If you’re familiar with EqualLogic (and even if you’re not), you probably know that every EqualLogic array has built in replication features to help you get your data backed up offsite should something ever happen to your production data. There are a few questions you might have about replication, and I hope to be able to answer them. Please comment if you have any questions I didn’t answer in this post!

How EqualLogic Replication Works

EqualLogic replication takes a point-in-time copy of a volume and places it in another EqualLogic group (ideally geographically separate from the original). After the first copy has been moved, each subsequent copy is comprised of the changes that have taken place on the volume since the last replica. Effectively, that means that after your first replica, if you only change 1GB of data, 1GB of data will replicate for your second replica. This efficiency allows you to replicate faster and more frequently. If you feel like your replicas are larger than they should be based off of the amount of data you typically change, check out my article on Unnecessarily Large EqualLogic Snapshots – the concepts are the same.

EqualLogic Replication Requirements – What do I need?

The requirements for replicating with EqualLogic are very minimal. You need:

• Two or more EqualLogic groups (each with one or more members) and their information,
• Communication between groups on Layer 3, and
• A volume to replicate.

EqualLogic Replication How To – How do I configure replication?

EqualLogic Replication Ports – What ports do I need open for replication to work?

EqualLogic Replication Demo