Replicating File Storage for Classic Shares

Replication uses one of your snapshot schedules to automatically copy snapshots to a destination volume in a remote data center. The copies can be recovered in the remote site if a catastrophic event occurs or your data becomes corrupted.

Replication keeps your data in sync in two different locations. If you want to clone your volume and use it independently from the original volume, see Creating a duplicate File Volume.

Before you can replicate, you must create a snapshot schedule. The option to Order Replica does not appear until this condition is met.

Determining the remote data center for the replicated storage volume in the UI

See Table 1 for the complete list of data center availability and replication targets within each region.

Table 1 - This table shows the complete list of data centers with enhanced capabilities in each region. Every region is a separate column. Some cities, such as Dallas, San Jose, Washington DC, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, and Sydney have multiple data centers.
US	Latin America	Canada	Europe	Asia-Pacific	Australia
SJC03 SJC04 WDC04 WDC06 WDC07 DAL09 DAL10 DAL12 DAL13 DAL14	SAO01 SAO04 SAO05	TOR01 TOR04 TOR05 MON01	AMS03 FRA02 FRA04 FRA05 LON02 LON04 LON05 LON06 PAR01 MAD04 MAD05 MIL01	TOK02 TOK04 TOK05 OSA21 OSA22 OSA23 SNG01 CHE01	SYD01 SYD04 SYD05

Determining the remote data center for the replicated storage volume from the CLI

Before you begin, decide on the CLI client that you want to use.

You can either install the IBM Cloud CLI and install the SL plug-in with ibmcloud plugin install sl. For more information, see Extending IBM Cloud CLI with plug-ins.
Or, you can install the SLCLI.

IBM Cloud data centers are paired into primary and remote combinations in every region worldwide. When you replicate data, consider the local data residency laws because moving data across borders can have legal implications. Replication across regions is not permitted.

Listing data center locations from the IBMCLOUD CLI

You can use the ibmcloud sl file replica-locations command to locate a replica location for your file share. The following example lists the available location for a file share in the US south region.

$ ibmcloud sl file replica-locations 560156918
ID        Short Name   Long Name
449494    dal09        Dallas 9
957095    wdc04        Washington 4
1004995   sjc03        San Jose 3
1441195   dal10        Dallas 10
1854795   dal12        Dallas 12
2017603   wdc07        Washington 7
2017695   wdc06        Washington 6
2178495   sjc04        San Jose 4

For more information about all of the parameters that are available for this command, see ibmcloud sl file replica-locations.

Listing data center locations from the SLCLI

To list suitable replication data centers for a specific volume, use the following command.

 # slcli file replica-locations --help
 Usage: slcli file replica-locations [OPTIONS] VOLUME_ID

 Options:
 --sortby TEXT   Column to sort by
 --columns TEXT  Columns to display. Options: ID, Long Name, Short Name
 -h, --help      Show this message and exit.

As part of the data center modernization strategy for IBM Cloud®, several data centers are scheduled to consolidate in 2023. For more information, see Data center consolidations.

Creating the initial replica in the UI

Replications work based on a snapshot schedule. You must first have snapshot space and a snapshot schedule for the source volume before you can replicate. The Order Replica option appears when Snapshot space and Snapshot schedule are available for the source volume. Replication is managed under Storage > File Storage for Classic in the IBM Cloud® console.

Click the name of your storage volume to display its details.
Click Actions and click Order Replica.
Select the existing snapshot schedule that you want your replication to follow. The list contains all of your active snapshot schedules.

You can select only one schedule even if you have a mix of hourly, daily, and weekly. All the snapshots, which were captured since the previous replication, are replicated regardless of the schedule that originated them. For more information, see Working with Snapshots. Replication starts 5 minutes after the snapshot is taken to ensure that the most up-to-date data is copied to the replica volume.
Select a Location for the replica volume.
Click Continue.
Enter in a Promo Code if you have one, and click Recalculate. The other fields in the window are completed by default.

Discounts are applied when the order is processed.
Review your order, and read the service agreement. If you agree with the terms, check the box.
Click Place Order.

Creating the initial replica from the CLI

Replications work based on a snapshot schedule. You must first have snapshot space and a snapshot schedule for the source volume before you can replicate.

Creating the initial replica from the IBMCLOUD CLI

You can use the ibmcloud sl file replica-order command to create a replica for your file share. The following example creates a replica in DAL09 for the file share 560156918.

$ ibmcloud sl file replica-order 560156918  -s DAILY -d dal09 --tier 4
This action will incur charges on your account. Continue?> y
OK
Order 110551616 was placed.
 > Storage as a Service
 > File Storage
 > 500 GBs
 > 4 IOPS per GB
 > 500 GB (Snapshot Space)
 > Replication for tier-based performance. Replicant of: SL02SEV1414935_268

For more information about all of the parameters that are available for this command, see ibmcloud sl file replica-order.

Creating the initial replica from the SLCLI

You can use the following command to order a replica volume.

$ slcli file replica-order --help
Usage: slcli file replica-order [OPTIONS] VOLUME_ID

Options:
-s, --snapshot-schedule [INTERVAL|HOURLY|DAILY|WEEKLY]
                                Snapshot schedule to use for replication,
                                (INTERVAL | HOURLY | DAILY | WEEKLY)
                                [required]
-l, --location TEXT             Short name of the data center for the
                                replicant (e.g.: dal09)  [required]
--tier [0.25|2|4|10]            Endurance Storage Tier (IOPS per GB) of the
                                primary volume for which a replicant is
                                ordered [optional]
-h, --help                      Show this message and exit.

Viewing the replica volumes in the Volume List in the UI

You can view your replication volumes on the File Storage for Classic page under Storage > File Storage for Classic. The volume name shows the primary volume's name followed by REP. The Type is Endurance or Performance – Replica.

Viewing the replica volumes from the CLI

Listing replica volumes from the IBMCLOUD CLI

You can use the ibmcloud sl file replica-order command to list the replicas of your file share. The following example lists the replica partners of the file share 560156918.

$ ibmcloud sl file replica-partners 560156918
ID          User name                  Account ID   Capacity (GB)   Hardware ID   Guest ID   Host ID
560382016   SL02SEV1414935_268_REP_1   1234567      500             -             -          -

For more information about all of the parameters that are available for this command, see ibmcloud sl file replica-partners.

Listing replica volumes from the SLCLI

List existing replicant volumes for a file volume with the following command.

  # slcli file replica-partners --help
  Usage: slcli file replica-partners [OPTIONS] VOLUME_ID

  Options:
  --sortby TEXT   Column to sort by
  --columns TEXT  Columns to display. Options: ID, Username, Account ID,
                  Capacity (GB), Hardware ID, Guest ID, Host ID
  -h, --help      Show this message and exit.

Viewing the replication history in the UI

To view the Replication history, click Manage on the main menu bar. Select Account, and scroll to the Audit Log. The Storage Replication Events list contains the names of the volume, a description of the replication event and the timestamp of the event.

Editing the Replication Schedule in the UI

The replication schedule is based on an existing snapshot schedule. To change the replica schedule from Hourly to Daily or Weekly or vice versa, you must cancel the replica volume and set up a new one.

However, if you want to change the time of day when your Daily replication occurs, you can adjust the existing schedule on the active volume.

On the active volume details page, click Actions .
Select Edit Snapshot Schedule.
Look in the Snapshot frame under Schedule to determine which Daily schedule you're using for replication. Change the schedule that you want.
Click Save.

Deleting an existing replica file share in the UI

You can cancel replication either immediately or on the anniversary date, which causes billing to end.

Click the volume from the File Storage for Classic page.
Click Actions .
Select Delete Replica.
Select when to cancel. Choose Immediately or Anniversary Date, and click Continue.
This operation deletes the replica volume with all its data. Click the checkbox to acknowledge the information, and click Delete.

Canceling replication when the primary volume is deleted in the UI

When a primary volume is deleted, the replication schedule and the volume in the replica data center are deleted, too.

You can expect the volume to remain visible in your Storage list for at least 24 hours (immediate cancellation) or until the anniversary date. Certain features aren't going to be available any longer, but the volume remains visible until it is reclaimed. However, billing is stopped immediately after you click Delete Replica.

Active replicas can block reclamation of the Storage volume. Make sure that the volume is no longer mounted, host authorizations are revoked, and replication is canceled before you attempt to cancel the original volume.

Creating a duplicate of a replica

You can create a duplicate of an existing IBM Cloud® File Storage for Classic. The duplicate volume inherits the capacity and performance options of the original storage volume by default and has a copy of the data up to the point-in-time of a snapshot.

Duplicates can be created from both primary and replica volumes. The new duplicate is created in the same data center as the original volume. If you create a duplicate from a replica volume, the new volume is created in the same data center as the replica volume.

Duplicate volumes can be accessed by a host for read/write as soon as the storage is provisioned. However, snapshots and replication aren't allowed until the data copy from the original to the duplicate is complete.

For more information, see Creating a duplicate File Volume.

Using replicas to fail over when disaster strikes

When you fail over, you’re switching from your storage volume in your primary data center to the destination volume in your remote data center. For example, your primary data center is London and your secondary data center is Amsterdam. If a failure event occurs, you’d fail over to Amsterdam – connecting to the now-primary volume from a Compute instance in Amsterdam. After your volume in London is repaired, a snapshot is taken of the Amsterdam volume to fail back to London and the once-again primary volume from a Compute instance in London.

If the primary location is experiencing a problem but the storage and host are still online, see Failover with an accessible primary volume.
If the primary location is down, see Failover with an inaccessible primary volume.