Table of ContentsView in Frames

Sequence for selecting mirror destination volumes

To find a suitable destination to contain mirrored data, the NetApp Management Console data protection capability tries to use the same volume used for an existing mirror relationship, if there is one. Otherwise, the NetApp Management Console data protection capability selects an existing volume that meets certain requirements or, if necessary, provisions a new destination volume.

If the NetApp Management Console data protection capability needs to provision a new volume to contain mirrored data, by default the new volume is provisioned to be the same size as the source volume being protected. However, if the DataFabric Manager server dynamic secondary sizing option, dpDynamicSecondarySizing, is disabled, the new volume is thin provisioned to be the same size as the aggregate in which it resides.
Note: If the NetApp Management Console data protection capability provisions a mirror destination volume on a tertiary node, the new volume is provisioned to be the same size as the secondary volume even if the secondary volume is larger than the tertiary aggregate. Space guarantees for the new volume are disabled.

The NetApp Management Console data protection capability takes the following actions to select a destination volume for mirror copies:

  1. If there is no existing mirror relationship, the NetApp Management Console data protection capability scans the destination systems for an existing volume that meets the following requirements:
    • It is located on a storage system running the same version as or a later Data ONTAP version of the storage system containing the data to be mirrored.
    • It is located on a storage system on which the SnapMirror license is enabled.
    • It is of the same type (FlexVol or traditional volume) as the volume containing the data to be mirrored.
    • It is the same size as or larger than the source volume
    • It has no SnapVault or SnapMirror relationships.
    • It is within an aggregate of the same block type as the aggregate containing the source volume unless both source and destination storage systems use Data ONTAP-v8.1 or later.

      If both source and destination volumes are on systems using Data ONTAP-v8.1 or later, matching block types are not required.

  2. If the NetApp Management Console data protection capability cannot locate an existing volume that meets the preceding requirements, it attempts to use available space in the resource pool to provision a new volume of the same type as the volume containing the data to be mirrored.

    For the NetApp Management Console data protection capability to provision a new volume, the aggregate or spare disk where the new volume is created must meet the following requirements:

    • It belongs to a storage system running the same version as or a later Data ONTAP version of the storage system containing the data to be mirrored.
    • It belongs to a storage system on which the SnapMirror license is enabled.
    • It has adequate space to contain the data in the source volume.
    • It is within an aggregate of the same block type as the aggregate containing the source volume unless both source and destination storage systems use Data ONTAP-v8.1 or later.

      If both source and destination volumes are on systems using Data ONTAP-v8.1 or later, matching block types are not required.

  3. If the NetApp Management Console data protection capability cannot provision a new volume for the data to be mirrored, it generates an error.