Replicating client node data

Node replication is the process of incrementally copying, or replicating, data that belongs to backup-archive client nodes. Data is replicated from one IBM® Tivoli® Storage Manager server to another Tivoli Storage Manager server.

The server from which client node data is replicated is called a source replication server. The server to which client node data is replicated is called a target replication server. A server can function as the source server of replicated data for some client nodes and as the target server of replicated data for other client nodes.

The purpose of replication is to maintain the same level of files on the source and the target replication servers. As part of replication processing, client node data that was deleted from the source replication server is also deleted from the target replication server. When client node data is replicated, only the data that is not on the target replication server is copied.

If a disaster occurs and the source replication server is temporarily unavailable, client nodes can recover their data from the target replication server. If the source replication server cannot be recovered, you can convert client nodes to store data on the target replication server. When there is an outage, the source replication server can automatically fail over to a target replication server for data recovery.

To ensure high server availability, you can use node replication with clustering. In a clustered environment, a client is less likely to fail over to another server. If you replicate data from several source replication servers to one target replication server, there is a high dependency on the target replication server. A clustered environment eases the dependency on the target replication server.

For information about implementing a replication configuration, see Setting up the default replication configuration.