EMC VNX MirrorView configuration

This time I am discussing here about MirrorView Configuration. Not something new but I believe there are not many posts available on internet discussing the steps to configure MirrorView.

MirrorView is the replication technology used between EMC CLARiiON and VNX systems. This is available with Synchronous and Asynchronous configurations. Let us come to the configuration now.

I will use the name VNX01 for source storage system and VNX02 for the destination system here for convenience. Let us name source LUN as LUN01 and replica LUN as LUN02.I am assuming here the connection between VNX01 and VNX02 is already established.

Different wizards are available in Unisphere which makes things easy for storage admins. I will recommend using MirrorView Wizard (Unisphere>Data Protection>MirrorView Wizard) for configuring MirrorView.  Steps below are without the use of wizard.

Once logged in to the Unisphere Manager (for VNX01) we will identify/create the source LUN (LUN01) to be replicated. If it is existing LUN it can be in production while MirrorView is being configured on it.

We will then create the secondary LUN (LUN02) if it is not already created. We can create the LUN from Unisphere manager for VNX02 or from the VNX01 itself. Creating from VNX01 will be easier as it will check the parameters (size etc…) itself. For this, we will right click on LUN01 and navigate to Mirrorview>Create Secondary Image.  A new window will be displaying the secondary storage system (VNX02) with the available RAID Groups and Pools. We can select the desired one and create the LUN02.

Note : If we have to specify a specific name for LUN02, we will have to goto LUN02 properties in Unisphere for VNX02.

Once LUN01 and LUN02 are created, the next step will be to create a Remote Mirror. You can do this by right clicking on LUN01, MirrorView > Create Remote Mirror. You will be prompted for the name of the mirror, type ( whether Synchronous or Asynchronous) etc…

For Synchronous configuration we can optionally select Write Intent Log. WIL is a small sized LUN (128 MB for CX systems and 2GB for VNX systems). It helps to avoid the need of a full resynchronization in case if the secondary image is fractured and there is some interruption in primary. If WIL is configured you can enable it for MV/S sessions. You can allocate LUNs to WIL by selecting Allocate Write Intent Log from Data Protection tab.

Now we have the mirror session created. We will be now adding the secondary image (LUN02, already created) to it. From the Data Protection tab, select the mirror session just created and click on add secondary. Select LUN02 and select the LUN to start initial sync (may schedule it for a later window also).

Thus we have configured the MirrorView session between LUN01 and LUN02. It will be better to add the session to Consistency Groups if available, for easier management. We can goto the properties of the CG and add the sessions to it.