Moving raid group between arrays?

Question

We need to migrate a large application from one datacenter (NJ) to another datacenter (CA).

The easiest way for us to get the databases and filesystems would be for us to create a clone of all the appropriate luns onto a raid group and simply ship the disks to the new datacenter. Due to the size, we don't want to use ethernet or external USB storage. It's about 2.5Tb in size.

Question is, we use CX4-120 arrays, how is it possible to move a raid group physically between arrays?

Can I create a raidgroup and luns on a set of disks, then swap-out the disks with the new ones? Im assuming here that the layout is exactly matched. I was worried that the array would see the different serial numbers and reject or fault.

Im looking for options going from one CX to another CX. Would multiple single-disks work better than a raid group?

Im assuming the RG/LUN config is saved in the array/vault and not on the drives, but I don't really know how that works specifically.

Are there other options?

Ron

usao · Answer

Thanks, but network transmission is not acceptable to business due to time/bandwidth cost. Not really my choice, but they prefer physical transportation.

usao · Answer

Yes, we are exploring options such as QNAP NAS to port data, but I was just looking to see if there was any way to create a lun on one array, move the lun (disk) to another array to fill it, then move it back to the first array, or somthing similar. We don't have FCIP and don't have sufficient bandwidth to move the data in a reasonable timeframe. They prefer to keep some form of RAID protection during transit in case of failure, so USB single-drive or stick is out of the question.

If we could simply use clones and pull a few drives and overnight to other datacenter, that is what would be desired, however a QNAP/NAS solution would also work.

Just was wondering if there was an "EMC" way to do this in hardware.

Ron

Madhug1 · Answer

Hi,

You may use MirrorView / SANCOPY to replicate the LUNs to other site, so that exact copy of the source is available.

just creating a Clone and adding the drives to remote array might create a issue.

but you may try creating a clone and adding the drives to the remote array and check if it works. but as per EMC it is not a best practice.

Thanks

Madhu

Jen_LeClair · Answer

Without going into too much detail, the RG and LUN information is some of the information stored in the private area within the vault drives on the array. If you remove drives with data from one array and put them into another array the drives will powerup as new drives and all data will be lost.

If you have connectivity between the sites and the storage systems you could use SANCopy to migrate the data. However, since you are talking about a relatively small amount of data the easiest option might be to copy the data using a server to either a tape backup or a USB Flash drive. Ship the media to the new site and restore or copy to the new storage system.

Jen_LeClair · Answer

No, any data (LUNs, Clone, ect.) will be lost once the drives are placed into the second array.

CLARiiON

Moving raid group between arrays?

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