Configuring Replication Partners

To configure a replication partner, click:

Replication Partners > Configure partner

A series of dialog boxes appear. Specify the following information:

• Group name and IP address. Enter the partner’s group name and group IP address. Be sure to specify the actual, current group name. If the partner group administrator changes the group name or the IP address at a later time, you must make the reciprocal change in the partner configuration.
• Contact information. Optionally, enter contact information for the partner.
• Reciprocal passwords for mutual authentication. Two passwords are required for mutual authentication between groups configured as replication partners. Each partner provides a password to the other partner, which validates the password. You must specify:
• Password for the partner. Enter a password for the partner, or allow a password to be automatically generated. The partner group administrator must specify this exact password in the Password obtained from the partner field when configuring the current group as a partner.
• Password obtained from the partner. Enter the password that the partner group administrator specified in the Password for the partner field when configuring the current group as a partner.
• Delegated space. If the group will be storing volume replicas from the partner, specify the amount of space to delegate to the partner (primary group) and the storage pool from which to take it. Delegated space is immediately consumed from free pool space. For more information on sizing delegated space, see Sizing Delegated Space and the Replica Reserve.

Note that communication between replication partners is not established until replication is enabled on a volume. Therefore, keep in mind the following issues:

• Free pool space will be negative when specifying delegated space until communication is established between the partners.
• You will not know if password or configuration problems exist until replication is enabled on a volume. If you receive a login error message, check the reciprocal passwords on the partners and make sure they agree.
• Space delegated to a partner or received from a partner will not be visible in the Group Manager GUI or CLI until replication is enabled on a volume.
• If you increase the size of a volume, or if the volume reserve for a thin-provisioned volume has grown since the last replication, the secondary group will not recognize the change until the next replication.
• Replication management changes made on the secondary group will not be reflected in the Group Manager GUI or CLI on the primary group until the next replication.

The following figures show examples of using the Group Manager GUI to configure two groups as replication partners. In the examples, AGroup is replicating volumes to BGroup. The figures alternate between AGroup and BGroup, showing each step in the process.

Step 1. Specifying the partner identification. In this step, you specify the partner’s group name, IP address, and an optional description.

Figure 4: Step 1 on AGroup - Partner Identification

Figure 5: Step 1 on BGroup - Partner Identification

Step 2: Specifying the contact information. In this step, you optionally specify the name, e-mail address, and phone numbers for the partner administrator.

Figure 6: Step 2 on AGroup - Contact Information

Figure 7: Step 2 on BGroup - Contact Information

Step 3: Setting the mutual authentication passwords. In this step, you specify the reciprocal passwords for the partners.

In Figure 8: Step 3 on AGroup - Reciprocal Passwords and Figure 9: Step 3 on BGroup - Reciprocal Passwords , the reciprocal passwords are shown to illustrate how to enter the passwords when configuring the partners. In the actual dialog boxes, the passwords will not be displayed.

Figure 8: Step 3 on AGroup - Reciprocal Passwords

Figure 9: Step 3 on BGroup - Reciprocal Passwords

Step 4: Delegating space to the partner. In this step you specify how much space to delegate to the partner. If the delegated space will exceed the capacity of the group, the pool space table cell showing free space will turn red.

Figure 10: Step 4 on AGroup - No Delegated Space

Figure 11: Step 4 on BGroup - Delegated Space

Step 5: Verifying the partner configuration. In this step, ensure that the partner configuration is correct before clicking Finish. To make changes, click Back.

Figure 12: Step 5 on AGroup - Summary

Figure 13: Step 5 on BGroup - Summary