Dell PowerVault MD3260i CLI Guide - Page 62

Recopying A Virtual Disk, Preparing Host Servers To Recopy A Virtual Disk

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Recopying A Virtual Disk CAUTION: The recopy virtualDiskCopy command overwrites existing data on the target virtual disk and makes the target virtual disk read‑only to hosts. The recopy virtualDiskCopy command fails all snapshot virtual disks associated with the target virtual disk, if any exist. Using the recopy virtualDiskCopy command, you can create a new virtual disk copy for a previously defined copy pair that has a status of Stopped, Failed, or Completed. Use the recopy virtualDiskCopy command to create backups of the target virtual disk, then copy the backup to tape for off-site storage. When using the recopy virtualDiskCopy command to make a backup, you cannot write to source while the recopy is running. The recopy might take a long time. When you run the recopy virtualDiskCopy command, the data on the source virtual disk is copied in its entirety to the target virtual disk. Reset the copy priority for the recopy operation by using the recopy virtualDiskCopy command. The higher priorities allocate storage array resources to the virtual disk copy at the expense of storage array performance. Preparing Host Servers To Recopy A Virtual Disk CAUTION: Before you create a new copy of a source virtual disk, stop any data access (I/O) activity or suspend data transfer to the source virtual disk (and, if applicable, the target disk) to ensure that you capture an accurate point-in-time image of the source virtual disk. Close all applications, including Windows Internet Explorer, to make sure all I/O activity has stopped. NOTE: Removing the drive letter of the associated virtual disk(s) in Windows or unmounting the virtual drive in Linux helps to guarantee a stable copy of the drive for the virtual disk copy. Before creating a new virtual disk copy for an existing copy pair, both the server and the associated virtual disk you are recopying have to be in the proper state. To ensure that the host server is properly prepared to create a virtual disk recopy, you can either use an application to carry out this task, or you can perform the following steps: 1. Stop all I/O activity to the source and target virtual disk. 2. Using your Windows system, flush the cache to both the source and the target virtual disk (if mounted). At the host prompt, type SMrepassist -f and press . See "SMrepassist Utility" in the Owner's Manual for more information. 3. Remove the drive letter(s) of the source and (if mounted) virtual disk in Windows or unmount the virtual drive(s) in Linux to help guarantee a stable copy of the drive for the virtual disk. If this is not done, the copy operation reports that it has completed successfully, but the copied data is not updated properly. 4. Follow any additional instructions for your operating system. Failure to follow these additional instructions can create unusable virtual disk copies. NOTE: If your operating system requires additional instructions, you can find those instructions in your operating system documentation. After your server has been prepared, see Recopying The Virtual Disk to recopy the virtual disk. Recopying The Virtual Disk After first preparing the host server(s) as specified in the preceding procedure, use the following examples to make a virtual disk copy. 62

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Recopying A Virtual Disk
CAUTION: The
recopy virtualDiskCopy
command overwrites existing data on the target virtual disk and
makes the target virtual disk read
‑
only to hosts. The
recopy virtualDiskCopy
command fails all snapshot
virtual disks associated with the target virtual disk, if any exist.
Using the
recopy virtualDiskCopy
command, you can create a new virtual disk copy for a previously defined
copy pair that has a status of Stopped, Failed, or Completed. Use the
recopy virtualDiskCopy
command to
create backups of the target virtual disk, then copy the backup to tape for off-site storage. When using the
recopy
virtualDiskCopy
command to make a backup, you cannot write to source while the recopy is running. The recopy
might take a long time.
When you run the
recopy virtualDiskCopy
command, the data on the source virtual disk is copied in its entirety
to the target virtual disk.
Reset the copy priority for the recopy operation by using the
recopy virtualDiskCopy
command. The higher
priorities allocate storage array resources to the virtual disk copy at the expense of storage array performance.
Preparing Host Servers To Recopy A Virtual Disk
CAUTION: Before you create a new copy of a source virtual disk, stop any data access (I/O) activity or suspend
data transfer to the source virtual disk (and, if applicable, the target disk) to ensure that you capture an accurate
point-in-time image of the source virtual disk. Close all applications, including Windows Internet Explorer, to make
sure all I/O activity has stopped.
NOTE:
Removing the drive letter of the associated virtual disk(s) in Windows or unmounting the virtual drive in
Linux helps to guarantee a stable copy of the drive for the virtual disk copy.
Before creating a new virtual disk copy for an existing copy pair, both the server and the associated virtual disk you are
recopying have to be in the proper state. To ensure that the host server is properly prepared to create a virtual disk
recopy, you can either use an application to carry out this task, or you can perform the following steps:
1.
Stop all I/O activity to the source and target virtual disk.
2.
Using your Windows system, flush the cache to both the source and the target virtual disk (if mounted). At the host
prompt, type
SMrepassist -f <filename-identifier> and press <Enter>.
See "SMrepassist Utility" in the
Owner’s Manual
for more information.
3.
Remove the drive letter(s) of the source and (if mounted) virtual disk in Windows or unmount the virtual drive(s) in
Linux to help guarantee a stable copy of the drive for the virtual disk. If this is not done, the copy operation reports
that it has completed successfully, but the copied data is not updated properly.
4.
Follow any additional instructions for your operating system. Failure to follow these additional instructions can
create unusable virtual disk copies.
NOTE:
If your operating system requires additional instructions, you can find those instructions in your
operating system documentation.
After your server has been prepared, see Recopying The Virtual Disk to recopy the virtual disk.
Recopying The Virtual Disk
After first preparing the host server(s) as specified in the preceding procedure, use the following examples to make a
virtual disk copy.
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