ActiveCluster FlashArray Relocation Procedure
Problem
When physically moving one array in an ActiveCluster environment to another rack or to another Datacenter, perform
the following guidelines and necessary steps to disconnect, move, and then re-connect the FlashArray once relocated.
Solution
This use case has two FlashArrays that are named ArrayToStay and ArrayToMove. These FlashArrays are currently
connected and form an ActiveCluster at a single site or at two Datacenters. Begin by relocating ArrayToMove to a new
rack in the same site or to a new Datacenter.
1. List the ActiveCluster host connections for all pod volumes on ArrayToMove. This CLI output can be redirected (
i.e. > ~/connections) and used later to reconnect hosts when ArrayToMove is added back to ActiveCluster.
user@ArrayToMove> purevol list --connect --cli
purevol connect --host host1 --lun 1 Pod1::vol1
purevol connect --host host2 --lun 1 Pod1::vol1
purevol connect --host host2 --lun 2 Pod2::vol2
purevol connect --host host1 --lun 2 Pod2::vol2
2. On ArrayToMove, disconnect host connections from all pod volumes.
user@ArrayToMove> purevol disconnect --host host2 Pod1::vol1
user@ArrayToMove> purevol disconnect --host host2 Pod2::vol2
Note: If the plan is to disconnect ArrayToMove for less than 24 hours, you may skip step 3. If there is
any chance at all of ArrayToMove being disconnected for 24 hours or more, it is strongly recommended
to perform step 3 to persist the pods' re-stretch data on the ArrayToMove for longer periods of
time. Keeping the data will speed up re-synchronization.
3. On ArrayToMove, create a clone of pods.
user@ArrayToMove> purepod clone SOURCE TARGET
4. On ArrayToStay, unstretch pods to ArrayToStay by disconnecting ArrayToMove from each stretched pod.
user@ArrayToStay> purepod remove --array ArrayToMove PODname
5. On ArrayToStay, disconnect synchronous replication to ArrayToMove.
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user@ArrayToStay> purearray disconnect ArrayToMove
You can power off ArrayToMove only after confirming any ArrayToMove non-pod volumes, host applications, and hosts
are prepared for ArrayToMove to be powered off. Once confirmed, ArrayToMove can be powered off and disconnected
from all network and power cabling for moving to a new rack or for shipping to the new Datacenter.
Post Relocation Steps
Once ArrayToMove is cabled and powered up in its new location, you can re-IP the array's management/replication as
required. You can now reconnect ArrayToMove to ArrayToStay to reform an ActiveCluster configuration.
1. On ArrayToStay, connect sync replication to ArrayToMove.
user@ArrayToStay> purearray connect --management-address MANAGEMENT_ADDRESS [--replication-
address REPLICATION_ADDRESS] --type sync-replication --connection-key
2. On ArrayToStay, re-stretch PODs to ArrayToMove.
user@ArrayToStay> purepod add --array ArrayToMove PODname
3. Verify that pods are synced on ArrayToMove.
user@ArrayToMove> purepod list
Name Source Array Status Frozen At
Pod1 - ArrayToStay online -
ArrayToMove online -
Pod2 - ArrayToStay online -
ArrayToMove online -
4. Connect hosts to pods on ArrayToMove. Here you can manually reconnect them using the CLI or use the
CLI commands that were generated in Step 1 at the beginning of this procedure.
user@ArrayToMove> purevol list --connect
Pod1::vol1 444G 1 - host1
Pod1::vol1 444G 1 - host2
Pod2::vol2 777G 2 - host1
Pod2::vol2 777G 2 - host2
user@ArrayToMove> purevol --connect host1 --lun # Podname::volname
Post Move Cleanup
Once ActiveCluster is running and you've completed their test and acceptance checks, remove any (optionally) created
clone pods on ArrayToMove as shown below.
Note: Steps 1 - 4 (below) are only necessary if you performed Step 3 (Create Clone of Pods) during the Pre-
Move steps (at the beginning of this procedure).
1. On ArrayToMove, destroy volumes from cloned pods.
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user@ArrayToMove> purevol destroy ClonedVOL
2. On ArrayToMove, destroy cloned pods.|
user@ArrayToMove> purepod destroy ClonedPOD
3. On ArrayToMove, eradicate volumes from cloned pods.
user@ArrayToMove> purevol eradicate ClonedVOL
4. On ArrayToMove, eradicate cloned pods.
user@ArrayToMove> purepod eradicate ClonedPOD
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