GDPS Family: An Introduction to Concepts and Capabilities

GDPS Family: An Introduction to Concepts and Capabilities

by David Clitherow, Sim Schindel
Released August 2014
Publisher(s): IBM Redbooks
ISBN: None

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Book description

This IBM® Redbooks® publication presents an overview of the IBM Geographically Dispersed Parallel Sysplex™ (IBM GDPS®) family of offerings and the role they play in delivering a business IT resilience solution.

The book begins with general concepts of business IT resilience and disaster recovery, along with issues related to high application availability, data integrity, and performance. These topics are considered within the framework of government regulation, increasing application and infrastructure complexity, and the competitive and rapidly changing modern business environment.

Next, it describes the GDPS family of offerings with specific reference to how they can help you achieve your defined goals for disaster recovery and high availability. Also covered are the features that simplify and enhance data replication activities, the prerequisites for implementing each offering, and hints for planning for the future and immediate business requirements. Tables provide easy-to-use summaries and comparisons of the offerings, and the additional planning and implementation services available from IBM are explained.

Finally, several practical client scenarios and requirements are described, along with the most suitable GDPS solution for each case.

The introductory chapters of this publication are intended for a broad technical audience including IT System Architects, Availability Managers, Technical IT Managers, Operations Managers, System Programmers, and Disaster Recovery Planners. The subsequent chapters provide more technical details about the GDPS offerings, and each can be read in isolation for those readers who are interested. Therefore, if you do read all the chapters, be aware that some information is repeated.

Table of contents

  1. Front cover
  2. Notices
    1. Trademarks
  3. Preface
    1. The team who wrote this book
    2. Now you can become a published author, too!
    3. Comments welcome
    4. Stay connected to IBM Redbooks
  4. Summary of changes
    1. October 2013, Update to Ninth Edition
    2. March 2013, Ninth Edition
    3. July 2012, Eighth Edition
    4. June 2011, Seventh Edition
    5. August 2010, Sixth Edition
    6. September 2009, Fifth Edition
    7. September 2008, Fourth Edition
    8. March 2007, Third Edition
    9. December 2005, Second Edition
  5. Chapter 1. Introduction to business resilience and the role of GDPS
    1. 1.1 Objective
    2. 1.2 Layout of this document
    3. 1.3 IT resilience
      1. 1.3.1 Disaster recovery
      2. 1.3.2 The next level
      3. 1.3.3 Other considerations
    4. 1.4 Characteristics of an IT resilience solution
    5. 1.5 GDPS offerings
    6. 1.6 Automation and disk replication compatibility
    7. 1.7 Summary
  6. Chapter 2. Infrastructure planning for availability and GDPS
    1. 2.1 Parallel Sysplex overview
      1. 2.1.1 Maximizing application availability
      2. 2.1.2 Multisite sysplex considerations
    2. 2.2 Data consistency
      1. 2.2.1 Dependent write logic
    3. 2.3 Synchronous versus asynchronous data transfer
    4. 2.4 Data replication technologies
      1. 2.4.1 PPRC (IBM Metro Mirror)
      2. 2.4.2 XRC (z/OS Global Mirror)
      3. 2.4.3 Global Mirror
      4. 2.4.4 Combining disk remote copy technologies for CA and DR
      5. 2.4.5 IBM software replication products
    5. 2.5 Tape resident data
    6. 2.6 FlashCopy
    7. 2.7 Automation
      1. 2.7.1 Recovery time objective
      2. 2.7.2 Operational consistency
      3. 2.7.3 Skills impact
      4. 2.7.4 Summary
    8. 2.8 Flexible server capacity
      1. 2.8.1 Capacity Backup Upgrade
      2. 2.8.2 On/Off Capacity on Demand
      3. 2.8.3 GDPS CBU and On/Off CoD handling
    9. 2.9 Cross-site connectivity considerations
      1. 2.9.1 Server-to-disk links
      2. 2.9.2 Data replication links
      3. 2.9.3 Coupling links
      4. 2.9.4 IBM 9037 Sysplex Timer
      5. 2.9.5 Server Time Protocol (STP)
      6. 2.9.6 XCF signalling
      7. 2.9.7 HMC and consoles
      8. 2.9.8 Connectivity options
      9. 2.9.9 Single points of failure
    10. 2.10 Testing considerations
    11. 2.11 Summary
  7. Chapter 3. GDPS/PPRC
    1. 3.1 Introduction to GDPS/PPRC
      1. 3.1.1 Protecting data integrity and data availability with GDPS/PPRC
      2. 3.1.2 Protecting tape data
      3. 3.1.3 Protecting distributed (FBA) data
      4. 3.1.4 Protecting other CKD data
    2. 3.2 GDPS/PPRC configurations
      1. 3.2.1 Controlling system
      2. 3.2.2 Active/standby configuration
      3. 3.2.3 Active/active configuration
      4. 3.2.4 Business Recovery Services (BRS) configuration
      5. 3.2.5 GDPS/PPRC in a three-site configuration
      6. 3.2.6 GDPS/PPRC in a single site
      7. 3.2.7 Other considerations
    3. 3.3 GDPS/PPRC management of distributed systems and data
      1. 3.3.1 Multiplatform Resiliency for System z (also known as xDR)
      2. 3.3.2 Distributed Cluster Management
    4. 3.4 Managing the GDPS environment
      1. 3.4.1 NetView interface
      2. 3.4.2 GDPS scripts
      3. 3.4.3 System Management actions
    5. 3.5 GDPS/PPRC monitoring and alerting
      1. 3.5.1 GDPS/PPRC health checks
    6. 3.6 Other facilities related to GDPS
      1. 3.6.1 HyperSwap coexistence
      2. 3.6.2 Reduced impact initial copy and resynchronization
      3. 3.6.3 Reserve Storage Pool
      4. 3.6.4 Query Services
      5. 3.6.5 Concurrent Copy cleanup
    7. 3.7 GDPS/PPRC flexible testing and resync protection
      1. 3.7.1 Use of FlashCopy Space Efficient volumes
    8. 3.8 GDPS tools for GDPS/PPRC
    9. 3.9 GDPS/PPRC co-operation with GDPS/Active-Active
    10. 3.10 Services component
    11. 3.11 GDPS/PPRC prerequisites
    12. 3.12 Comparison of GDPS/PPRC versus other GDPS offerings
    13. 3.13 Summary
  8. Chapter 4. GDPS/PPRC HyperSwap Manager
    1. 4.1 Introduction to GDPS/PPRC HM
      1. 4.1.1 Protecting data integrity and data availability with GDPS/PPRC HM
      2. 4.1.2 Protecting distributed (FBA) data
      3. 4.1.3 Protecting other CKD data
    2. 4.2 GDPS/PPRC HM configurations
      1. 4.2.1 Controlling system
      2. 4.2.2 GDPS/PPRC HM in a single site
      3. 4.2.3 GDPS/PPRC HM in a two-site configuration
      4. 4.2.4 GDPS/PPRC HM in a three-site configuration
      5. 4.2.5 Other considerations
    3. 4.3 Managing the GDPS environment
      1. 4.3.1 NetView interface
      2. 4.3.2 NetView commands
    4. 4.4 GDPS/PPRC HM monitoring and alerting
      1. 4.4.1 GDPS/PPRC HM health checks
    5. 4.5 Other facilities related to GDPS
      1. 4.5.1 HyperSwap coexistence
      2. 4.5.2 GDPS/PPRC HM reduced impact initial copy and resynchronization
      3. 4.5.3 Reserve Storage Pool
      4. 4.5.4 GDPS/PPRC HM Query Services
      5. 4.5.5 Concurrent Copy cleanup
    6. 4.6 GDPS/PPRC HM flexible testing and resync protection
      1. 4.6.1 Use of FlashCopy Space Efficient volumes
    7. 4.7 GDPS tools for GDPS/PPRC HM
    8. 4.8 Services component
    9. 4.9 GDPS/PPRC HM prerequisites
    10. 4.10 Comparison of GDPS/PPRC HM versus other GDPS offerings
    11. 4.11 Summary
  9. Chapter 5. GDPS/XRC
    1. 5.1 Introduction to GDPS/XRC
      1. 5.1.1 Protecting data integrity
      2. 5.1.2 Protecting tape data
    2. 5.2 GDPS/XRC configuration
      1. 5.2.1 GDPS/XRC in a three-site configuration
    3. 5.3 GDPS/XRC management of distributed systems and data
    4. 5.4 Managing the GDPS environment
      1. 5.4.1 NetView interface
      2. 5.4.2 GDPS scripts
      3. 5.4.3 System Management actions
    5. 5.5 GDPS/XRC monitoring and alerting
      1. 5.5.1 GDPS/XRC health checks
    6. 5.6 Other facilities related to GDPS
      1. 5.6.1 FlashCopy disk definition in the GDPS systems
      2. 5.6.2 GDPS/XRC FlashCopy locking
      3. 5.6.3 GDPS/XRC Configuration checking
      4. 5.6.4 Vary-After-Clip automation
      5. 5.6.5 Query Services
    7. 5.7 Flexible testing
    8. 5.8 GDPS tools for GDPS/XRC
    9. 5.9 Services component
    10. 5.10 GDPS/XRC prerequisites
    11. 5.11 Comparison of GDPS/XRC versus other GDPS offerings
    12. 5.12 Summary
  10. Chapter 6. GDPS/Global Mirror
    1. 6.1 Introduction to GDPS/Global Mirror
      1. 6.1.1 Protecting data integrity
    2. 6.2 GDPS/Global Mirror configuration
      1. 6.2.1 GDPS/GM in a three-site configuration
      2. 6.2.2 Other considerations
    3. 6.3 GDPS/GM management for distributed systems and data
    4. 6.4 Managing the GDPS environment
      1. 6.4.1 NetView panel interface
      2. 6.4.2 System Management actions
    5. 6.5 GDPS/GM monitoring and alerting
      1. 6.5.1 GDPS/GM health checks
    6. 6.6 Other facilities related to GDPS
      1. 6.6.1 GDPS/GM Copy Once facility
      2. 6.6.2 GDPS/GM Query Services
      3. 6.6.3 Global Mirror Monitor integration
    7. 6.7 Flexible testing
      1. 6.7.1 Usage of FlashCopy Space Efficient
    8. 6.8 GDPS tools for GDPS/GM
    9. 6.9 Services component
    10. 6.10 GDPS/GM prerequisites
    11. 6.11 Comparison of GDPS/GM versus other GDPS offerings
    12. 6.12 Summary
  11. Chapter 7. GDPS/Active-Active
    1. 7.1 Overview of GDPS/Active-Active
      1. 7.1.1 Positioning GDPS/Active-Active
      2. 7.1.2 GDPS/Active-Active Sites concept
    2. 7.2 GDPS/Active-Active solution products
      1. 7.2.1 The GDPS/Active-Active product
      2. 7.2.2 Tivoli NetView for z/OS
      3. 7.2.3 IBM Tivoli Monitoring
      4. 7.2.4 System Automation for z/OS
      5. 7.2.5 IBM Multi-site Workload Lifeline for z/OS
      6. 7.2.6 Middleware
      7. 7.2.7 Replication software
      8. 7.2.8 Other optional components
    3. 7.3 GDPS/Active-Active environment
      1. 7.3.1 GDPS/Active-Active - a deeper dive
      2. 7.3.2 Considerations for other non-Active-Active workloads
    4. 7.4 GDPS/Active-Active functions and features
      1. 7.4.1 GDPS/Active-Active web interface
      2. 7.4.2 GDPS/Active-Active monitoring and alerting
      3. 7.4.3 GDPS/Active-Active scripts
      4. 7.4.4 GDPS/Active-Active Query Services
    5. 7.5 GDPS/Active-Active co-operation with GDPS/PPRC
    6. 7.6 GDPS/Active-Active disk replication integration
    7. 7.7 Flexible testing with GDPS/Active-Active
    8. 7.8 GDPS/Active-Active services
    9. 7.9 GDPS/Active-Active prerequisites
    10. 7.10 GDPS/Active-Active comparison to other GDPS offerings
    11. 7.11 GDPS/Active-Active summary
  12. Chapter 8. GDPS extensions for heterogeneous systems and data
    1. 8.1 Open LUN Management function
    2. 8.2 GDPS/PPRC Multiplatform Resiliency for System z
      1. 8.2.1 Guest Linux under z/VM
      2. 8.2.2 Native Linux on System z
      3. 8.2.3 Customization Verification Program
      4. 8.2.4 xDR Extended Monitoring
    3. 8.3 Distributed Cluster Management
      1. 8.3.1 Distributed Cluster Management terminology
      2. 8.3.2 DCM support for VCS
      3. 8.3.3 DCM support for SA AppMan
      4. 8.3.4 Summary
  13. Chapter 9. Combining Local/Metro continuous availability with out-of-region disaster recovery
    1. 9.1 Introduction
    2. 9.2 Design considerations
      1. 9.2.1 Three-copy solutions versus three-site solutions
      2. 9.2.2 Multitarget and cascading topologies
      3. 9.2.3 Cost considerations
    3. 9.3 GDPS Metro/Global Mirror solution
      1. 9.3.1 GDPS/MGM overview
      2. 9.3.2 GDPS/MGM Site1 failures
      3. 9.3.3 GDPS/MGM Site2 failures
      4. 9.3.4 GDPS/MGM region switch and return home
      5. 9.3.5 Scalability in a GDPS/MGM environment
      6. 9.3.6 Other considerations in a GDPS/MGM environment
      7. 9.3.7 Managing the GDPS/MGM environment
      8. 9.3.8 Flexible testing in a GDPS/MGM environment
      9. 9.3.9 GDPS Query Services in a GDPS/MGM environment
      10. 9.3.10 Prerequisites for GDPS/MGM
      11. 9.3.11 GDPS/Active-Active disk replication integration with GDPS/MGM
    4. 9.4 GDPS Metro z/OS Global Mirror solution
      1. 9.4.1 GDPS/MzGM overview
      2. 9.4.2 GDPS/MzGM Site1 failures
      3. 9.4.3 GDPS/MzGM Site2 failures
      4. 9.4.4 GDPS/MzGM region switch and return home
      5. 9.4.5 Management of the GDPS/MzGM environment
      6. 9.4.6 Flexible testing of the GDPS/MzGM environment
      7. 9.4.7 Prerequisites for GDPS/MzGM
  14. Chapter 10. Sample continuous availability and disaster recovery scenarios
    1. 10.1 Introduction
    2. 10.2 Continuous availability in a single data center
    3. 10.3 DR across two data centers at metro distance
    4. 10.4 DR and CA across two data centers at metro distance
      1. 10.4.1 Active/active workload
    5. 10.5 DR in two data centers, global distance
    6. 10.6 Other configurations
  15. Glossary
  16. Related publications
    1. IBM Redbooks publications
    2. Online resources
    3. Help from IBM
  17. Back cover
  18. IBM System x Reference Architecture for Hadoop: IBM InfoSphere BigInsights Reference Architecture
    1. Introduction
    2. Business problem and business value
    3. Reference architecture use
    4. Requirements
    5. InfoSphere BigInsights predefined configuration
    6. InfoSphere BigInsights HBase predefined configuration
    7. Deployment considerations
    8. Customizing the predefined configurations
    9. Predefined configuration bill of materials
    10. References
    11. The team who wrote this paper
    12. Now you can become a published author, too!
    13. Stay connected to IBM Redbooks
  19. Notices
    1. Trademarks

Product information

  • Title: GDPS Family: An Introduction to Concepts and Capabilities
  • Author(s): David Clitherow, Sim Schindel
  • Release date: August 2014
  • Publisher(s): IBM Redbooks
  • ISBN: None