MIMIX Availability. Version 7.1 MIMIX Operations 5250

Transcription

1 MIMIX Availability Version 7.1 MIMIX Operations 5250

2 Notices MIMIX Operations User Guide January 2014 Version: Copyright 1999, 2014 Vision Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved. The information in this document is subject to change without notice and is furnished under a license agreement. This document is proprietary to Vision Solutions, Inc., and may be used only as authorized in our license agreement. No portion of this manual may be copied or otherwise reproduced without the express written consent of Vision Solutions, Inc. Vision Solutions provides no expressed or implied warranty with this manual. The following are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective organizations or companies: MIMIX and Vision Solutions are registered trademarks and AutoGuard, Data Manager, Director, Dynamic Apply, ECS/400, GeoCluster, IntelliStart, Integrator, ioptimize, itera, itera Availability, MIMIX AutoNotify, MIMIX Availability, MIMIX Availability Manager, MIMIX DB2 Replicator, MIMIX Director, MIMIX dr1, MIMIX Enterprise, MIMIX Global, MIMIX Monitor, MIMIX Object Replicator, MIMIX Professional, MIMIX Promoter, OMS/ODS, RecoverNow, Replicate1, RJ Link, SAM/400, Switch Assistant, Vision AutoValidate, and Vision Suite are trademarks of Vision Solutions, Inc. Double-Take Share, Double-Take Availability, and Double-Take RecoverNow DoubleTake Inc. AIX, AIX 5L, AS/400, DB2, eserver, IBM, Informix, i5/os, iseries, OS/400, Power, System i, System i5, System p, System x, System z, and WebSphere International Business Machines Corporation. Adobe and Acrobat Reader Adobe Systems, Inc. HP-UX Hewlett-Packard Company. Teradata Teradata Corporation. Intel Intel Corporation. Java, all Java-based trademarks, and Solaris Sun Microsystems, Inc. Linux Linus Torvalds. Internet Explorer, Microsoft, Windows, and Windows Server Microsoft Corporation. Mozilla and Firefox Mozilla Foundation. Netscape Netscape Communications Corporation. Oracle Oracle Corporation. Red Hat Red Hat, Inc. Sybase Sybase, Inc. Symantec and NetBackup Symantec Corporation. UNIX and UNIXWare the Open Group. All other brands and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. If you need assistance, contact Vision Solutions CustomerCare team at: CustomerCare Vision Solutions, Inc. Telephone: or support@visionsolutions.com Web Site:

3 Contents Who this book is for What is in this book The MIMIX documentation set Sources for additional information How to contact us Chapter 1 MIMIX overview 15 MIMIX concepts Product concepts System role concepts Journaling concepts Configuration concepts Process concepts Additional switching concepts Best practices for maintaining your MIMIX environment Authority to products and commands Accessing the MIMIX Main Menu Chapter 2 MIMIX policies 26 Environment considerations for policies Policies in environments with more than two nodes or bi-directional replication. 27 When to disable automatic recovery for replication and auditing Disabling audits and recovery when using the MIMIX CDP feature Setting policies - general Changing policies for an installation Changing policies for a data group Resetting a data group-level policy to use the installation level value Policies which affect an installation Changing retention criteria for procedure history Policies which affect replication Errors handled by automatic database recovery Errors handled by automatic object recovery Policies which affect auditing Policies for auditing runtime behavior Policies for submitting audits automatically When automatically submitted audits run Changing auditing policies Changing when automatic audits are allowed to run Changing scheduling criteria for automatic audits Changing the selection frequency of priority auditing categories Changing the audit level policy when switching Changing the system where audits are performed Changing retention criteria for audit history Restricting auditing based on the state of the data group Preventing audits from running Disabling all auditing for an installation Disabling all auditing for a data group Disabling automatically submitted audits Policies for switching with model switch framework Specifying a default switch framework in policies

4 Setting polices for MIMIX Switch Assistant Setting policies when MIMIX Model Switch Framework is not used Policy descriptions Chapter 3 Checking status in environments with application groups 60 Checking application group status Resolving problems reported in the Monitors field Resolving problems reported in the Notifications field Resolving problems reported in Status columns Resolving a procedure status problem Resolving an *ATTN status for an application group Resolving other common status values for an application group Status for Work with Node Entries Status for Work with Data Resource Group Entries Verifying the sequence of the recovery domain Changing the sequence of backup nodes Examples of changing the backup sequence Chapter 4 Working with status of procedures and steps 77 Displaying status of procedures Displaying status of the last run of all procedures Displaying available status history of procedure runs Resolving problems with procedure status Responding to a procedure in *MSGW status Resolving a *FAILED or *CANCELED procedure status Displaying status of steps within a procedure run Resolving problems with step status Responding to a step with a *MSGW status Resolving *CANCEL or *FAILED step statuses Acknowledging a procedure Running a procedure Resuming a procedure Overriding the attributes of a step Canceling a procedure Chapter 5 Monitoring status with MIMIX Availability Status 93 Checking replication status from the MIMIX Availability Status display Checking audit and notification status from the MIMIX Availability Status display Checking status of supporting services from the MIMIX Availability Status display.. 96 Chapter 6 Working with data group status 98 The Work with Data Groups display Problems reflected in the Audits/Recov./Notif. field Problems reflected in the Data Group column Resolving problems highlighted in the Data Group column Manager problems reflected in the Source and Target columns Replication problems reflected in the Source and Target columns Setting the automatic refresh interval Working with the detailed status of data groups Displaying data group detailed status Merged view

5 Object detailed status views Database detailed status views Identifying replication processes with backlogs Data group status in environments with journal cache or journal state Resolving a problem with journal cache or journal state Chapter 7 Working with audits 121 Auditing overview Components of an audit Phases of audit processing Object selection methods for automatic audits How priority auditing determines what objects to select How audits are submitted automatically Audit status and results Audit compliance Guidelines and considerations for auditing Auditing best practices Considerations for specific audits Recommendations when checking audit results Displaying audit runtime status Running an audit immediately Resolving audit problems Checking the job log of an audit Ending audits Displaying audit history Audits with no selected objects Working with audited objects Displaying audited objects from a specific audit run Displaying a customized list of audited objects Working with audited object history Displaying the audit history for a specific object Displaying audit compliance Determining whether auditing is within compliance Displaying scheduling information for automatic audits Chapter 8 Working with system-level processes 149 Displaying status of system-level processes Resolving *ACTREQ status for a system manager Checking for a system manager backlog Starting a system manager or a journal manager Ending a system manager or a journal manager Starting collector services Ending collector services Starting target journal inspection processes Ending target journal inspection processes Displaying status of target journal inspection Displaying results of target journal inspection Displaying details associated with target journal inspection notifications Displaying messages for TGTJRNINSP notifications Identifying the last entry inspected on the target system

6 Chapter 9 Working with notifications and recoveries 159 What are notifications and recoveries Displaying notifications What information is available for notifications Detailed information Options for working with notifications Notifications for newly created objects Displaying recoveries What information is available for recoveries Detailed information Options for working with recoveries Orphaned recoveries Determining whether a recovery is orphaned Removing an orphaned recovery Chapter 10 Starting and ending replication 169 Before starting replication Commands for starting replication What is started with the STRMMX command STRMMX and ENDMMX messages What is started by the default START procedure for an application group Choices when starting or ending an application group What occurs when a data group is started Journal starting point identified on the STRDG request Journal starting point when the object send process is shared Clear pending and clear error processing Starting MIMIX Starting an application group Starting selected data group processes Starting replication when open commit cycles exist Checking for open commit cycles Resolving open commit cycles Before ending replication Commands for ending replication Command choice by reason for ending replication Additional considerations when ending replication Ending immediately or controlled Controlling how long to wait for a controlled end to complete Ending all or selected processes When to end the RJ link What is ended by the ENDMMX command What is ended by the default END procedure for an application group What occurs when a data group is ended Ending MIMIX Ending with default values Ending by prompting the ENDMMX command After you end MIMIX products Ending an application group Ending a data group in a controlled manner Preparing for a controlled end of a data group

7 Performing the controlled end Confirming the end request completed without problems Ending selected data group processes What replication processes are started by the STRDG command What replication processes are ended by the ENDDG command Chapter 11 Resolving common replication problems 207 Working with message queues Working with the message log Working with user journal replication errors Working with files needing attention (replication and access path errors) Working with journal transactions for files in error Placing a file on hold Ignoring a held file Releasing a held file at a synchronization point Releasing a held file Releasing a held file and clearing entries Correcting file-level errors Correcting record-level errors Record written in error Working with tracking entries Accessing the appropriate tracking entry display Holding journal entries associated with a tracking entry Ignoring journal entries associated with a tracking entry Waiting to synchronize and release held journal entries for a tracking entry Releasing held journal entries for a tracking entry Releasing and clearing held journal entries for a tracking entry Removing a tracking entry Working with objects in error Using the Work with DG Activity Entries display Retrying data group activity entries Retrying a failed data group activity entry Determining whether an activity entry is in a delay/retry cycle Removing data group activity history entries Chapter 12 Starting, ending, and verifying journaling 230 What objects need to be journaled Authority requirements for starting journaling MIMIX commands for starting journaling Journaling for physical files Displaying journaling status for physical files Starting journaling for physical files Ending journaling for physical files Verifying journaling for physical files Journaling for IFS objects Displaying journaling status for IFS objects Starting journaling for IFS objects Ending journaling for IFS objects Verifying journaling for IFS objects Journaling for data areas and data queues

8 Displaying journaling status for data areas and data queues Starting journaling for data areas and data queues Ending journaling for data areas and data queues Verifying journaling for data areas and data queues Chapter 13 Switching 244 About switching Planned switch Unplanned switch Switching application group environments with procedures Switching data group environments with MIMIX Model Switch Framework Switching an application group Switching a data group-only environment Switching to the backup system Synchronizing data and starting MIMIX on the original production system Switching to the production system Determining when the last switch was performed Checking the last switch date Problems checking switch compliance Performing a data group switch Switch Data Group (SWTDG) command Chapter 14 Less common operations 259 Starting the TCP/IP server Ending the TCP/IP server Working with objects Displaying long object names Considerations for working with long IFS path names Displaying data group spooled file information Viewing status for active file operations Displaying a remote journal link Displaying status of a remote journal link Identifying data groups that use an RJ link Identifying journal definitions used with RJ Disabling and enabling data groups Procedures for disabling and enabling data groups Determining if non-file objects are configured for user journal replication Determining how IFS objects are configured Determining how data areas or data queues are configured Using file identifiers (FIDs) for IFS objects Operating a remote journal link independently Starting a remote journal link independently Ending a remote journal link independently Chapter 15 Troubleshooting - where to start 276 Gathering information before reporting a problem Obtaining MIMIX and IBM i information from your system Reducing contention between MIMIX and user applications Data groups cannot be ended Verifying a communications link for system definitions Verifying the communications link for a data group

9 Verifying all communications links Checking file entry configuration manually Data groups cannot be started Cannot start or end an RJ link Removing unconfirmed entries to free an RJ link RJ link active but data not transferring Errors using target journal defined by RJ link Verifying data group file entries Verifying data group data area entries Verifying key attributes Working with data group timestamps Automatically creating timestamps Creating additional timestamps Creating timestamps for remote journaling processing Deleting timestamps Displaying or printing timestamps Removing journaled changes Performing journal analysis Removing journal analysis entries for a selected file Appendix A Interpreting audit results - supporting information 299 Interpreting results for configuration data - #DGFE audit When the difference is not found Interpreting results of audits for record counts and file data What differences were detected by #FILDTA What differences were detected by #MBRRCDCNT Interpreting results of audits that compare attributes What attribute differences were detected Where was the difference detected What attributes were compared Appendix B IBM Power Systems operations that affect MIMIX 310 MIMIX procedures when performing an initial program load (IPL) MIMIX procedures when performing an operating system upgrade Prerequisites for performing an OS upgrade on either system MIMIX-specific steps for an OS upgrade on the backup system MIMIX-specific steps for an OS upgrade on the production system with switching 315 MIMIX-specific steps for an OS upgrade on the production system without switching MIMIX procedures when upgrading hardware without a disk image change Considerations for performing a hardware system upgrade without a disk image change MIMIX-specific steps for a hardware upgrade without a disk image change Hardware upgrade without a disk image change - preliminary steps Hardware upgrade without a disk image change - subsequent steps MIMIX procedures when performing a hardware upgrade with a disk image change Considerations for performing a hardware system upgrade with a disk image change

10 MIMIX-specific steps for a hardware upgrade with a disk image change Hardware upgrade with a disk image change - preliminary steps Hardware upgrade with a disk image change - subsequent steps Handling MIMIX during a system restore Prerequisites for performing a restore of MIMIX Index

11 Who this book is for Who this book is for What is in this book The MIMIX Operations book describes how to perform routine operational tasks and basic troubleshooting for MIMIX Enterprise and MIMIX Professional from a 5250 emulator. The MIMIX Operations book provides these distinct types of information: A summary of concepts within MIMIX Application group and data group status and troubleshooting Audit status, troubleshooting, scheduling, and history Procedures for starting, ending, and switching replication Procedures for starting, ending, and verifying journaling Procedures for handling MIMIX when performing operations such as IPLs or hardware and operating system upgrades. The MIMIX documentation set The following documents about MIMIX Availability products are available: Using License Manager License Manager currently supports MIMIX Availability, itera Availability, and ioptimize. This book describes software requirements, system security, and other planning considerations for installing software and software fixes for Vision Solutions products that are supported through License Manager. The preferred way to obtain license keys and install software is by using Vision AutoValidate and the product s Installation Wizard. However, if you cannot use the wizard or AutoValidate, this book provides instructions for obtaining licenses and installing software from a 5250 emulator. This book also describes how to use the additional security functions from Vision Solutions which are available for License Manager and MIMIX and implemented through License Manager. MIMIX Administrator Reference This book provides detailed conceptual, configuration, and programming information for MIMIX Enterprise and MIMIX Professional. It includes checklists for setting up several common configurations, information for planning what to replicate, and detailed advanced configuration topics for custom needs. It also identifies what information can be returned in outfiles if used in automation. MIMIX Operations with IBM i Clustering This book is for administrators and operators in an IBM i clustering environment who either use the basic support for IBM i clustering provided within MIMIX or who use MIMIX Global to integrate cluster management with MIMIX logical replication or supported hardware-based replication techniques. This book 11

12 The MIMIX documentation set focuses on addressing problems reported in MIMIX status and basic operational procedures such as starting, ending, and switching. MIMIX Operations This book provides high level concepts and operational procedures for managing your high availability environment using MIMIX Enterprise or MIMIX Professional from a 5250 emulator. This book focuses on tasks typically performed by an operator, such as checking status, starting or stopping replication, performing audits, and basic problem resolution. Using MIMIX Monitor This book describes how to use the MIMIX Monitor user and programming interfaces available with MIMIX Enterprise or MIMIX Professional. This book also includes programming information about MIMIX Model Switch Framework and support for hardware switching. Using MIMIX Promoter This book describes how to use MIMIX commands for copying and reorganizing active files. MIMIX Promoter is available with MIMIX Enterprise and as nocharge feature for MIMIX Professional. MIMIX for IBM WebSphere MQ This book identifies requirements for the MIMIX for MQ feature which supports replication in IBM WebSphere MQ environments. This book describes how to configure MIMIX for this environment and how to perform the initial synchronization and initial startup. Once configured and started, all other operations are performed as described in the MIMIX Operations book. 12

13 Sources for additional information Sources for additional information This book refers to other published information. The following information, plus additional technical information, can be located in the IBM System i and i5/os Information Center. From the Information center you can access these IBM Power Systems topics, books, and redbooks: Backup and Recovery Journal management DB2 Universal Database for IBM Power Systems Database Programming Integrated File System Introduction Independent disk pools OptiConnect for OS/400 TCP/IP Setup IBM redbook Striving for Optimal Journal Performance on DB2 Universal Database for iseries, SG IBM redbook AS/400 Remote Journal Function for High Availability and Data Replication, SG IBM redbook Power Systems iasps: A Guide to Moving Applications to Independent ASPs, SG The following information may also be helpful if you replicate journaled data areas, data queues, or IFS objects: DB2 UDB for iseries SQL Programming Concepts DB2 Universal Database for iseries SQL Reference IBM redbook AS/400 Remote Journal Function for High Availability and Data Replication, SG

14 How to contact us How to contact us For contact information, visit our Contact CustomerCare web page. If you are current on maintenance, support for MIMIX products is also available when you log in to Support Central. It is important to include product and version information whenever you report problems. 14

15 CHAPTER 1 MIMIX overview This book provides operational information and procedures for using MIMIX Enterprise and MIMIX Professional through its 5250 emulator user interface. For simplicity, this book uses the term MIMIX to refer to the functionality provided by either product unless a more specific name is necessary. MIMIX Availability version 7.1 provides high availability for your critical data in a production environment on IBM Power Systems through real-time replication of changes and the ability to quickly switch your production environment to a ready backup system. These capabilities allow your business operations to continue when you have planned or unplanned outages in your System i environment. MIMIX also provides advanced capabilities that can help ensure the integrity of your MIMIX environment. Replication: MIMIX continuously captures changes to critical database files and objects on a production system, sends the changes to a backup system, and applies the changes to the appropriate database file or object on the backup system. The backup system stores exact duplicates of the critical database files and objects from the production system. MIMIX uses two replication paths to address different pieces of your replication needs. These paths operate with configurable levels of cooperation or can operate independently. The user journal replication path captures changes to critical files and objects configured for replication through a user journal. When configuring this path, shipped defaults use the remote journaling function of the operating system to simplify sending data to the remote system. In previous versions, MIMIX DB2 Replicator provided this function. The system journal replication path handles replication of critical system objects (such as user profiles, program objects, or spooled files), integrated file system (IFS) objects, and document library object (DLOs) using the system journal. In previous versions MIMIX Object Replicator provided this function. Configuration choices determine the degree of cooperative processing used between the system journal and user journal replication paths when replicating database files, IFS objects, data areas, and data queues. Switching: One common use of MIMIX is to support a hot backup system to which operations can be switched in the event of a planned or unplanned outage. If a production system becomes unavailable, its backup is already prepared for users. In the event of an outage, you can quickly switch users to the backup system where they can continue using their applications. MIMIX captures changes on the backup system for later synchronization with the original production system. When the original production system is brought back online, MIMIX assists you with analysis and synchronization of the database files and other objects. 15

16 Automatic verification and correction: MIMIX enables earlier and easier detection of problems known to adversely affect maintaining availability and switch-readiness of your replication environment. MIMIX automatically detects and corrects potential problems during replication and auditing. MIMIX also helps to ensure the integrity of your MIMIX configuration by automatically verifying that the files and objects being replicated are what is defined to your configuration. MIMIX is shipped with these capabilities enabled. Incorporated best practices for maintaining availability and switch-readiness are key to ensuring that your MIMIX environment is in tip-top shape for protecting your data. User interfaces allow you to fine-tune to the needs of your environment. Analysis: MIMIX also provides advanced analysis capabilities through the MIMIX portal application for Vision Solutions Portal (VSP). When using the VSP user interface, you can see what objects are configured for replication as well as what replicated objects on the target system have been changed by people or programs other than MIMIX. (Objects changed on the target system affect your data integrity.) You can also check historical arrival and backlog rates for replication to help you identify trends in your operations that may affect MIMIX performance. Uses: MIMIX is typically used among systems in a network to support a hot backup system. Simple environments have one production system and one backup system. More complex environments have multiple production systems or backup systems. MIMIX can also be used on a single system. You can view the replicated data on the backup system at any time without affecting productivity. This allows you to generate reports, submit (read-only) batch jobs, or perform backups to tape from the backup system. In addition to real-time backup capability, replicated databases and objects can be used for distributed processing, allowing you to off-load applications to a backup system. The topics in this chapter include: MIMIX concepts on page 17 summarizes key concepts that you need to know about MIMIX. Best practices for maintaining your MIMIX environment on page 23 summarizes recommendations from Vision Solutions. Authority to products and commands on page 23 identifies authority levels to MIMIX functions when additional security features provided by Vision Solutions are used. Accessing the MIMIX Main Menu on page 24 describes the MIMIX Basic Main menu and the MIMIX Intermediate Main Menu. The MIMIX Basic Main menu is used to access the MIMIX Availability Status (WRKMMXSTS) display. 16

17 MIMIX concepts MIMIX concepts Product concepts The following subtopics organize the basic concepts associated with MIMIX into related groups. More detailed information is available in the MIMIX Administrator Reference book. MIMIX installation - The network of IBM Power Systems systems that transfer data and objects among each other using functions of a common MIMIX product. A MIMIX installation is defined by the way in which you configure the MIMIX product for each of the participating systems. A system can participate in multiple independent MIMIX installations. Replication - The activity that MIMIX performs to continuously capture changes to critical database files and objects on a production system as they occur, send the changes to a backup system, and apply the changes to the appropriate database file or object on the backup system. Switch - The process by which a production environment is moved from one system to another system and the production environment is made available there. A switch may be performed as part of a planned event such as for system maintenance, or an unplanned event such as a power or equipment failure. MIMIX provides customizable functions for switching. Audits - Audits are predetermined programs that are used to check for differences in replicated objects and other conditions between systems. Audits run and can correct detected problems automatically. Policies control when audits run and many other aspects of how audits are performed. Additional auditing concepts and recommendations are described in the auditing chapter of this book. Automatic recovery - MIMIX provides a set of functions that provide the ability to automatically correct problems detected in a MIMIX installation during database replication, object replication, and auditing. During these activities, when MIMIX detects any of a set of scenarios known to interfere with maintaining your MIMIX environment, it will automatically start recovery actions to correct them. Through policies, you have the ability to disable automatic recovery in any of these areas at the installation or data group level. Application group - A MIMIX construct used to group and control resources from a single point in a way that maintains relationships between them. The use of application groups is best practice for MIMIX Professional and MIMIX Enterprise and required for MIMIX Global. Data group - A MIMIX construct that is used to control replication activities. A data group is a logical grouping of database files, data areas, objects, IFS objects, DLOs, or a combination thereof that defines a unit of work by which MIMIX replication activity is controlled. A data group may represent an application, a set of one or more libraries, or all of the critical data on a given system. Application environments may define a data group as a specific set of files and objects. 17

18 MIMIX concepts Prioritized status - MIMIX assigns a priority to status values to ensure that problems with the highest priorities, those for detected problems or situations that require immediate attention or intervention, are reflected on the highest level of the user interface. Additional detail and lower priority items can be viewed by drilling down to the next level within the interfaces. Those interfaces are the Work with Systems display and depending on your configuration, either the Work with Application Groups display or the Work with Data Groups display. Policies - A policy is a mechanism used to enable, disable, or provide input to a function such as replication, auditing, or MIMIX Model Switch Framework. For most policies, the initially shipped values apply to an installation. However, policies can be changed and most can also be overridden for individual data groups. Policies that control when audits are automatically performed can be set only for each specific combination of audit rule and data group. Notifications - A notification is the resulting automatic report associated with an event that has already occurred. The severity of a notification is reflected in the overall status of the installation. Notifications can be generated by a process, program, command, or monitor. Because the originator of notifications varies, it is important to note that notifications can represent both real-time events as well as events that occurred in the past but, due to scheduling, are being reported in the present. Recoveries - This term recovery is used in two ways. The most common use refers to the recovery action taken by a replication process or an audit to correct a detected difference when automatic recovery polices are enabled. The second use refers to a temporary report that provides details about a recovery action in progress that is created when the recovery action starts and is removed when it completes. System role concepts MIMIX uses several pairs of terms to refer to the role of a system within a particular context. These terms are not interchangeable. Production system and backup system - These terms describe the role of a system relative to the way applications are used on that system. A production system is the system currently running the production workload for the applications. In normal operations, the production system is the system on which the principal copy of the data and objects associated with the application exist. A backup system is the system that is not currently running the production workload for the applications. In normal operations, the backup system is the system on which you maintain a copy of the data and objects associated with the application. These roles are not always associated with a specific system. For example, if you switch application processing to the backup system, the backup system temporarily becomes the production system. Typically, for normal operations in basic two-system environment, replicated data flows from the system running the production workload to the backup system. Source system and target system - These terms identify the direction in which an activity occurs between two participating systems. 18

19 MIMIX concepts A source system is the system from which MIMIX replication activity between two systems originates. In replication, the source system contains the journal entries. Information from the journal entries is either replicated to the target system or used to identify objects to be replicated to the target system. A target system is the system on which MIMIX replication activity between two systems completes. Management system and network system - These terms define the role of a system relative to how the products interact within a MIMIX installation. These roles remain associated with the system within the MIMIX installation to which they are defined. One system in the MIMIX installation is designated as the management system and the remaining one or more systems are designated as network systems. A management system is the system in a MIMIX installation that is designated as the control point for all installations of the product within the MIMIX installation. The management system is the location from which work to be performed by the product is defined and maintained. Often the system defined as the management system also serves as the backup system during normal operations. A network system is any system in a MIMIX installation that is not designated as the management system (control point) of that MIMIX installation. Work definitions are automatically distributed from the management system to a network system. Often a system defined as a network system also serves as the production system during normal operations. Journaling concepts MIMIX uses journaling to perform replication and to support newer analysis functionality. Journaling and object auditing - Journaling and object auditing are techniques that allow object activity to be logged to a journal. Journaling logs activity for selected objects of specific object types to a user journal. Object auditing logs activity for all objects to the security audit journal (QAUDJRN, the system journal), including those defined to a user journal. MIMIX relies on these techniques and the entries placed in the journal receivers for replicating logged activity. Journal - An IBM i system object that identifies the objects being journaled and the journal receivers associated with the journal. The system journal is a specialized journal on the system which MIMIX uses. Journal receiver - An IBM i system object that is associated with a journal and contains the log of all activity for objects defined to the journal. Journal entry - A record added to a journal receiver that identifies an event that occurred on a journaled object. MIMIX uses file and record level journal entries to recreate the object on a designated system. Remote journaling - A function of IBM i that allows you to establish journals and journal receivers on one system and associate them with specific journals and journal receivers on another system. Once the association is established, the operating system can use the pair of journals to replicate journal entries in one direction, from the local journal to the remote journal on the other system. In some configurations, 19

20 MIMIX concepts MIMIX uses remote journaling for transferring data to be replicated from the source system to the target system. Configuration concepts MIMIX configuration provides considerable flexibility to enable supporting a wide variety of customer environments. Configuration is implemented through sets of related commands. The following terms describe configuration concepts. Definitions - MIMIX uses several types of named definitions to identify related configuration choices. System definitions identify systems that participate in a MIMIX installation. Each system definition identifies one system. Transfer definitions identify the communications path and protocol to be used between systems. Journal definitions identify journaling environments that MIMIX uses for replication Each journal definition identifies a system and characteristics of the journaling environment on that system. Data group definitions identify the characteristics of how replication occurs between two systems. Each data group definition determines the direction in which replication occurs between the systems, whether that direction can be switched, and the default processing characteristics for replication processes. Application group definitions identify whether the replication environment does or does not use IBM i clustering. When clustering is used, the application group also defines information about an application or proprietary programs necessary for controlling operations in the clustering environment. Data group entries - A data group entry is a configuration construct that identifies a source of information to be replicated by or excluded from replication by a data group. Each entry identifies at least one object and its location on the source system. Classes of data group entries are based on object type. MIMIX uses data group entries to determine whether a journal entry should be replicated. Data groups that replicate from both the system journal and a user journal can have any combination of data group entries. Remote journal link (RJ link) - An RJ link is a MIMIX configuration element that identifies an IBM i remote journaling environment used by user journal replication processes. An RJ link identifies the journal definitions that define the source and target journals, primary and secondary transfer definitions for the communications path used by MIMIX, and whether the IBM i remote journal function sends journal entries asynchronously or synchronously. Cooperative processing - Cooperative processing refers to MIMIX techniques that efficiently replicate certain object types by using a coordinated effort between the system journal and user journal replication paths. Configuration choices in data group definitions and data group entries determine the degree of cooperative processing used between the system journal and user journal replication paths when replicating database files, IFS objects, data areas, and data queues. 20

21 MIMIX concepts Process concepts Tracking entries - Tracking entries identify objects that can be replicated using advanced journaling techniques and assist with tracking the status of their replication. A unique tracking entry is associated with each IFS object, data area, and data queue that is eligible for replication using advanced journaling. IFS tracking entries identify eligible, existing IFS objects while object tracking entries identify eligible, existing data areas and data queues. The following terms identify MIMIX processes. Some, like the system manager, are required to allow MIMIX to function. Others, like procedures, are used only when invoked by users. Replication path - A replication path is a series of processes used for replication that represent the critical path on which data to be replicated moves from its origin to its destination. MIMIX uses two replication paths to accommodate differences in how replication occurs for user journal and system journal entries. These paths operate with configurable levels of cooperation or can operate independently. The user journal replication path captures changes to critical files and objects configured for replication through a user journal. When configuring this path, shipped defaults use the remote journaling function of the operating system to simplify sending data to the remote system. The changes are applied to the target system. The system journal replication path handles replication of critical system objects (such as user profiles, program objects, or spooled files), integrated file system (IFS) objects, and document library object (DLOs) using the system journal. Information about the changes are sent to the target system where it is applied. System manager - The system manager is a pair of communications jobs between the management system and a network system which must be active to enable replication. The system manager monitors for configuration changes and automatically moves any configuration changes to the network system. Dynamic status changes are also collected and returned to the management system. The system manager also gathers messages and timestamp information from the network system and places them in a message log and timestamp file on the management system. In addition, the system manager performs periodic maintenance tasks, including cleanup of the system and data group history files. Journal manager - The journal manager is a job on each system that MIMIX uses to maintain the journaling environment on that system. By default, MIMIX performs both change management and delete management for journal receivers used by the replication process. Collector services - A group of jobs that are necessary for MIMIX to track historical data and to support using the MIMIX portal application within the Vision Solutions Portal. One or more collector service jobs collect and combine MIMIX status from all systems. Cluster services - When MIMIX Global is configured for IBM i clustering, MIMIX uses the cluster services function provided by IBM i to integrate the system management functions needed for clustering. Cluster services must be active in order for a cluster 21

22 MIMIX concepts node to be recognized by the other nodes in the cluster. MIMIX integrates starting and stopping cluster services into status and commands for controlling processes that run at the system level. Target journal inspection - A MIMIX process that reads a journal on a system being used as the target system for replication. The process identifies people or processes other than MIMIX that accessed replicated objects on the target system. Users can access the resulting information from the Replicated Objects portlet within the MIMIX portal application in Vision Solutions Portal. Procedures and steps - Procedures and steps are a highly customizable means of performing operations for application groups. A set of default procedures for each application group provide the ability to start, end, perform pre-check activity for switching, and switch the application group. Each operation is performed by a procedure that consists of a sequence of steps and multiple jobs. Each step calls a predetermined step program to perform a specific sub-task of the larger operation. Steps also identify runtime attributes for handling before and after the program call within the context of the procedure. Log space - A MIMIX object that provides an efficient storage and manipulation mechanism for replicated data that is temporarily stored on the target system during the receive and apply processes. Additional switching concepts The following concepts are specific to switching. Environments configured with application groups perform switching through procedures. Planned switch - An intentional change to the direction of replication for any of a variety of reasons. You may need to take the system offline to perform maintenance on its hardware or software, or you may be testing your disaster recovery plan. In a planned switch, the production system (the source of replication) is available. When you perform a planned switch, replication is ended on both the source and target systems. The next time you start replication, it will be set to replicate in the opposite direction. Unplanned switch - A change the direction of replication as a response to a problem. Most likely the production system is no longer available. When you perform an unplanned switch, you must initiate the switch from the target system. Replication is ended on the target system. The next time you start replication, it will be set to replicate in the opposite direction. MIMIX Model Switch Framework - A set of programs and commands that provide a consistent framework to be used when performing planned or unplanned switches in environments that do not use application groups. Typically, a model switch framework is customized to your environment through its exit programs. MIMIX Switch Assistant - A guided user interface that guides you through switching using your default MIMIX Model Switch Framework. MIMIX Switch Assistant is accessed from the MIMIX Basic Main Menu and does not support application groups. 22

23 Best practices for maintaining your MIMIX environment Best practices for maintaining your MIMIX environment MIMIX is shipped with default settings that incorporate many best practices for maintaining your environment. Others may require changing policies and adopting best practices within your organization. Best practices include: Allow MIMIX to automatically correct differences detected during database and object replication processes that would otherwise result in errors. If MIMIX is unable to perform the recovery, the problem is reported as a replication error (a file is placed in held error or an object is in error). Allow MIMIX to automatically perform audits and to automatically recover any differences detected by audits. Best practice is to allow regularly scheduled audits of all objects configured for replication and daily audits of prioritized categories of replicated objects. User interfaces summarize audit results and indicate whether MIMIX is unable to recover an object. Perform all audits with the audit level set at level 30 immediately prior to a planned switch to the backup system and before switching back to the production system. Perform switches on a regular basis. Best practice is to switch every three to six months. You need to set aside time for performing planned switches. Environments that continue to use MIMIX Switch Assistant can use policies so that compliance with regular switching is automatically reported in the user interface. Authority to products and commands If your MIMIX environment takes advantage of the additional security available in the product and command authority functions which Vision Solutions provides through License Manager, you may need a higher authority level in order to perform MIMIX daily operations. A MIMIX administrator can change your authorization level to commands and displays. Authorization levels typically fall into these categories: Viewing information requires display (*DSP) authority. Controlling operations requires operator (*OPR) authority. Creating or changing configuration requires management (*MGT) authority. For example, consider audits. You can view an audit if you have display authority, perform audits if you have operator authority, and change policies that affect how auditing is performed if you have management authority. For more information about these provided security functions, see the Using License Manager book. 23