IBM Systems and Technology Proven availability for an on-demand environment

Data Sheet

IBM PowerHA
SystemMirror for IBM i
Avoid the risk and cost of downtime

Since the first introduction of IBM® PowerHA® SystemMirror for

Highlights IBM i in 2008, major global corporations have been transitioning from
internal disk and logical replication to IBM storage servers and PowerHA
Delivers high availability (HA) and disaster
●● ● ●
SystemMirror for i. It’s not only the large corporations who take advan-
recovery (DR) through IBM storage-based
clustering
tage of PowerHA; clients around the world with less than a terabyte
of storage have also moved from logical replication environments to
●● ● ●
Provides higher utilization and perfor- PowerHA with geomirroring.
mance capabilities for scale-up computing

●● ● ●
Easy to use, economical and automated PowerHA SystemMirror for i is the IBM Power Systems™ offering
●● ● ●
Protects critical business applications for high availability and disaster recovery. It’s an IBM storage-based clus-
from outages, planned or unplanned, tering solution that is an integrated extension of the storage management
around the world architecture and the IBM i operating system. With a PowerHA cluster,
you are able to deploy an HA solution that addresses both your storage
requirements and high availability requirements with one integrated
configuration that is both robust and easy to use.

PowerHA Cluster
A cluster is a collection of servers with a common set of shared data and
management technology that provides IT operations with a single screen
and a set of commands that enable the applications and data to be readily
moved between nodes in the cluster for the purpose of mitigating the
complexity and downtime time that can be associated with planned or
unplanned outages.

A PowerHA cluster is created by taking the database out of SYSBAS and

placing it into an Independent Storage Pool (IASP) and SYSBAS objects
into the administrative domain. The data in the IASP is shared between
the systems in the cluster. When configured into an IBM storage server,
the IASP can be switched (LUN level switching) between partitions
IBM Systems and Technology Proven availability for an on-demand environment
Data Sheet

(nodes) in the cluster, and it can also be replicated to systems The Standard Edition provides reliable monitoring, failure
dispersed between remote locations. Replication via storage detection, and automated recovery of business application
server is accomplished with Metro Mirror or Global Mirror; environments. It provides the capability to monitor various
if one is using internal disk the technology is called geographic event sources such as the HMC, Power Systems, and storage
mirroring. The key to understanding this technology from a server for a comprehensive list of errors, from hardware and
data resiliency perspective is that all of the data that paged out network to application or environmental (i.e. power loss);
of main store to an IASP, including the local journals, is the enabling automated or operator initiated actions. Starting with
data that is switched or replicated between nodes in the cluster. IBM i 7.1 PowerHA SystemMirror Standard Edition supports
PowerHA is displacing logical replication environments world- LUN level switching for the DS8000, SVC and Storwize
wide because it directly addresses the problems of data synchro- V3700, V5000 and V7000 family of storage servers.
nization, operational complexity and certainty of outcome that
are the classic challenges associated with logical replication
environments.

Once your PowerHA SystemMirror solution is deployed,

there’s minimal IT operational involvement required. Not only
is this a big savings in manpower, it is also peace of mind.

PowerHA SystemMirror for i Express

Edition
New with IBM i 7.2 is the Express Edition. The Express
Edition is designed to be the foundation for a class of HA/DR
offerings based on restarting the LPAR into another LPAR on a
different server for HA operations. The Express Edition differs
from the Standard Edition in that the database is not placed
into an IASP separate from SYSBAS. Rather, a primary LPAR
is restarted or IPLd to a target LPAR on another server.
With PowerHA 7.2 for i, the first stage of the Express Edition
offering enables single node full system HyperSwap® with the
DS8700 (and above) which provides customers with continu-
ously available storage through either planned or unplanned
storage events. With HyperSwap technologies, the act of PowerHA SystemMirror for i Enterprise
moving between storage servers is nearly seamless. Edition
The PowerHA SystemMirror for i Enterprise Edition includes
PowerHA SystemMirror for i Standard all of the capabilities of the Standard Edition and more.
Edition The Enterprise Edition package enables you to extend your
The IBM PowerHA SystemMirror for i Standard Edition helps data center solution across up to three sites. PowerHA
you to protect your critical business applications from outages SystemMirror Enterprise Edition includes support for DS8000,
in the data center (single-site solution), planned or unplanned.

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IBM Systems and Technology Proven availability for an on-demand environment
Data Sheet

SVC, V7000, V5000 and V3700 with either Metro Mirror The Enterprise Edition manages Metro Mirror and Global
or Global Mirror and with 7.1 of PowerHA SystemMirror, Mirror with the DS8000®, the SAN Volume Controller (SVC)
the Enterprise Edition also includes support for geomirroring and the Storwize® V7000, V5000, V3700 IBM Storage
asynchronous mode. Geographic mirroring synchronous mode Servers, enabling automatic failover for planned or unplanned
support is included with the PowerHA SystemMirror Standard events. By automating the management of Metro Mirror or
Edition. Global Mirror, recovery time is minimized after an outage,
regardless of whether the clustered environment is local or geo-
Geographic mirroring is the IBM i host based mirroring over graphically dispersed. The Enterprise Edition, in combination
IP network solution that enables small clients to set up a geo- with Metro Mirror or Global Mirror, manages a clustered envi-
graphically dispersed two node PowerHA SystemMirror cluster ronment to allow mirroring of critical data to be maintained at
using either internal or external disk. The geographic mirroring all times. FlashCopy® which, whether used with either the
solution can lower your total cost of ownership in comparison Standard Edition or the Enterprise Edition, enables you to
to software replication options in both cost of acquisition and create a point-in-time copy with minimal disruption to your
operational management costs. The introduction of geomirror production environment. Integrated with PowerHA and
async mode support with PowerHA SystemMirror 7.1 enables BRMS, FlashCopy enables you to backup to tape at your
clients to extend the PowerHA SystemMirror cluster between convenience.
sites with virtually unlimited distance. We recommend geomir-
roring to be used for IASPs under 2 Tbytes.

Feature Benefits

Administrative domain ●●
Keeps SYSBAS objects in sync across the nodes in a PowerHA cluster.

Shared (active/passive) storage clustering ●●

Storage pools (IASPs) are switched or mirrored real time between systems in a cluster.
IBM PowerHA enables high availability and disaster With no out-of-sync conditions and no lag time on the backup system, you’re ready to
recovery solutions based on disk storage pools role swap on demand.
LUN level switching ●●
A single storage server shared by two or more Power Systems servers enables simple
role swap operations for datacenter HA management and is typically a component in a
multi-site topology.
Geographic Mirroring ●●
Inexpensive easy-to-use two node cluster for entry level operations.
IBM i host-based mirroring between two systems
Metro Mirror ●●
Synchronous storage replication; the replicated data is synchronous to the application
Synchronous DS8000, SVC, V7000, V5000, state at all times, providing an RPO of zero.
V3700 mirroring for your PowerHA cluster
Metro Global Mirror (MGM) ●●
Provides three geographically dispersed sites within a single PowerHA cluster.
A three site PowerHA cluster, two sites via
Metro Mirror, third site via Global Mirror
HyperSwap (stage 1) ●●
No DS8 K storage outages due to planned or unplanned outages, foundation for future
Single partition with two mirrored DS8000’s via HyperSwap capabilities.
Metro Mirror
Global Mirror ●●
Asynchronous storage replication, the data can be replicated for an unlimited distance
Asynchronous DS8000, SVC, V7000, V5000, V3700 with minimal data loss in the event of an unplanned outage.
mirroring for your PowerHA disaster recovery cluster
FlashCopy ●●
Create “instantaneous” copies of your IASP to use for offline backups to tape without
disrupting your production environment. Is integrated with BRMS for complete automation.

3
PowerHA tools for IBM i from IBM Lab Services enables a
range of options and services to enhance and simplify your
PowerHA cluster environment. This offering provides pre-
written scripts and services for implementing and managing
your IBM storage and PowerHA SystemMirror solution envi-
ronment. The PowerHA tools for IBM i further simplifies your © Copyright IBM Corporation 2014
HA/DR operations including FlashCopy. Systems and Technology Group
Route 100
Somers, NY 10589
Gaining the IBM advantage
PowerHA high availability solutions from IBM provide clients Produced in the United States of America
April 2014
the confidence that comes from integrated design and testing.
IBM PowerHA solutions are designed as an integrated exten- IBM, the IBM logo, ibm.com, AIX, System Storage, and PowerHA are
trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines
sion of the operating system environment. This reduces the Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. If these and
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information” at ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml
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and the PowerHA SystemMirror offering. PowerHA clusters
are backed by comprehensive offerings and resources that Other product, company or service names may be trademarks or service
marks of others.
provide value at every stage of IT implementation. These
include PowerHA High Availability Cluster implementation This document was developed for products and/or services offered in the
United States. IBM may not offer the products, features or services
services, providing customized assistance designed to meet
discussed in this document in other countries.
our customer requirements for on-demand business needs.
The information may be subject to change without notice. Consult your
local IBM business contact for information on the products, features and
For more information services available in your area.
To learn more about PowerHA for IBM i for Power® All statements regarding IBM future directions and intent are subject
servers, please contact your IBM representative or to change or withdrawal without notice and represent goals and
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