Policy-based replication
Policies can be used for both file replications and object replications. Policy-based replication comprises:
- Replication Policy: A replication policy identifies the data source, the replication target, and optionally a replication rule. For file replication, pre-replication and post-replication scripts can also be set up in the Policy page.
- Replication Rules: Optional configuration parameters that allow tuning of file replications to enable and disable specific functions or to optimize performance.
- Replication Schedule: Defines all aspects of automated timing.
Replication schedules
After a replication policy has been defined, it must be scheduled to run. Replications can be scheduled and rescheduled at any time and with any of the available scheduling options.
Replication schedules overview:
- Periodic replication: Replications occur at preset times. Periodic replications can be set up to run daily, weekly, monthly or at intervals specified in numbers of hours or days.
- Continuous replication: When a replication policy specifies continuous replication, as soon as the replication job completes, the same replication job starts again.
- One time replication: A new replication job starts after the previous job has ended. The new replication job can start immediately or after a specified number of hours.
When planning replication schedules, customer support recommends scheduling during off-peak times such as nights or weekends. After a replication has started, additional replications for the same policy cannot start until the current replication has completed; however, multiple concurrent replications are allowed for replications by different policies.
NoteFor file replication only, when the replication operation begins, the destination file system should be placed into syslock mode. If the destination file system is not in syslock mode during a replication operation, clients may write to the file system, creating inconsistencies between the source and target of the replication. When scheduling file replications, you should consider this limitation.