XRC combines hardware and software to provide continuous data availability in a disaster recovery or workload movement environment. XRC provides an asynchronous remote copy solution for both system-managed and non-system-managed data to a second, remote location.

XRC relies on the IBM® TotalStorage Enterprise Storage Server®, IBM 3990, RAMAC Storage Subsystems, and DFSMSdfp. The 9393 RAMAC Virtual Array (RVA) does not support XRC for source volume capability.

XRC relies on the system data mover, which is part of DFSMSdfp. The system data mover is a high-speed data movement program that efficiently and reliably moves large amounts of data between storage devices. XRC is a continuous copy operation, and it is capable of operating over long distances (with channel extenders). It runs unattended, without involvement from the application users. If an unrecoverable error occurs at your primary site, the only data that is lost is data that is in transit between the time when the primary system fails and the recovery at the recovery site.

Coupled Extended Remote Copy (CXRC) allows XRC sessions to be coupled together to guarantee that all volumes are consistent across all coupled XRC sessions. CXRC can manage thousands of volumes.

IBM TotalStorage XRC Performance Monitor provides the ability to monitor and evaluate the performance of a running XRC configuration.

Related reading: For more information about the XRC Performance Monitor, see IBM TotalStorage XRC Performance Monitor Installation and User's Guide.