Overview of SAN Replication
In SAN replication deployments, WAN links are typically large, often ranging from T3 (45 Mbps) to OC-48 (2.5 Gbps) or more. Often SAN replication solutions require dedicated links used exclusively by the SAN replication solution.
As a best practice for high-speed SAN replication solutions, use SteelHeads that are dedicated to only optimizing high-speed SAN replication workloads, and that do not optimize large amounts of general application or end-user traffic. This benefits you for the following reasons:
Increase both the level and predictability of performance delivered by SteelHeads, leading to consistent delivery of recovery point and time objectives (RPO/RTO).With separate SteelHeads, the large data sets commonly associated with high-speed replication do not compete for SteelHead data store resources with other user-based traffic, and the reverse.You can optimally tune separate SteelHeads for their respective workloads.Disable any data compression on the SAN array (for example, EMC Symmetrix Gigabit Ethernet connectivity) and on the FCIP or iFCP gateways (for example, Cisco MDS, and QLogic), so the data enters the SteelHead in raw form. Disabling data compression allows the SteelHeads the opportunity to perform additional bandwidth reduction using RiOS SDR.
Use dedicated SteelHeads of the same model for this type of data protection scenario. Consult with your SAN vendor's customer service representative for best practice configuration of their arrays for use with SteelHeads.
For information about EMC qualification matrix for Riverbed Technology, see the Riverbed Knowledge Base article
Deploying SteelHeads with EMC Storage, at
https://supportkb.riverbed.com/support/index?page=content&id=s13363. To ensure a successful integration, Riverbed requires EMC involvement in any SRDF deployment.