Replication
Implementing nTier Deduplication
59
Replication process
Replication of SIR data occurs in several stages:
•
When replication occurs (manually or as configured for individual tapes), the
virtual index tape (VIT) from the
source
server is copied to the target server
and becomes a
foreign
virtual index tape (FVIT) listed under
Replica
Resource
s.
•
The FVIT is scanned to determine whether or not the data blocks it uses
exist locally. Missing data blocks are replicated from the source server to the
target server. After all missing data blocks are replicated, the target server
has all the data blocks used by the FVIT.
•
The target server automatically creates a
local
virtual index tape (LVIT) and
puts it in the target server’s virtual vault; the LVIT is now a replica of the
source VIT and contains pointers to the replicated blocks of data.
•
Replication is complete when you see the LVIT in the target server’s
virtual vault. The name of the LVIT corresponds to the name of the FVIT.
The image below shows the FalconStor VTL target server, with FVITs
under the
Replica Resources
object and the LVITs for replicated data
under the
Virtual Vault
object.
Note:
This final step may not occur immediately after the initial replication of
data and can take some time to complete, depending on the availability of
SIR tape drives on the target server and the amount of data on the FVIT.
Local virtual
index tapes in
the
Virtual Vault
after replication
Foreign virtual
index tape
under
Replica
Resources