Block-Based vs. Transaction-Based Replication What's Right For You?

Block-based vs.
Transaction-based
Replication
Whats Right for You?
Mike Warkentin
Product Sales Tech Lead
DataMirror Corporation
3100 Steeles Ave East Suite 1100
Markham, Ont L3R-8T3
EMAIL: mwarkentin@datamirror.com
(905) 415-0310 x249
Session 770110 (42BX)

Wednesday Mar. 16 2004
9:30am 10:45am
Agenda
SAN Background Concepts

What About High Availability?
Basics of Block-based, I/O-based and Transaction-based
Replication
Statement of the Problem
Whats Out There in the Marketplace
Transaction-based & Block-based Integration Examples
Benefits of an Integrated Solution
Summary
Additional Resources
Q&A
Spring UserBlue 2005 770110: Block-Based vs. Transaction-Based Slide 2
SAN Background Concepts
Storage Area Networks (SAN)
pSeries
iSeries
HP
Fibre channel
connect
Storage Area Network
Proprietary
Internal
Storage
SAN
Storage
System
Sun
Intel
zSeries
You May Need a SAN if
You already have multiple platforms:

Sun, HP, zSeries, pSeries, NT Servers, etc.
Disk storage needs keep expanding

You can have an IT staff meeting by
looking in the mirror
Your computer room is starting to look
like a techie geeks flea market
You need a GPS to find your way
through your disk farm
Why has the iSeries not been a

SAN Player Until Now?
iSeries already provides many SAN benefits
SANs have been too expensive for small AS/400 shops
Disk prices are now much lower (.07$ per MB)
iSeries storage needs traditionally have been small

iSeries can now scale up to 72TB or 2047 disk arms
(i890 at V5R2)
AS/400 connectivity has been through slower 6501 SCSI

connection
Fibre channel connectivity is available at V5R1
Enhanced further at V5R2
Provides seamless integration and near internal disk performance
Fibre Channel Topologies
Point-to-Point (V5R1)
Dedicated link between two ports
Point-to-Point
Typically 2 node FC-AL
Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) (V5R1)

Shared bandwidth
FC-AL
2 to 126 nodes
Switched Fabric (FC-SW) (V5R2)

Scalable bandwidth
16 million nodes
FC-SW
What About High Availability?
Levels of Application Availability
Standard Availability
Up to 99%
87 hours of outage per year (3.6 days)
High Availability
Up to 99.99%
53 minutes of outage per year
Five Nines Availability

Up to 99.999%
5 minutes of outage per year
Continuous Availability
Up to 100%
No outage per year
Source: IBM, March 2002
Types of Data Resiliency

High Availability
Disaster Recovery
(Ability to tolerate scheduled activities)
(Ability to tolerate disasters)
Tape backup routines

Batch routines
Housekeeping routines
Software patches & upgrades
Hardware maintenance and upgrades
Business Continuity
(Ability to tolerate failures)
Hardware Failure
Operating system failure
Application software failure
Power failure
Communications failure
Human error
Fire
Flood
Terrorism
Earthquake
Tornado
Hurricane
RPO & RTO

Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
Recovery Time Objective (RTO)
(How much data will be lost?)

Days
Hrs
Mins
(How long before users are back on-line?)

Secs
Secs
Mins
Hrs
Days
TAPE BACKUP & RESTORE
SWITCHED/SHARED DISK
(Processor failure only)
BLOCK LEVEL MIRRORING
TRANSACTION LEVEL MIRRORING
CLUSTERING/GRID TECHNOLOGIES
(Future)
Basics of Block-Based, I/O Based

and Transaction-Based Replication
SAN Block-based
Replication Solutions
Data is viewed as a collection of blocks which are
stored on a number of disks
Disk
Strengths:
Complete image of the
production volume
maintained
Possible to move large
volumes of data
Easy set-up and
administration
Weaknesses:
Cannot select to mirror or
fail-over an individual
Tracks
application, file or object
Target volume remains
Block
closed during replication
When data changes in a block, the block is copied to Data Corruption propagation
the recovery database
Large bandwidth/resource
utilization
Block Level Replication

Primary Node
Backup Node
Strengths:
Maximum data currency
Minimum data loss
Weaknesses:
4
1
Impacts business applications

Not suitable for inter-state mirroring
3
Synchronous
Who are the Major High End SAN Players?
IBM
ESS aka Shark
PPRC Peer-to-Peer
Remote Copy
synchronous block level
mirroring
FlashCopy
one-time volume refresh
within the same Shark
EMC
Symmetrix
SRDF Symmetrix Remote
Data Facility
synchronous block level
mirroring
TimeFinder
one-time volume refresh
within the same Symmetrix
I/O-based Replication
Strengths:
Source
Target
No transaction logs required

Can work across a WAN
Handles environments not covered by
transaction based solutions
Application
1
Kernel
I/O Manager
Weaknesses:
Difficult to determine what to replicate
Usually Windows only platforms
Soln Driver
Disk
12
3
9
Cache
Blocked Files
5
7
File System
10
Soln Service
Soln Service
4
8
Overflow
Disk
11
Transaction Level Replication

Transaction Level Mirroring views data as
business application groups
Strengths:
The integrity of the
backup database is
continuously maintained
while mirroring
Sales
Payroll
Warehouse Select to mirror
Application
Application
Application
only what you need
Invoice
Employee
Delivery
The backup volume is
open to read-only
Order
Payslip
Adjustment
applications
Customer
Appraisal
Dispatch
Weaknesses:
Does not mirror operating
system and memory
Some administration
required
Within each application, data is viewed as
Some host CPU overhead
groups of business transactions
Transaction Level Replication

Primary Node
Backup Node
Asynchronous
2
1
Strengths:
Suitable for inter-state mirroring
Minimum impact on business
applications
Weaknesses:
Backup node may lag a few seconds
May have to re-enter last transaction
Statement of the Problem
Summary of the Problem

Transaction-based
Strengths:
Suitable for inter-state mirroring
Minimum impact on business applications
Transactional consistency
Mirror only what you need
Backup volume open to read-only apps
Data corruption not propagated
Weaknesses:
No OS replication PTFs etc.
Backup node may lag a few
seconds
May have to re-enter last
transaction
Some admin and setup required
Block-based
Strengths:
Complete OS image
Maximum data currency
Minimum data loss
Easy to set up and admin
Refreshes large data
volumes quickly
Weaknesses:
Not suitable for inter-state mirroring
Impacts business applications
Not aware of transactions
All or nothing mirrored
Backup volume not available until IPL
Data corruption propagation
When to use Block-based Replication
When you have multiple database and hardware platforms already

connected to a SAN
When you have sufficient bandwidth
When you are not too concerned about a lack of geographical

dispersion between production and backup locations
When no transaction log exists for the objects or databases that

need to be protected
When you can afford downtime to bring up the backup server and
re-instantiate the database
When access to the target volume for queries, reporting or

backups, is not required
If you want the security and ease of administration of a hardware

based replication solution
When synchronizing large data volumes for transaction-based

replication solutions
When to use Transaction-based

Replication
When you have no SAN
When you have platforms that are not supported by block level
replication solutions
When you want to use the backup volume for reporting, queries
and backups
When Disaster Recovery with geographical dispersion is a

prime requirement
When your platforms are susceptible to data corruption
When you want to be very selective as to what you mirror
When you have NO time for an IPL/INIT or database recovery in

case of a primary system outage
When you want to employ distributed computing environments

(Master to Master Database)
When to use I/O-based Replication
Primarily for Windows environments
When you need to replicate more than just the database
When a transaction log, redo log or journal is not available for

the objects that require replication
When you need to replicate the environments above across a

WAN
Where data corruption is a concern
Whats Out There In the Marketplace?

And More Importantly How Do I Choose?
Transaction-based Resiliency Solution for

iSeries - DataMirror
DataMirror iCluster
Real-time asynchronous transactionalaware mirroring
Supports SAN
Single Integrated Product
Graphical Clustering Interface
IBM Cluster Resource Services
IBM ClusterProven Applications
Real-time IFS & QDLS/DLO
Full remote Journaling
LOB, MQ Series 5.2, OS/400 V5R2,
Data Area/Data Queue journal support
Xtreme Cache
Auto-registration
Enhanced Trigger Support

iSeries Other Solutions
Lakeview Technologies
www.mimix.com
Mimix
Vision Solutions
www.visionsolutions.com
Vision Suite
Orion
Berco Informatique
www.bercoqc.com
RealSynch Suite
Local & Remote

Journaling
Remote Journaling
Only Solutions
Maximum Availability
www.maximumavailability.com
*noMAX
OS Solutions
www.os-solutions.com
OS Director
Traders
www.quick-software-line.com
QuickEDD
XKS Limited
www.xks.co.uk
MiRREX
Asynchronous or Synchronous
Local
journal
iTera
www.iterainc.com
Echo2
Remote
journal
ADDRMTJRN

iSeries Other Solutions
How do I choose?
Will it replicate all the objects that I need?
Will it work across a WAN?
What impact will it have on my
bandwidth, CPU, memory etc
Does is provide sync check and monitoring
capabilities?
Cost
software, maintenance, implementation
Company and product reputation
Ease of use, switchover, administration
Business Partner or vendor relationship
financial stability, support etc.
POC?

Oracle9i
DataMirror iReflect
Real-time Asynchronous Transactionbased Mirroring for Oracle9i
Single Integrated Product
Full DML/DDL Support
Master to Master Replication
Recursion Prevention
Collision Detection/Resolution
Data and Definitional Sync Checks
User Exits
Alarms, Alerts & Thresholds
JAVA Based GUI Administrator & Monitor
Transaction-based Resiliency Solution

Other Solutions
Cross Platform
It depends on your database:
Oracle
Oracle
www.oracle.com
DataGuard
SQL Server
Microsoft
www.microsoft.com
DTS
Quest
www.quest.com
Shareplex
Sybase
Sybase
www.sybase.com
Sybase Replication Server
ASE Replicator
Aivant
www.aivant.com
DBShadow
DataMirror
www.datamirror.com
Integration Suite
IBM
www.ibm.com
Websphere II
GoldenGate
www.goldengate.com
GoldenGate Platform
PeerDirect
www.peerdirect.com
PeerDirect
Transaction-based Resiliency Solution

Other Solutions
How do I choose?
Do you want a hub and spoke solution?
Do you want bi-directional or master-to-master
Do you care if it uses ODBC or JDBC for source or
target access?
Does it have to be cross platform?
will it support my database?
Is it free with the database or a third party product?
Will it work across a WAN does it have to?
How is it administered GUI, via the web?
Does it also allow for filtering and transformation or
is it straight copy?
I/O Based Resiliency for

Windows NSI Doubletake
Features & Benefits
File Centric, Byte Level Replication
Include or exclude files, directories, wildcards

Byte level file system changes captured for replication
Minimum amount of data transmitted
STAR Technology
Sequential Transfer
Asynchronous Replication
Negligible impact on server, application and I/O performance
www.nsisoftware.com
Live File System on Target
No Volume Mount / Check

Read Only Usage such as Backup, Replication Chaining
Leverages Double-Take replication engine

Extends MSCS
Adds data redundancy with replicated volumes

Geographic separation of cluster nodes
Hardware independent
Tight Integration with MSCS cluster aware applications
I/O Based Resiliency for Windows

EMC Legato Replistor
Features & Benefits

EMC FullTime RepliStor delivers a simple and reliable
asynchronous replication capability for Windows that geographically
distributes identical sets of data instantly to one or many computers.
FullTime RepliStor increases the availability of your data by
delivering real-time replicas of as many copies as needed to virtually
any location. Your data can be used for off-line backup protection,
disaster recovery, data distribution, and countless other applications
Features
Benefits
Data Replication for

Windows
Provides a second set of data for 24x7 access during a system failure or maintenance.
Works over LAN, MAN

and/or WAN
Protects mission critical data and servers against local or site disasters.
Centralized backup
consolidation
Ensures data is available from the remote office for centralized backup.
Automated failover
Avoids any business disruption by restarting application, corresponding resource, and data on a
failover node.
Integration with AutoStart

and VMware
Reduces cost of traditional physical to physical application failover and DR over WAN.
www.legato.com
I/O Based Resiliency for Windows

Veritas Volume Replicator
Features & Benefits

Feature
Benefit
Synchronous or asynchronous replication
Administrators may choose either synchronous mode (no data

loss) or asynchronous mode (maximum performance) and still
be assured of 100% data consistency.
Ease of Management/ Flexibility
Administrators can now manage VVR replication jobs through

the java gui or through a VVR web-based GUI. Administrators
have the flexibility to change their configurations on-the-fly and
while being online. Remember: "If you know VM, you know VVR"
Online Initialization of secondary
Provides various methods to initialize the secondary, including:

1) Over the wire by sending all data over the network, or 2) Via
local mirroring between storage arrays or 3) Via backup and
restore (for very large databases). All operations can be
performed completely online.
Supports up to 32 participating nodes
Adds flexibility to support one-to-many and many-to-one

scenarios to better utilize hardware investments.
IP Based
Can replicate between any hosts connected by an IP network

without requiring additional network hardware or dedicated fibre
connections.
Integrated with Volume Manager
Extends the familiar Volume Manager paradigm to

geographically mirror data. Also enables Volume Replicator to
outperform other 3rd party software alternatives and awkward
hardware based replication. "If you know VM, you know VVR"
VCS and Global Clustering Integration
Allows replication services to remain highly available during

local fail-over and failover across data centers
Oracle Approved
First solution to pass Oracle Storage Compatibility Program

(OSCP) and the only remote mirroring technology qualified in
both sync and async modes.
www.veritas.com
I/O Based Resiliency for

Windows
How do I choose?
Will it support everything I need in Windows?
files, directories, shares, apps
How does switchover work?
IP addresses, can backup server be online in
failover etc.
Ease of use, administration
Will it work across a WAN?
Will it integrate with other HA products?
What impact will it have on my server?
CPU, memory etc.
Cost
Block Based Replication

Solutions Ion
Features & Benefits
www.ioncomputer.com

Solutions DNF
Features & Benefits
StorMaster SNi-2400 SAN NAS iSCSI Storage Server
6TB to 9.6TB - 24 Drive 5U All-in-One Server
Snapshot Service with 32 Delta-Based Snapshots Option
The Snapshot Service options creates up to 32 delta-based snapshots of designated
disks based on an administrator-defined policy.
Synchronous Mirroring Option

The Synchronous Mirroring option protects against the potential failure of storage
devices by duplicating the writes (in exact order of arrival) between the primary and
secondary RAID controllers within the StorMaster SNi Server in real-time.
Local File/Directory Replication for Workstation/Server Hosts Option

The Local File/Directory Replication option provides scheduled file-based delta replication of
host's direct attached storage (DAS) to the StorMaster SNi Server.
Local Disk Replication for Workstation/Server Hosts Option

The Local Disk Replication option provides continuous block-based replication of host's
direct attached storage (DAS) to the StorMaster SNi Server.
www.dynamicnetworkfactory.com

Solutions Others
Almost every SAN device out there provides some form of
Block-based replication
EMC with Symmetrix, IBM with ESS and Hitachi with
TagmaStore are the big players.
Other starter SANS offer also offer block replication
Compellent Storage Center QuickStart
www.compellent.com
DELL AX100
www.dell.com
HP StorageWorks MSA1000 Small Business SAN Kit
www.hp.com
iQstor iQ1200 SATA Storage System
www.iqstor.com
MPC DataFrame 420
www.mpccorp.com
Nexsan SATABlade
www.nexsan.com

Solutions
How do I choose?
Cost
replication software may be extra
Vendor relationship
Platforms supported
Will it support both Synchronous and Asynchronous?
Method of communication to servers
Redundancy
Performance
POC
Transaction-Based, Block-Based and

I/O Based Examples
Integration Example With

Single SAN
P-Series
Primary
Node
Volume on-line
to server
Production
Volume
(R1)
FlashCopy
(Refresh)
System level
refresh
Users
Application aware
mirroring
P-Series
Backup
Node
Backup
Volume
(BCV)
ESS (Shark)
Strengths:
High Availability
Business Continuity
Workload Balancing
Integration Example With

Two SAN Towers
iSeries
Primary
Node
iSeries
Backup
Node
Volume on-line
to server
System level
refresh
Users
Production
Volume
(R1)
TimeFinder
(Refresh)
SRDF
Recovery
Volume
(R2)
Symmetrix 1
Application aware
mirroring
Backup
Volume
(BCV)
Symmetrix 2
System level
mirroring
Strengths:
High Availability
Business Continuity
Disaster Recovery
Workload Balancing
Integration Example
(Transaction-based and I/O-based)
Primary iSeries
Backup iSeries
192.168.6.13
192.168.6.12
192.168.3.1
192.168.3.1
Virtual Ethernet
P to P
192.168.3.2
192.168.3.2
192.168.6.100 Corporate LAN
192.168.6.101
Integration Example (All Methods)

Backup P-Series Oracle9i
Primary P-Series Oracle9i
PPRC
Production
Volume
(R1)
Recovery
Volume
(R2)
FlashCopy
Backup
Volume
(BCV)
Primary Windows Server

Backup Windows Server
Benefits of an Integrated Solution
So Why Integrate?
Whats in it for my Shop?
Reduced recovery time (RTO) vs. tape or block level only
Reduced recovery point (RPO) to the last transaction
Increased utilization of IT resources
Backups, reporting and queries off backup system
Multiple methods of recovery

Entire enterprise can be protected
Block level solutions can provide better initial
synchronization as well as periodic OS refreshes
Transaction level solutions prevent data corruption
propagation
I/O-based solutions can replicate environments not covered
by log-based replication
Windows, IXS, Linux
Summary
Transaction-based replication
Selectable replication but not the OS
Recovery system open for backups, queries, etc.
Requires logs, some admin and CPU overhead
Supports distributed application processing
Block-based replication
Everything is replicated including the OS good for initial sync
No workload balancing backup system is locked
Data corruption propagation
Easy to administer, no logs required
I/O-based replication
Selectable but difficult to get the right data
Recovery system open for backups, workload balancing
No logs required, can handle Windows
Additional Resources
www.aberdeen.com
www.idc.com
www.availability.com
www.highavailabilitycenter.com
InfoWorld January 31st Issue
Learn to Think Outside the Box Unless
Block-based vs. Transaction-based

Replication
Whats Right for You?
Mike Warkentin
Product Sales Tech Lead
DataMirror Corporation
3100 Steeles Ave East Suite 1100
Markham, Ont L3R-8T3
EMAIL: mwarkentin@datamirror.com
(905) 415-0310 x249
Session 770110 (42BX)

Wednesday Mar. 16 2004
9:30am 10:45am

Block-Based vs. Transaction-Based Replication What's Right For You?

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Block-based vs.

Session 770110 (42BX)

SAN Background Concepts

SAN Background Concepts

Storage Area Networks (SAN)

Storage Area Network

You May Need a SAN if

You already have multiple platforms:

Disk storage needs keep expanding

Spring UserBlue 2005 770110: Block-Based vs. Transaction-Based Slide 5

Why has the iSeries not been a

iSeries storage needs traditionally have been small

AS/400 connectivity has been through slower 6501 SCSI

Provides seamless integration and near internal disk performance

Spring UserBlue 2005 770110: Block-Based vs. Transaction-Based Slide 6

Fibre Channel Topologies

Typically 2 node FC-AL

Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) (V5R1)

Switched Fabric (FC-SW) (V5R2)

Spring UserBlue 2005 770110: Block-Based vs. Transaction-Based Slide 7

What About High Availability?

Levels of Application Availability

Five Nines Availability

Types of Data Resiliency

(Ability to tolerate scheduled activities)

(Ability to tolerate disasters)

Tape backup routines

Spring UserBlue 2005 770110: Block-Based vs. Transaction-Based Slide 10

RPO & RTO

Recovery Time Objective (RTO)

(How much data will be lost?)

(How long before users are back on-line?)

TAPE BACKUP & RESTORE

TRANSACTION LEVEL MIRRORING

Basics of Block-Based, I/O Based

Block Level Replication

Impacts business applications

Who are the Major High End SAN Players?

Spring UserBlue 2005 770110: Block-Based vs. Transaction-Based Slide 15

No transaction logs required

Transaction Level Replication

Transaction Level Replication

Spring UserBlue 2005 770110: Block-Based vs. Transaction-Based Slide 18

Statement of the Problem

Summary of the Problem

When to use Block-based Replication

When you have multiple database and hardware platforms already

When you have sufficient bandwidth

When you are not too concerned about a lack of geographical

When no transaction log exists for the objects or databases that

When access to the target volume for queries, reporting or

If you want the security and ease of administration of a hardware

When synchronizing large data volumes for transaction-based

Spring UserBlue 2005 770110: Block-Based vs. Transaction-Based Slide 21

When to use Transaction-based

When you have no SAN

When Disaster Recovery with geographical dispersion is a

When your platforms are susceptible to data corruption

When you want to be very selective as to what you mirror

When you have NO time for an IPL/INIT or database recovery in

When you want to employ distributed computing environments

Spring UserBlue 2005 770110: Block-Based vs. Transaction-Based Slide 22

When to use I/O-based Replication