Overview Of Metrocluster - IBM N Series Hardware Manual

8.1 Overview of MetroCluster

IBM N series MetroCluster, as illustrated in Figure 8-1, is a solution that combines N series
local clustering with synchronous mirroring to deliver continuous availability. MetroCluster
expands the capabilities of the N series portfolio. It works seamless with your host and
storage environment to provide continuous data availability between two sites while
eliminating the need to create and maintain complicated failover scripts. You can serve data
even if there is a complete site failure.
As a self-contained solution at the N series storage controller level, MetroCluster is able to
transparently recover from failures, so business-critical applications continue uninterrupted.
Figure 8-1 MetroCluster
MetroCluster is a fully integrated solution designed to be easy to administer that is built on
proven technology. It provides automatic failover to remote data center to achieve these
goals:
Helps protect business continuity in the event of a failure in the primary data center
Helps reduce dependency on IT staff for manual actions
Provides synchronous mirroring up to 100 km
Its data replication capabilities are designed to do these functions:
Maintain a constantly up-to-date copy of data at a remote data center
Support replication of data from a primary to a remote site to maintain data currency
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IBM System Storage N series Hardware Guide