HP Storage Mirroring Software - Manual (Page 613)

Recommended optimizations Page 612 of 677
Planning
Before you begin your Storage Mirroring Recover installation, you should plan your
implementation strategy. Ask yourself the following questions.
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What is the role of each server? Will this server be a source? Will this server be a
target?
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Is the source server a Domain Controller? Or does it have another very specific
role or configuration? You may want consider protecting the entire server in these
cases.
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Is the source running Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft SQL? You should use the
Storage Mirroring Recover Application Manager to protect these applications.
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How much data will you be protecting? Can your target handle that amount of
data?
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How much bandwidth is available between your source and target? Can your
network handle the mirroring and replication traffic between the two servers? If the
amount of change is greater than the bandwidth available, you may want to
consider getting additional bandwidth or planning for disk queuing.
If there are concerns about resource utilization or how Storage Mirroring Recover
replication will impact the environment, you can profile the source server, the network
links between the source and target, and the target server before installing Storage
Mirroring Recover to ensure that each component has adequate resources to handle the
added load of replicating the data. Most environments do not require this type of
analysis, but it may be needed if there are applications producing high-volume file writes
or limited CPU, memory, disk, or network resources.
The best way to understand the impact of replication in an environment is to set up test
equipment that simulates the production environment. However, if the resources to test
in this manner are not available, resource utilization can be analyzed using Windows
Performance Monitor and a utility to monitor network utilization. Performance data
should be logged for a period that encompasses normal usage as well as any
maintenance, backup, scheduled jobs, or batch processing that occurs. If utilization of
any component is extremely high for a significant period of time, then it may be
necessary to modify particular Storage Mirroring Recover options. Keep in mind that
some factors that are typically not in a test environment, such as backups and other
applications using bandwidth, can affect resource utilization in the production
environment.
After you have installed Storage Mirroring Recover, you can do additional planning with
the Throughput Diagnostic Utility, which determines your bandwidth needs by simulating
a connection and recording data.