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Version: 2.15.0

Domain Mark and Failback Preparation

Introduction​

A SyncIQ domain (created through PowerScale's Domain Mark job) identifies a directory tree as belonging to a specific SyncIQ replication policy. Creating this domain in advance of a failover is one of the most effective ways to reduce how long failback takes afterward, because it removes a time-consuming step from the critical path of the resync-prep process.

warning

Do not attempt a failover without completing this step first. This is one of the most important pre-failover preparation tasks and should be part of every DR runbook.

Why Domain Mark Matters​

Failing back a replication policy requires a SyncIQ domain to exist for the source directory. OneFS automatically creates this domain during the failback process if one doesn't already exist — but running the Domain Mark job on a directory that already contains a large amount of data can take a long time, and running it automatically during failback delays your recovery.

Creating the domain in advance, while the directory is still empty (or before it has accumulated a large number of files), takes significantly less time. This is why Superna recommends running Domain Mark manually on all SyncIQ policy paths as a standard pre-failover preparation step, rather than letting OneFS create it automatically during failback.

note

Domain Mark can take hours to complete against a path with a large number of files. Run it well in advance of a planned failover, not on the day of the event.

How to Create a SyncIQ Domain​

Create a SyncIQ domain (protection domain) for the source directory of each replication policy using the PowerScale OneFS UI:

  1. Go to Cluster Management > Job Operations > Job Types.
  2. In the Job Types area, in the DomainMark row, select Start Job from the Actions column.
  3. In the Domain Root Path field, enter the path of the source directory for the replication policy (the directory you want to create a protection domain for).
  4. From the Type of domain list, select SyncIQ.
  5. Ensure the Delete this domain check box is cleared.
  6. Click Start Job.
  7. Confirm the job completes successfully.

Repeat this procedure for every SyncIQ policy path you plan to fail over.

tip

Because you can only fail back synchronization policies, it is not necessary to create SyncIQ domains for copy policies.

Verifying Domain Mark Completed​

Run the following command on the source cluster to confirm a SyncIQ domain exists for each policy:

isi_classic domain list

The output should show a SyncIQ domain entry for every SyncIQ policy that has had Domain Mark run against it successfully. If any expected paths are missing from the output, repeat the Domain Mark procedure above for those paths.

Failover Planning

See where Domain Mark fits into the full pre-failover checklist, alongside training, benchmarking, and DNS validation.

See more

Failover Best Practices

Review DNS, SPN, DFS, and Access Zone design best practices alongside this Domain Mark procedure.

See more