Data Replication Approaches

This chapter describes data replication technologies you can use with Oracle Solaris Cluster software. Data replication is defined as copying data from a primary storage device to a backup or secondary device. If the primary device fails, your data is available from the secondary device. Data replication helps assure high availability and disaster tolerance for your cluster.

Oracle Solaris Cluster software supports the following types of data replication:

• Between clusters – Use Oracle Solaris Cluster Geographic Edition for disaster recovery

• Within a cluster – Use as a replacement for host-based mirroring within a campus cluster

To perform data replication, you must have a device group that has the same name as the object you are replicating. A device can belong to only one device group at a time, so if you already have an Oracle Solaris Cluster device group that contains the device, you must delete the group before you add that device to a new device group. For instructions on creating and managing Solaris Volume Manager, Veritas Volume Manager, ZFS, or raw-disk device groups, see Administering Device Groups in Chapter 5.

You must understand both host-based and storage-based data replication before you can select the replication approach that best serves your cluster. For more information about using Oracle Solaris Cluster Geographic Edition to manage your data replication for disaster recovery, see the Oracle Solaris Cluster Geographic Edition Overview.

This chapter contains the following sections:

• Understanding Data Replication

• Using Storage-Based Data Replication Within a Cluster