Seamless migration between replication technologies

• US 8,521,691 B1
• Filed: 06/24/2011
• Issued: 08/27/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: EMC Corporation (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Natanzon, Assaf
• Primary Examiner(s): Fleurantin, Jean B
• Application Number:
  US13/168,182
• Time in Patent Office: 795 Days
• Field of Search: 707/622, 707/639, 707/640, 707/641, 707/645, 707/646, 707/652, 707/653, 711/161, 711/162, 714/15
• US Class Current: 707/640
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0607 by facilitating the process of upgrading existing storage systems, e.g. for improving compatibility between host and storage device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0617 in relation to availability
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/065 Replication mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

Traditional methods for migrating between replication technologies require stopping the old replication technology and starting with the new replication technology from scratch. Replicated data sizes can be very large (e.g., on the order of a petabyte) which can take a considerable amount of time, often several weeks, to read. During this time, replication is unavailable. Example embodiments of the present invention provide a method, apparatus and computer-program product for seamless migration from a preexisting replication service to a new replication service by configuring the new replication service, disabling the preexisting replication service enabling the new replication service. Example embodiments of the present invention also provide for querying storage to determine available replication sets, presenting a graphical user interface to a user to enable the user to select a replication set for migration and automatically performing the migration.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for transition from a preexisting replication service, for execution by at least a processor, the method comprising:

configuring a new replication service to provide replication from a production volume at a production site to a replication volume at a replication site, wherein the new replication service includes a production site splitter and a production site replication appliance at the production site and a replication site replication appliance at the replication site and wherein the production site replication appliance is configured to track commands received at the production site splitter in a production site delta marking stream stored in a production site journal and the replication site replication appliance is configured to track commands received at the replication site in a replication site delta marking stream stored in a replication site journal;

disabling the preexisting replication service; and

enabling the new replication service to provide transition from the preexisting replication service to the new replication service.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein configuring a new replication service to provide replication from a production volume at a production site to a replication volume at a replication site comprises:

attaching the production volume as clean to the splitter at the production site; and

attaching the replication volume as clean to the splitter at the replication site.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein attaching the production volume as clean to the splitter at the production site and attaching the replication volume as clean to the splitter at the replication site enables the splitters to split commands to the production site replication appliance and the production volume and to the replication site replication appliance and the replication volume.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein enabling the new replication service to provide seamless migration from the preexisting replication service to the new replication service comprises:

tracking commands received at the splitter at the production site in a production site delta marking stream stored in a production site journal; and

tracking commands received at the replication site in a replication site delta marking stream stored in a replication site journal.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein disabling the preexisting replication service comprises instructing the preexisting replication service to flush commands from intermediate storage to provide a new consistency point for the replication volume.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein disabling the preexisting replication service further comprises:

receiving confirmation that the intermediate storage has been flushed; and

removing from configuration of the preexisting replication service preexisting replication devices at the production site and the replication site.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein configuring a new replication service to provide replication from the production volume at the production site to the replication volume at the replication site comprises capturing changes to the production volume at the production site, including after the preexisting replication service is disabled, and wherein enabling the new replication service to provide seamless migration from the preexisting replication service to the new replication service comprises synchronizing the changes to the production volume captured at the production site with the replication volume at the replication site.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

querying the production volume to determine replication sets available at the production site;

presenting a graphical user interface to a user to enable the user to select a replication set for migration from the preexisting replication service to the new replication service; and

automatically performing the seamless migration from the preexisting replication service to the new replication service.

9. An apparatus for seamless transition from a preexisting replication service configured to provide replication from a production volume at a production site to a replication volume at a replication site, the apparatus comprising:

a manager configured to configure a new replication service to provide replication from the production volume at the production site to the replication volume at the replication site, wherein the new replication service includes a splitter and a production site replication appliance at the production site a splitter and a replication appliance at the replication site and wherein the production site replication appliance is configured to track commands received at the production site splitter in a production site delta marking stream stored in a production site journal and the replication site replication appliance is configured to track commands received at the replication site in a replication site delta marking stream stored in a replication site journal;

a disabler configured to disable the preexisting replication service; and

an enabler configured to enable the new replication service to provide transition from the preexisting replication service to the new replication service.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the manager is further configured to attach the production volume as clean to the splitter at the production site and attach the replication volume as clean to the splitter at the replication site.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein attaching the production volume as clean to the splitter at the production site and attaching the replication volume as clean to the splitter at the replication site enables the splitters to split commands to the production site replication appliance and the production volume and to the replication site replication appliance and the replication volume.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the enabler is further configured to track commands received at the splitter at the production site in a production site delta marking stream stored in a production site journal and track commands received at the replication site in a replication site delta marking stream stored in a replication site journal.

13. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the disabler is further configured to instruct the preexisting replication service to flush commands from intermediate storage to provide a new consistency point for the replication volume.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the disabler is further configured to receive confirmation that the intermediate storage has been flushed and remove from configuration of the preexisting replication service preexisting replication devices at the production site and the replication site.

15. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the manager is further configured to capture changes to the production volume at the production site, including after the preexisting replication service is disabled, and wherein the enabler is further configured to synchronize the changes to the production volume captured at the production site with the replication volume at the replication site.

16. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the manager is further configured to query the production volume to determine replication sets available at the production site, present a graphical user interface to a user to enable the user to select a replication set for migration from the preexisting replication service to the new replication service and automatically perform the seamless migration from the preexisting replication service to the new replication service.

17. A computer-program product including a non-transitory computer readable storage medium encoded with computer-program code that, when executed on a processor of a computer, cause the computer to perform transition from a preexisting replication service configured to provide replication from a production volume at a production site to a replication volume at a replication site, the computer program code comprising:

computer-program code for configuring a new replication service to provide replication from the production volume at the production site to the replication volume at the replication site, wherein the new replication service includes a splitter and a production site replication appliance at the production site, a splitter and a replication site replication appliance at the replication site and wherein the production site replication appliance is configured to track commands received at the production site splitter in a production site delta marking stream stored in a production site journal and the replication site replication appliance is configured to track commands received at the replication site in a replication site delta marking stream stored in a replication site journal;

computer-program code for disabling the preexisting replication service; and

computer-program code for enabling the new replication service to provide transition from the preexisting replication service to the new replication service.

18. The computer-program product of claim 17, wherein computer-program code for configuring the new replication service to provide replication from the production volume at the production site to the replication volume at a replication site comprises computer-program code for attaching the production volume as clean to the splitter at the production site and computer-program code for attaching the replication volume as clean to the splitter at the replication site and wherein computer program code for enabling the new replication service to provide seamless migration from the preexisting replication service to the new replication service comprises:

computer-program code for tracking commands received at the splitter at the production site in a production site delta marking stream stored in a production site journal; and

computer-program code for tracking commands received at the replication site in a replication site delta marking stream stored in a replication site journal.

19. The computer-program product of claim 17 wherein computer-program code for disabling the preexisting replication service comprises:

computer-program code for instructing the preexisting replication service to flush commands from intermediate storage to provide a new consistency point for the replication volume;

computer-program code for receiving confirmation that the intermediate storage has been flushed; and

computer-program code for removing from configuration of the preexisting replication service preexisting replication devices at the production site and the replication site.

20. The computer-program product of claim 17 further comprising:

computer-program code for querying the production volume to determine replication sets available at the production site;

computer-program code for presenting a graphical user interface to a user to enable the user to select a replication set for migration from the preexisting replication service to the new replication service; and

computer-program code for automatically performing the seamless migration from the preexisting replication service to the new replication service.