid 455 -pool VSE -detail thin
20
4.
Terminate the restored target session, and then display the results. VP Snap
restore operations maintain the original session, so that when a VP Snap session is
restored, both the original session and the restore session exist. In this case, the
restored session must be terminated before the original session.
symclone -sid 455 -g testdg terminate -restored DEV001 sym ld TGT004
5.
Terminate the original copy session in order to eliminate and deallocate
tracks from the thin pool.
symclone -sid 455 -g testdg terminate DEV001 sym ld TGT001 nop
6.
Examine the device group and the thin pool VSE.
symclone sid 455 vse list
21
Note: When the TGT# is not specified, the VP Snap sessions are terminated in order,
from the oldest to the newest session.
7.
The tracks are deallocated from the thin pool only after the original VP Snap
session has been terminated (as shown in the following graphic).
symcfg show -sid xxx -pool VSE -detail thin
Many users prefer using device files (as opposed to using device groups). The
following commands highlight the appropriate syntax when using a device file.
symclone sid 455 f test.txt create vse
symclone -sid 455 -f test.txt activate
symclone -sid 455 -f test.txt restore
symclone -sid 455 -f test.txt terminate restored
symclone -sid 455 -f test.txt terminate
Incremental resynchronization of a clone with cascaded VP Snap

VP Snap features were enhanced with the Enginuity 5876 Q4 2012 Service Release,
providing advanced functionality that supports differential recreate and restore
features for Cascaded TimeFinder VP Snap.
Incremental resynchronization of a clone with cascaded VP Snap enables users to
perform a differential recreate1 of an intermediate TimeFinder/Clone when a cascaded
VP Snap session exists.
1
To recreate a session is to activate a new point-in-time image. Recreating a differential clone copy
session will only require updates since last point-in-time to be sent to the clone.
22
For example, if the A->B leg is a regular clone session and the B C leg is an active
VP Snap session, then users are now allowed to resynchronize the clone. Enginuity
will ensure the persistence of the VP Snap copies from the clone.
The following graphic depicts the new TimeFinder/Clone functionality.
Figure 2. Differential (incremental) resynchronization feature
Note: With this implementation, all devices must be thin.

Restrictions
The incremental resynchronization of a clone with cascaded VP Snap functionality can
be successfully implemented with the following restrictions:
Recreate of the clone session is not allowed if the VP Snap session is not active.
The pre-copy flag must be used with recreate of the clone session.
The clone session cannot be activated until pre-copy has cycled.
Implementing the feature

1.
Verify the test environment.
All devices are TDEVs.
The minimum versions the systems must be running are Enginuity 5876 Q4 2012
SR and Solutions Enabler V7.5.0.0.
2.
Three text files are needed to implement incremental resynchronization of a
clone with cascaded VP Snap: test1-SRC-TGT.txt, test1-TGT-vpsnap.txt, and test1-TGTvpsnap2.txt.
a.
test1-SRC-TGT.txt contains the source and target devices.
23
b. test1-TGT-vpsnap.txt contains the target device and one device used for the first
cascaded VP Snap session.
c. test1-TGT-vpsnap2.txt contains the target device and one device used for the
second cascaded VP Snap session.
The graphic below depicts the test environment setup, including the device IDs.
Note: This is example uses device files for the pairs. If Device Groups is preferred,
the following variables need to be enabled in the Options file:
SYMAPI_ALLOW_DEV_IN_MULT_GRPS = DISABLE
SYMAPI_COMMAND_SCOPE = DISABLE
Figure 3. Device IDs used to implement the feature
3.
For the first leg, A B, a full-copy TimeFinder/Clone is created using test1SRC-TGT.txt.
symclone -sid 455 -f test1-SRC-TGT.txt create nop
The following is a sample output of the file test1-SRC-TGT.txt.
Note: The nodiff flag creates a nondifferential (or non-incremental) session, which
cannot be recreated or restored. Therefore, the default (diff) automatically created
an incremental clone session for the A B leg.
4.
Activate the full-copy clone.
symclone -sid 455 -f test1-SRC-TGT.txt activate nop
5.
Query the result.
24
6.
For the second leg, B C, a VP Snap copy is created using the file test1-TGTvpsnap.txt.
symclone -sid 455 -f test1-TGT-vpsnap.txt create -vse nop
7.
Activate the second leg VP Snap session.
symclone -sid 455 -f test1-TGT-vpsnap.txt activate nop
8.
Query the result.
Note: A cascaded TimeFinder/Clone session has been activated.

In the following graphic, the VP Snap session has been activated for the second leg,
as designated by the -vse flag, when the session was created.
25
9.
Create the second (and final) cascaded session by issuing the following
command:
symclone -sid 455 -f test1-TGT-vpsnap2.txt create -vse nop
10.
Activate this session using the following command:
symclone -sid 455 -f test1-TGT-vpsnap2.txt activate nop
11.
Query the result.
26
12.
Incremental resynchronization of a clone with cascaded VP Snap enables
users to perform a differential recreate of an intermediate TimeFinder/Clone, which
allows users to resynchronize the clone leg and maintain the persistence of the VP
Snap copies.
a.
Recreate the clone leg by issuing the following command:
symclone -sid 455 -f test1-SRC-TGT.txt recreate -precopy nop
Note: The pre-copy option must be used. Until this session is activated, the B device
remains in a Not Ready (NR) state and is unavailable for use (mounting, and so on).
13.
a.
Query the result.

Take note of the legend and the pre-copy status.
27
14.
Verify that the (pre-copy) clone has cycled (meaning that it has copied its
data).
symclone sid 455 f test1-SRC-TGT.txt verify precopy cycled
15.
Activate the clone leg to complete the cycle.
16.
a.
Query the result.

Take note of the legend indicating the copy settings and final status.
28
Clone incremental restore to a VP Snap source device

Available with the Enginuity 5876 2012 Q4 Service Release, this feature allows users to
perform a clone incremental restore operation to a source device that has active VP Snaps
running against it. An incremental restore of VP Snap sessions has always been an option,
however, restore operations cannot persist simultaneously on both legs at one time. The
incremental restore is accomplished with no impact to the active VP Snap session or the TGT
clone session.
The following graphic depicts the new TimeFinder/Clone functionality, where an incremental
restore is performed from a traditional TimeFinder/Clone target to its original source device.
Figure 4. Clone incremental restore to a VP Snap source device
Note: With this implementation, the TGT clone may be a thick or thin device. VP Snap
devices must always be thin.
Restrictions
A clone incremental restore can be successfully implemented only when the following
conditions exist:
All native clone sessions on the source device must be fully copied.
The restore is allowed only when all sessions on the source device are active.
This feature does not support restore to a third device.
Recreate of the virtual sessions are not allowed while the state is restore in
progress.
This feature is not supported for TimeFinder/Clone Emulation.
29

1.
Verify that the environment is running the appropriate code level.
To invoke this feature, the minimum versions systems must be running are
Enginuity 5876 Q4 2012 SR and Solutions Enabler V7.5.0.0.
2.
One device group and one text file are created.
a.
The device group controls the SRC VP Snap operations.
b.
The device file controls the SRC clone operations.
The following graphic depicts the environment setup, including the device IDs used.
Figure 5. Device IDs used for test 2
3. Create a device group using the following command syntax. This device group
will be used for the SRC VP Snap operations.
symdg create test2-tdevs
4.
Add the source device.
symld -sid 455 -g test2-tdevs add dev 4df
5.
Add two virtual devices (VDEVs).
symld -sid 455 -g test2-tdevs addall -range 4eb:4ec -tgt
6.
Query the device group.
symdg show test2-tdevs
30
7.
Create and activate two TimeFinder/Snap sessions from the SRC device.
symclone -sid 455 -g test2-tdevs create DEV001 sym ld TGT001 nop

symclone -sid 455 -g test2-tdevs activate DEV001 sym ld TGT001 nop
symclone -sid 455 -g test2-tdevs create DEV001 sym ld TGT002 nop
symclone -sid 455 -g test2-tdevs activate DEV001 sym ld TGT002 -nop
8.
Query the result.
9.
Create a text file that contains a thin SRC device (04DF) and a TGT (04EA) of the
same size. These devices will be used for the SRC clone operations.
The sample output of the file test2-SRC-TGT.txt is shown here.
Create and activate a differential clone session from the SRC device. This
allows users to perform a restore of the clone copy.
10.

11.
Query the result.
symclone sid 455 f test2-SRC-TGT.txt query
31
12.
Restore the clone target (in this case, device 4EA).
symclone -sid 455 f test2-SRC-TGT.txt restore nop
13.
Query the result.
Note: At this point, the incremental restore operations allowed on the clone copy are
split, recreate, activate, and terminate.
VP Snap Restore to Target (RTT)
TimeFinder Restore to Target functionality has been enhanced with the Enginuity
5876 2012 Q4 SR. Restore to Target (RTT) allows users to perform an incremental
restore from a cascaded clone target to its source. VP Snap Restore to Target permits
the cascaded VP Snap to restore data to its source, which is also a clone target. The
clone target can then restore back to the clone source.
For devices A B C in a cascaded VP Snap session, where the AB leg is a clone,
and the BC leg is a VP Snap session, the following considerations apply:
If the clone leg is in the copied or split state, and the VP Snap leg is in the
CopyOnWrite or copied state, a VP Snap incremental restore is allowed.
The VP Snap will be not ready to the user after the restore command is issued.
The user can set it to ready if they wish to access the VP Snap while restore is in
progress. This is consistent with TF Snap behavior.
32
If the clone leg is in the copied or split state, and VP Snap leg is in the restored
state, an incremental restore of the clone session is allowed.
Once both the clone and the VP Snap sessions are restored, the only operation
allowed which will allow the sessions to remain intact is terminate of the VP Snap
restored session. The clone restored session can then be split and recreated.
The sessions can also be completely terminated in any order from the restored state.
The following graphic depicts TimeFinder Restore to Target functionality.
Figure 6. VP Snap restore to target (RTT)
Note: With this implementation, all devices must be thin.

Restrictions
VP Snap Restore to Target can be successfully implemented only when the following
conditions exist.
VP Snap restore is not allowed if the clone session is not active.
Cascading from TimeFinder/Clone Emulation targets is not supported.

1. Verify the test environment.
The minimum versions systems must be running are Enginuity 5876 (Q4 2012
SR) and Solutions Enabler V7.5.0.0.
2.
a.
One device file and one device group are created.

The device file controls the SRC TGT clone operations.
33
b.
The device group controls the B device (TGT) VP Snap operations.
The following graphic depicts the environment setup, including the device IDs used.
Figure 7. Device IDs used for RTT
3. Create a text file that contains the SRC device (04DF) and a TGT (04EA) of the
same size.
a. The sample output of the file test3-SRC-TGT.txt is shown here.
4. Create a device group using the following command syntax. The devices
contained within the device group will be used for the TGT VP Snap operations.
symdg create test3-vpsnap
a.
Add the source device.
symld -sid 455 -g test3-vpsnap add dev 4EA
b.
Add two virtual devices (VDEVs).
symld -sid 455 -g test3-vpsnap addall -range 4EB:4EC -tgt
c.
Query the device group.
symdg show test3-vpsnap
34
5. Create and activate a differential clone session from the SRC device. This allows
users to perform a restore of the VP Snap sessions.
Note: By default, a differential session was created. The diff need not be specified.
6.
a.
Query the result.

Review the clone session attributes based on the legend.
7. Create and activate the cascaded TimeFinder/VP Snap sessions from the TGT
device 4EA.
symclone -sid 455 -g test3-vpsnap create -vse DEV001 sym ld TGT001
symclone -sid 455 -g test3-vpsnap activate DEV001 sym ld TGT001
symclone -sid 455 -g test3-vpsnap create -vse DEV001 sym ld TGT002
symclone -sid 455 -g test3-vpsnap activate DEV001 sym ld TGT002
8.
Query the result again.
35
Note: At this point, the A B leg should be running an active TimeFinder/Clone

session, and the B C leg should be running two VP sessions from the active TGT
device 4EA.
9.
Restore the first snap session by issuing the following command.
symclone sid 455 g test3-vpsnap restore DEV001 sym ld TGT001 nop
10. Query the result.

11. Once a restore operation is in progress (or has completed), users can import the
volume group and mount the file system.
12. If an attempt is made to restore any other VP Snap session, the task will fail until
the restored session is terminated first.
36
13. The following command terminates the DEV001/TGT001 restore session, but it
does not affect its copy session.
symclone -sid 455 -g test3-vpsnap terminate -restored DEV001 sym ld

TGT001
Note: At this point, TimeFinder provides the ability to restore from the clone target to
its source. The restore operation can be performed before or after the terminate
restored of the VP Snap leg.
14. Query the result.
37
Conclusion
TimeFinder VP Snap allows multiple target sessions to share allocations within a thin
pool, thus reducing the storage required for saved tracks. VP Snap is conceptually
similar to the use of TimeFinder/Snap. It works only with thin devices and is invoked
by the SYMCLI symclone command syntax. VP Snap allows a maximum of 32 sessions
on a source device. This is in addition to the maximum of 16 traditional sessions
(TimeFinder/Snap, TimeFinder/Clone, and TimeFinder/Clone Emulation). Thus a
source device may have as many as 48 total sessions.
Additional enhancements for this feature-set allow for quick differential refreshes
from the source volume to a primary clone that has cascaded VP Snap sessions. This
provides more efficiency for users who need to create periodic cascaded backups.
Test and development projects and applications continue unaffected while the
primary clone is refreshed.
VP Snap is easy to manage and combines the benefits of both full-copy clone and
space-saving snap technologies.
References
Reference information and product documentation can be found at support.EMC.com
including;
EMC Symmetrix TimeFinder Product Guide
EMC Solutions Enabler Symmetrix TimeFinder Family CLI Product Guide
EMC Symmetrix TimeFinder for VMAXe Product Guide
http://www.iometer.org
38

Timefinder VP Snap Local Repl WP

Încărcat de

Informații document

Titlu original

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Timefinder VP Snap Local Repl WP

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

White Paper

IMPLEMENTING TimeFinder VP SNAP FOR

Copyright 2013 EMC Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Implementing TimeFinder VP Snap for Local Replication

TimeFinder VP Snap ................................................................................................. 5

Implementing TimeFinder VP Snap for Local Replication

VLUN VP Migration support for IBM System z and IBM i environments

FAST VP support for SRDF and SRDFe configurations

Increased consolidation and reduced TCO

Implementing TimeFinder VP Snap for Local Replication

Ease-of-integration and management

Unisphere for VMAX

Dynamic back end

Federated Live Migration cluster support

Figure 1. VP Snap track-allocation sharing

Implementing TimeFinder VP Snap for Local Replication

Implementing TimeFinder VP Snap for Local Replication

Handling of Unallocated Source Tracks

This feature is invoked by using symclone command syntax.

The vse attribute is not required with the recreate command.

A device with persistent preallocations can be used as a VP Snap source.

A device with persistent preallocations cannot be used as a VP Snap target.

If a device is the target of a VP Snap session, then persistent preallocation

Cascaded sessions from clone targets is supported with the following

Regular TimeFinder/Clone sessions must be in the Copied or Split state for a

VP Snap allows a total of 48 sessions on a source device16 traditional sessions

Implementing TimeFinder VP Snap for Local Replication

Differential restores are persistent, which results in increased usage of thin

A differential restore results in an additional session charged to the source

Incremental restores of VP Snap sessions are supported with the following

Once restored, the only operation allowed is terminate of the restored

The Clone Larger Target feature is not supported.

Implementing TimeFinder VP Snap for Local Replication

A TimeFinder VP Snap target cannot be an RDF device.

VP Allocation by FAST Policy:

Implementing TimeFinder VP Snap for Local Replication

Implementing TimeFinder VP Snap for Local Replication

Configuring the devices (Optional)

Create the target devices (TDEVs).

Show the current thin pools on the storage array.

symcfg -sid 455 list -pool

Create a thin pool named VSE.

Create DATA devices.

symconfigure -sid 455 -cmd "create dev count=8, config=RAID-5,

Add the DATA devices to thin pool.

Bind the TDEVs to the pool.

Display the pool devices.

symcfg show -sid 455 -pool VSE -detail thin

Implementing TimeFinder VP Snap for Local Replication

Creating a device group

symdg show testdg

Implementing TimeFinder VP Snap for Local Replication

Using symclone to execute VP Snap sessions

Review the number of allocated and shared tracks in the pool:

symcfg -sid 455 show -pool VSE -thin -detail

Implementing TimeFinder VP Snap for Local Replication

Query the result.

symclone list vse

Implementing TimeFinder VP Snap for Local Replication

Implementing TimeFinder VP Snap for Local Replication

Create and activate four additional VP Snap sessions.

Implementing TimeFinder VP Snap for Local Replication

Implementing TimeFinder VP Snap for Local Replication