Virtual I/O Server (VIOS)

The KSYS receives information about the storage configuration of the virtual machines from VIOS.

The storage area network (SAN) zoning and logical unit number (LUN) masking must be performed so that the VIOS can access the disks information. The KSYS interacts with the VIOS to obtain information about the disks that are provisioned to the client partitions. During the validation process, the data that is collected from the active site is used on the backup site to validate whether virtual machines can be moved to the backup site during disaster situations.

The KSYS interacts with the VIOS to get information about the LPAR storage. The KSYS also interacts with the VIOS when the KSYS starts the various virtual machines during the disaster recovery operations. Therefore, the VIOS must have sufficient capacity to handle requests from the KSYS apart from handling the regular I/O activities that are in progress on the VIOS. If your environment contains multiple virtual machines that are clients of VIOS pairs, you might dedicate additional capacity during the disaster recovery operation. For example, you can have at least 0.1 CPU and 1 GB of memory in addition to the planned capacity for the VIOS.

You can back up and restore the virtual and logical configuration by using the viosbr command on the VIOS partitions. Also, you can collect, apply, and verify device settings in a VIOS run-time environment by using the VIOS rules management. The VIOS rules support consistent device settings on multiple VIOS partitions, and also improves usability of VIOS.