Planning for a multisite disk data protection solution

Plan for a multisite disk data protection solution with servers at two sites that use data deduplication and replication.

Implementation methods

You can configure servers for a multisite disk solution in the following ways:
Configure servers by using the Operations Center and administrative commands
You can configure a range of storage systems and the server software for your solution. Configuration tasks are completed by using wizards and options in the Operations Center and IBM Spectrum Protect commands. For information about getting started, see the Planning roadmap.
Configure the servers by using automated scripts
For detailed guidance on configuration with specific IBM® Storwize® storage systems, and by using automated scripts to configure each server, see the IBM Spectrum Protect blueprints. The documentation and scripts are available on IBM developerWorks® at IBM Spectrum Protect Blueprints.

The blueprint documentation does not include steps for installing and configuring the Operations Center, or setting up secure communications by using Transport Security Layer (TLS). Replication is configured by using commands after each server is set up. An option for using Elastic Storage Server, based on IBM Spectrum Scale technology, is included.

Planning roadmap

Plan for a multisite disk solution by reviewing the architecture layout in the following figure and then completing the roadmap tasks that follow the diagram.
Figure 1. Multisite disk solution
The image shows two identical sites with applications, virtual machines, and system back up to a server. The servers replicate data to each other and store data in deduplicated disk storage pools. Storage pool data is protected when each storage pool is configured as a target for the other.
The following steps are required to plan properly for a multisite disk environment.
  1. Select your system size.
  2. Plan for the sites.
  3. Meet system requirements for hardware and software.
  4. Record values for your system configuration in the planning worksheets.
  5. Plan for storage.
  6. Plan for security.
    1. Plan for administrator roles.
    2. Plan for secure communications.
    3. Plan for storage of encrypted data.
    4. Plan for firewall access.