BCV and Symm Device group question

i am afraid not ..a device can only be a member of one device group on a particular host. You could still put multiple BCVs in the device group but in your scripts you would need to specifically mention which BCV you want to manipulate, or you could use device files instead of device groups.

Thanks, can you give me a quick example of how I would use device files?

here is an excerpt from TimeFinder documentation:

Device file 
 
The device file (-file) option directs the specified operation in the symmir command
to a device file. The device file contains device pairs (SymDevnames) listing a pair per
each line (the standard first, a space, and the BCV last within each line entry). Device
files can include comment lines that begin with the pound sign (#). The following
example illustrates the file format, which specifies three device pairs:
 
00A1 0103
00A2 0104
#00A3 0105 (To be reinstalled later)
00B1 0106
 
When you use this option, you must specify a target Symmetrix ID or set
environment variable SYMCLI_SID. These options allow you to operate on
Symmetrix arrays and remote BCV pairs beyond the first SRDF multi-hop.

symmir -file -sid 056 establish

I think I have it. So if I wanted to split 2 bcvs associated with the same standard dev at different times, I could create two device files.

So for standard dev 0001 and BCVs 0050 and 0060 I could have

file
0001 0050

file
0001 0060

and then run my query/split/establish commands by issuing:
symmir -file -sid 056 establish/query/split?

Is that correct?
Thanks,
Taylor

you got it.

I think I have it. So if I wanted to split 2 bcvs associated with the same standard dev at different times, I could create two device files.

So for standard dev 0001 and BCVs 0050 and 0060 I could have

file1.txt
0001 0050

file2.txt
0001 0060

and then run my query/split/establish commands by issuing:
symmir -file -sid 056 establish/query/split?

Is that correct?
Thanks,
Taylor

Hi taylor.

Since S.E. 6.3 there is a new "symld" functionality available .. It's called "symld copy" and allows you to copy a STD device from a DG to another one. "Copying" means that a single STD can live in two different DGs. Have a look at primus solution emc149642 if you want further details.

To use this feature you need to enable a variable into your /var/symapi/config/options file. The option is called "SYMAPI_ALLOW_DEV_IN_MULT_GRPS" and you need to put a line in the file with

SYMAPI_ALLOW_DEV_IN_MULT_GRPS = ENABLE

Enabling this variable allows you to have 2 different dgs with the same STD and different BCVs as follows.

rss4/root> symdg show host_a_c

Group Name: host_a_c

Group Type : REGULAR
Device Group in GNS : Yes
Valid : Yes
Symmetrix ID : 000287890xxx
Group Creation Time : Mon Jul 30 11:01:52 2007
Vendor ID : EMC Corp
Application ID : SYMCLI

Number of STD Devices in Group : 1
Number of Associated GK's : 0
Number of Locally-associated BCV's : 1
Number of Locally-associated VDEV's : 0
Number of Locally-associated TGT's : 0
Number of Remotely-associated VDEV's(STD RDF): 0
Number of Remotely-associated BCV's (STD RDF): 0
Number of Remotely-associated TGT's(TGT RDF) : 0
Number of Remotely-associated BCV's (BCV RDF): 0
Number of Remotely-assoc'd RBCV's (RBCV RDF) : 0

Standard (STD) Devices (1):
{
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Sym Cap
LdevName PdevName Dev Att. Sts (MB)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
DEV001 N/A 18F0 RW 8723
}

BCV Devices Locally-associated (1):
{
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Sym Cap
LdevName PdevName Dev Att. Sts (MB)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
BCV001 N/A 1527 RW 8723
}

rss4/root> symdg show host_a_b

Group Name: host_a_b

Group Type : REGULAR
Device Group in GNS : Yes
Valid : Yes
Symmetrix ID : 000287890xxx
Group Creation Time : Mon Jul 30 11:01:50 2007
Vendor ID : EMC Corp
Application ID : SYMCLI

Number of STD Devices in Group : 1
Number of Associated GK's : 0
Number of Locally-associated BCV's : 1
Number of Locally-associated VDEV's : 0
Number of Locally-associated TGT's : 0
Number of Remotely-associated VDEV's(STD RDF): 0
Number of Remotely-associated BCV's (STD RDF): 0
Number of Remotely-associated TGT's(TGT RDF) : 0
Number of Remotely-associated BCV's (BCV RDF): 0
Number of Remotely-assoc'd RBCV's (RBCV RDF) : 0

Standard (STD) Devices (1):
{
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Sym Cap
LdevName PdevName Dev Att. Sts (MB)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
DEV001 N/A 18F0 RW 8723
}

BCV Devices Locally-associated (1):
{
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Sym Cap
LdevName PdevName Dev Att. Sts (MB)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
BCV001 N/A 1526 RW 8723
}

Stefano,

awesome man ..thank you for explaining this ..i had no clue you could do that now, i like the fact that you have to explicitly copy devices from an existing group and not simply add an existing device to another device group ..that would be a potential problem to happen. Do you know if you can add VDEVS to multiple groups as well ?

Dynamox .. I'm awesome just like a storm ... It depends on your taste :-P

In fact you can add the same device to two different DGs given that you have already enabled the variable into the "option" file. The "copy" functionality is an usefull thing that you can use if you already have a DG. No potential problems since you need to enable the variable in the options file before making something "dangerous".

I really don't know if it's possible to add the same vdev to different DGs .. I think that you can apply the same rule as per BCVs .. so -my speculation- the answer is NO .. But I'd be glad to be wrong

Stefano,

i looked at man pages for symbcv and see there is an option to copy devices, but i don't see any references in documentation. Since you have the environment setup would you please try to put the same BCV in multiple device groups ?

Thanks

I may go with the 6.4 MLRK to distribute from Control Center, has that worked for you?

Outstanding, so I just need to have Solutions Enabler 6.3 installed on the ECC server and the hosts where I will be running the split/sync commands correct?

I think I have 6.0.3 currently installed.

Thanks,
Taylor

go ahead with SE 6.4.1 ..it's got more functionality.

i don't use ECC to push out SE ..i just manually installed it on my management server. Do they have a MLRK ready for 6.4.1 ?