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Disk-to-Disk

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Getting Started » Disk-to-Disk

This is a simple one server, two disks configuration, mirroring Volume X on Server A to Volume Y on Server A. The volumes that are used for Disk-to-Disk replication can’t also be configured to replicate to another system. *Disk to Disk does not support mirrors…

Windows Server 2012 Specific Issues

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Troubleshooting » Known Issues and Workarounds » Windows Server 2012 Specific Issues

For issues related to Windows Server 2012, see the following topics: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Windows Server 2012 MMC Snap-in Crash Windows Server 2012 iSCSI Target Role Does…

Bitlocker Does Not Support DataKeeper

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Troubleshooting » Restrictions » Bitlocker Does Not Support DataKeeper

According to Microsoft, Bitlocker is not supported to work with Software RAID configurations. Since DataKeeper is essentially a software RAID 1, Microsoft does not support Bitlocker working with DataKeeper. Note: EFS (Encrypting File System) and TDE (Transparent Disk…

Windows Server 2012 iSCSI Target Role Does Not Support Dynamic Disks

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Troubleshooting » Known Issues and Workarounds » Windows Server 2012 Specific Issues » Windows Server 2012 iSCSI Target Role Does Not Support Dynamic Disks

Description The iSCSI Target Role only supports DataKeeper Volumes that are mirrors of Simple Volumes placed on Basic Disks. If any of your mirrors are using volumes such as Striped or Spanned volumes on a Dynamic Disk on either the source or target system, then you…

Creating Other Server Resource in WSFC

NO TOC » SIOS Protection Suite for Windows » Clustering » Creating Other Server Resource in WSFC

When creating an Other Server resource in WSFC, you will be prompted for a storage resource (DataKeeper resource) twice. You will check the first one, but do not need to check the second dialog. Click the “checkbox” for the first dialog “Select…

Windows Server 2012 NIC Teaming Issue

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Troubleshooting » Known Issues and Workarounds » Windows Server 2012 Specific Issues » Windows Server 2012 NIC Teaming Issue

If you use the NIC Teaming feature of Windows Server 2012, Windows 2012 will report only one adapter MAC address for the license. If you have many underlying adapters, the MAC address will arbitrarily change and Windows may pick one of the adapters that may no longer…

Windows Server 2012 MMC Snap-in Crash

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Troubleshooting » Known Issues and Workarounds » Windows Server 2012 Specific Issues » Windows Server 2012 MMC Snap-in Crash

Description When using the DataKeeper user interface (MMC Snap-in) on Windows Server 2012, the mmc.exe process may crash unexpectedly due to an internal .Net or Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) issue. The error may show up on the screen and/or the event…

Using Disk Management

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Administration » Using Disk Management

When using the Windows Disk Management utility to access SIOS DataKeeper volumes, please note the following: Using Disk Management to delete partitions that are being mirrored is not supported. Deleting a partition that is part of a SIOS DataKeeper mirror will yield…

Installing and Using DataKeeper Cluster Edition on Windows Server 2008 R2 / 2012 Core Platforms

NO TOC » SIOS Protection Suite for Windows » Clustering » Installing and Using DataKeeper Cluster Edition on Windows Server 2008 R2 / 2012 Core Platforms

Prepare the servers. Install Windows Server 2008 R2/2012 Core on two servers, configure IP, join a domain, configure firewall for remote administration, configure the server for remote access and install the Failover Cluster feature. Server Core Installation…

N-Shared-Disk Replicated to N-Shared-Disk

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Getting Started » N-Shared-Disk Replicated to N-Shared-Disk

This configuration replicates data between sites where each site utilizes shared storage. Note that the number of systems in the Primary Site does not have to equal the number of systems in the Remote Site. Also note that only the Source Server has access to the…

Using Microsoft iSCSI Target With DataKeeper on Windows 2012

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Using Microsoft iSCSI Target With DataKeeper on Windows 2012

The following topics will guide you in setting up Microsoft iSCSI Target with DataKeeper via the user interface. *NOTE: This configuration is not supported in a VMware ESX environment. …

N-Shared-Disk Replicated to Multiple N-Shared-Disk Targets

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Getting Started » N-Shared-Disk Replicated to Multiple N-Shared-Disk Targets

This is a complex configuration which combines the aspects of replicating a shared storage environment to multiple shared targets. Example: USE CASE Users who wish to provide the same level of availability in their DR site will deploy this…

DataKeeper Components

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Introduction » DataKeeper Components

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows is comprised of the following components: DataKeeper Driver (ExtMirr.sys) – The DataKeeper Driver is a kernel mode driver and is responsible for all mirroring activity between the mirror endpoints. DataKeeper Service…

N-Shared-Disk Replicated to One

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Getting Started » N-Shared-Disk Replicated to One

This configuration allows you to replicate the shared volume(s) of the primary site to a remote system across the network. This configuration is ideal for providing local failover within the Primary Site and disaster recovery protection should the entire Primary…

DataKeeper Volume Resize

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Working With Mirrors » DataKeeper Volume Resize

DataKeeper allows users to extend and shrink their DataKeeper volumes dynamically while retaining mirror settings. Once the resize is complete, a partial resync will be performed. Note: This resize procedure should be performed on only one volume at a time. !WARNING …

DataKeeper Notification Icon

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » DataKeeper Notification Icon

The DataKeeper Notification Icon is an application that will show a summary of your DataKeeper mirrors in the Windows Notification Tray. The icon displayed indicates what conditions have been detected, with the following priority. Error: An error condition, such as…

DataKeeper Target Snapshot

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » DataKeeper Target Snapshot

Overview DataKeeper’s target snapshot feature, integrated with both DataKeeper and DataKeeper Cluster Edition, is the process of creating point in time copies of replicated volumes allowing access to data on a standby cluster node without interrupting data…

DataKeeper User Guide

NO TOC » SIOS Protection Suite for Windows » DataKeeper » DataKeeper User Guide

The topics in this section are designed to be a reference for you as you get started using SIOS DataKeeper, helping you identify the type of configuration you are interested in implementing and providing detailed instructions for effectively using your SIOS DataKeeper…

Using DKCE to Enable Multi-Site File Share Resources with Windows Server 2008R2 WSFC

NO TOC » SIOS Protection Suite for Windows » Clustering » Using DKCE to Enable Multi-Site File Share Resources with Windows Server 2008R2 WSFC

Use the following procedure to protect File Share resources using SIOS DataKeeper and Microsoft Failover Cluster (WSFC). *IMPORTANT NOTE: DataKeeper Cluster Edition registration with Failover Cluster is automatic and occurs 60 seconds after detecting a Failover…

Primary Server Shutdown

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Administration » Primary Server Shutdown

On a graceful shutdown of the source server, all pending writes to the target are completed. This ensures that all data is present on the target system. On an unexpected source server failure, the Intent Log feature eliminates the need to do a full resync after the…

Secondary Server Failures

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Administration » Secondary Server Failures

In the event there is a failure affecting the secondary (target) system, the affected mirror is marked Paused. It is necessary to correct the condition that caused the secondary to fail and then resync the volumes. There are no write attempts made to the target after…

Setting Up SIOS DataKeeper

NO TOC » SIOS Protection Suite for Windows » DataKeeper » Setting Up SIOS DataKeeper

Follow these steps to start using SIOS DataKeeper: Connect to the servers you wish to configure for replication. You can select Connect to Server from the Action pull down menu, right-click on the job folder in the left panel tree display and select Connect to…

Setting Up SIOS DataKeeper

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Setup » Setting Up SIOS DataKeeper

Setting Up SIOS DataKeeper Follow these steps to start using SIOS DataKeeper: Connect to the servers you wish to configure for replication. You can select Connect to Server from the Action pull down menu, right-click on the job folder in the left panel tree…

SIOS DataKeeper Intent Log

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Introduction » Understanding Replication » SIOS DataKeeper Intent Log

SIOS DataKeeper uses an intent log (also referred to as a bitmap file) to track changes made to the source, or to target volume during times that the target is unlocked. This log is a persistent record of write requests which have not yet been committed to both…

DataKeeper Volume Resize Restriction

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Troubleshooting » Restrictions » DataKeeper Volume Resize Restriction

The DataKeeper volume resize procedure should be performed on only one volume at a time.

DataKeeper Event Log Notification

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Administration » DataKeeper Event Log Notification

The Event Log notification is a mechanism by which one or more users may receive email notices when certain events occur. The Windows Event Log can be set up to provide notifications of certain DataKeeper events that get logged. *Note: This option is only available…

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows

Your information resource for SIOS DataKeeper Standard Edition SIOS Technology Corp. maintains documentation for all supported versions of SIOS DataKeeper Standard Edition. We welcome your suggestions and feedback. To help us continue to improve our documentation,…

Setup of iSCSI Initiator on Windows 2012

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Using Microsoft iSCSI Target With DataKeeper on Windows 2012 » Setup of iSCSI Initiator on Windows 2012

Once the virtual disks/targets are created, each of the cluster servers must initiate a connection to them via Microsoft’s iSCSI Initiator. From “Administrator Tools” in “Server Manager”, start “iSCSI Initiator”. Select the “Targets” tab and…

Connecting to a Server

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Setup » Connecting to a Server

Use this dialog to connect to the server of your choice. You may enter the IP address, system NetBIOS name or the full system domain name for the server. Click Connect to select it.

Disconnecting from a Server

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Setup » Disconnecting from a Server

Use this dialog to disconnect from a server. You may use this option if you no longer wish to view the server in the Administration Window. From the list of servers, select the server(s) that you wish to disconnect from and click Disconnect.

Uninstalling SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition

NO TOC » DataKeeper Cluster Edition Installation Guide » Uninstalling SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition

Before Removing DataKeeper If planning to uninstall DataKeeper and reinstall a previous version, all jobs/mirrors must be deleted on each node prior to uninstalling. These will need to be recreated once software is reinstalled. Uninstall DataKeeper Cluster…

Upgrading SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition

NO TOC » DataKeeper Cluster Edition Installation Guide » Upgrading SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition

Upgrading DataKeeper Cluster Edition from previous versions of DataKeeper Cluster Edition is very straightforward. Simply run the installation process outlined below on all systems. The upgrade process stops the DataKeeper Service, copies the new files to the…

DataKeeper Cluster Edition Technical Documentation

NO TOC » DataKeeper Cluster Edition Technical Documentation

SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition Introduction

NO TOC » DataKeeper Cluster Edition Technical Documentation » SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition Introduction

SIOS DataKeeper Overview DataKeeper with High Availability – Cluster Edition Overview SIOS DataKeeper is a highly optimized host-based replication solution which ensures your data is replicated as quickly and as efficiently as possible from your source server…

DataKeeper Cluster Edition Release Notes

NO TOC » DataKeeper Cluster Edition Release Notes

SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition Release Notes Version 8.6.2 (Version 8 Update 6 Maintenance 2) Important!! Read This Document Before Attempting To Install Or Use This Product! This document contains last minute information that must be considered before, during…

DataKeeper Cluster Edition Installation Guide

NO TOC » DataKeeper Cluster Edition Installation Guide

The DataKeeper Cluster Edition Installation Guide contains information on how to install and license your Cluster Edition software. Once you have completed the steps in this guide, you will be ready to configure your Cluster resources. The DataKeeper Cluster Edition…

Using DKPwrShell with SIOS DataKeeper

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Administration » Using DKPwrShell with SIOS DataKeeper

SIOS DataKeeper includes a powershell module (DKPwrShell) that allows a user to manipulate a DataKeeper mirror using Microsoft Powershell. Commands are passed to a SIOS DataKeeper service and will fail if the service is not running. With Microsoft Powershell v3 or…

Using EMCMD with SIOS DataKeeper

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Administration » Using EMCMD with SIOS DataKeeper

The EMCMD utility that ships with SIOS DataKeeper provides users with a command line method to manipulate the mirror. Because these scripts run in situations where the “normal” validation rules may not apply, EMCMD does not perform the same kinds of sanity…

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Quick Start Guide

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Quick Start Guide

This topic provides step-by-step instructions for installing and configuring DataKeeper Standard Edition. The series of steps includes links into the documentation that describe each step in detail. Prerequisites and Installation Read the SIOS Protection Suite for…

Server Login Accounts and Passwords Must Be Same on Each Server in the Cluster

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Troubleshooting » Known Issues and Workarounds » Server Login Accounts and Passwords Must Be Same on Each Server in the Cluster

The DataKeeper GUI cannot connect to the target server in a cluster if server Login Accounts and Passwords are different on each server. Error Message An Error Code 1326 will appear in the Application log (Note: The Error Code may also be a 2 with Event ID…

DataKeeper Service Log On ID and Password Selection

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Introduction » DataKeeper Components » DataKeeper Service Log On ID and Password Selection

During a new DataKeeper installation setup, the user will be prompted for a DataKeeper Service Log On ID and Password. The DataKeeper Service uses authenticated connections to perform volume switchovers and make mirror role changes across multiple servers. The Log On…

DataKeeper Service Log On ID and Password Selection

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Configuration » DataKeeper Service Log On ID and Password Selection

During a new DataKeeper installation setup, the user will be prompted for a DataKeeper Service Log On ID and Password. The DataKeeper Service uses authenticated connections to perform volume switchovers and make mirror role changes across multiple servers. The Log On…

Using DataKeeper Cluster Edition to Enable Multi-Site Hyper-V Clusters

NO TOC » SIOS Protection Suite for Windows » Clustering » Using DataKeeper Cluster Edition to Enable Multi-Site Hyper-V Clusters

Prerequisite Familiarity with Microsoft Windows Server, Microsoft Windows Failover Cluster Server Management and Hyper-V Virtual Management procedures and commands is highly recommended. Note: DataKeeper ClusterCluster Edition does not support Cluster Shared Volumes;…

Extending a Traditional 2-Node Cluster to a Shared-Replicated Configuration

NO TOC » SIOS Protection Suite for Windows » Clustering » Extending a Traditional 2-Node Cluster to a Shared-Replicated Configuration

Add a Shared Node Using Windows Server 2008R2 or 2012 When using Windows Server 2008R2 or 2012, a 1×1 2-Node replicated cluster using DataKeeper Volumes can be extended to a 2×1 shared and replicated 3-Node cluster by using either of the following…

Using SIOS DataKeeper Standard Edition To Provide Disaster Recovery For Hyper-V Virtual Machines

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Using SIOS DataKeeper Standard Edition To Provide Disaster Recovery For Hyper-V Virtual Machines

Considerations When preparing a Hyper-V environment that spans subnets, subnetting may need to be taken into consideration for any applications that are running inside the virtual machine. Some applications “hard code” IP addresses into their…

Creation of iSCSI Virtual Disks

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Using Microsoft iSCSI Target With DataKeeper on Windows 2012 » Creation of iSCSI Virtual Disks

Perform the following on the primary server, wherever the iSCSI Target server is online at the moment. From Server Manager, navigate to File and Storage Services and select iSCSI. Click on the link “To create an iSCSI virtual disk, start the New iSCSI Virtual Disk…

Switchover in an N-Shared x N-Shared Configuration

NO TOC » SIOS Protection Suite for Windows » Clustering » Switchover in an N-Shared x N-Shared Configuration

In a multi-shared storage environment between two sites (as shown in the diagram below), each server in each site has access to the storage being shared between the servers at that site. When a DataKeeper mirror is created, one server in each site will be designated…

Mirror Creation and Cluster Configuration

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Using Microsoft iSCSI Target With DataKeeper on Windows 2012 » Mirror Creation and Cluster Configuration

Create your DataKeeper volumes and your cluster. See Creating a DataKeeper Volume Resource in WSFC for reference. *IMPORTANT: The iSCSI Target Role only supports DataKeeper Volumes that are mirrors of Simple Volumes placed on Basic Disks. If any of your mirrors are…

Troubleshooting

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Troubleshooting

The topics in this section contain important information about known issues and restrictions offering possible workarounds and/or solutions. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Known Issues…

Known Issues and Workarounds

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Troubleshooting » Known Issues and Workarounds

Included below are known issues open against DataKeeper as well as possible workarounds and/or solutions. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Access to Designated Volume Denied Failed to…

Network Bandwidth

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Configuration » Network Bandwidth

Because DataKeeper can replicate data across any available network, special consideration must be given to the question, “Is there sufficient bandwidth to successfully replicate the volume and keep the mirror in the mirroring state as the source volume is updated…

Getting Started

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Getting Started

Choose Your Configuration DataKeeper can be utilized in a number of different configurations to facilitate a number of different functions including: Provide a second physical copy of your data Extend an existing WSFC cluster to a remote DR site Review the…

AWS Issues and Workarounds

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » FAQs » AWS Issues and Workarounds

Question What is the best practice for shutting down clustered VMs in AWS? Answer If shutting down the primary source node, all cluster roles depending on a SIOS DataKeeper Volume Resource should be placed in the Offline state. Also make sure all mirrors are in the…

Sector Size

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Configuration » Sector Size

Beginning with DataKeeper Version 7.2.1, disks with sector size not equal to 512 bytes are supported. However, DataKeeper requires that the mirror source volume be configured on disk(s) whose sector size is the same as the disk(s) where the mirror target is configured.…

High-Speed Storage Best Practices

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Configuration » High-Speed Storage Best Practices

Configure Bitmaps If the DataKeeper default bitmap location (%ExtMirrBase%\Bitmaps) is not located on high-speed storage, you should move the bitmaps to a high-speed storage device in order to eliminate I/O bottlenecks with bitmap access. To do this, allocate a small…

Firewall Configurations

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Configuration » Firewall Configurations

SIOS DataKeeper cannot function properly if the firewall settings for the source and target machines are not configured correctly. This means you will need to configure a rule for inbound and outbound connections on each server running SIOS DataKeeper as well as any…

Administration

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Administration

The topics in this section provide detailed instructions for performing DataKeeper administration tasks. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DataKeeper…

Performance Monitor Counters

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Introduction » Understanding Replication » Performance Monitor Counters

SIOS DataKeeper provides counters that extend Performance Monitor with statistics about the status of mirroring on volumes. The counters are installed during the full installation of SIOS DataKeeper software. To access the counters, do the following: On a…

Network Disconnect

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » FAQs » Network Disconnect

Scenario #1 In a 2-Node, non-clustering configuration (1×1) replicating a 100TB volume between Source server and Target server over a WAN connection, the network goes down for twenty minutes. Question In this scenario, what would happen to the Mirror State with…

Non-mirrored Volume Resource

NO TOC » SIOS Protection Suite for Windows » Clustering » Non-mirrored Volume Resource

A non-mirrored volume resource is a DataKeeper resource where no data is replicated to any node in the cluster. This resource type should only be used where the data is temporary and/or non-critical such as MS SQL Server tempdb space. In this case, when MS SQL restarts…

Error Messages Log

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » FAQs » Error Messages Log

Question Where does DataKeeper log error messages? Answer DataKeeper events are logged in the Windows Application Event Log and the Windows System Event Log. Here is a breakdown of the messages you can look for. Application Event Log: Source = ExtMirrSvc –…

User Guide

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide

The topics in this section are designed to be a reference for you as you get started using SIOS DataKeeper, helping you identify the type of configuration you are interested in implementing and providing detailed instructions for effectively using your SIOS DataKeeper…

Licensing

NO TOC » SIOS Protection Suite for Windows » SIOS Protection Suite Installation Guide » Installing SIOS Protection Suite » Licensing

Obtaining and Installing the License DataKeeper Cluster Edition requires a unique license for each server. The license is a run-time license which means that you can install it without the license, but the license must be installed before you can successfully start…

New-DataKeeperMirror

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Administration » Using DKPwrShell with SIOS DataKeeper » New-DataKeeperMirror

This cmdlet is used to create a new DataKeeper mirror. Mirrors created with this cmdlet will be visible in the DataKeeper SnapIn (Reports > Server Overview). If a job exists that includes information that matches this mirror (systems, IP Addresses, Volumes, and Sync…

Awareness of Windows Filenames and Directory Names

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » FAQs » Awareness of Windows Filenames and Directory Names

Question Is SIOS DataKeeper aware of Windows filenames and directory names? Answer SIOS DataKeeper is implemented with a Windows kernel mode filter driver that sits above the physical disk driver but below the file system. As a result, the SIOS DataKeeper driver…

ISPOTENTIALMIRRORVOL

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Administration » Using EMCMD with SIOS DataKeeper » ISPOTENTIALMIRRORVOL

EMCMD ISPOTENTIALMIRRORVOL This command checks to determine if a volume is a candidate for mirroring. The command may only be run on the local system. The parameters are: This should be the local system. The drive letter of the…

Read and Write Operations

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Introduction » Understanding Replication » Read and Write Operations

After the volume mirror is created and the two drives on the primary and secondary servers are synchronized, the following events occur: The system locks out all user access to the target volume; reads and writes are not allowed to the target volume. The source…

Safe Creation of a Shared-Storage Volume Resource

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Configuring Mirrors » Safe Creation of a Shared-Storage Volume Resource

DataKeeper allows mirrors to be created on shared volumes where more than one system has access to the same physical storage. The shared volume can be on the source side of the mirror or on the target side. Note: Dynamic disks are not supported with Shared Storage…

DKCE Support Matrix

NO TOC » DKCE Support Matrix

Server Components Supported Operating System v8.0.0 v8.0.1 v8.1.0 v8.2.0 v8.2.1 v8.3.0 v8.4.0 v8.5.0 v8.5.1 v8.6.0 v8.6.1 Note: The operating system versions listed…

Split-Brain FAQs

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » FAQs » Split-Brain FAQs

Scenario I am using DataKeeper in a non-cluster environment. I am mirroring from Server1 at one site to Server2 at a second site. Communication is broken due to site-to-site VPN, and I need to fail over from Server1 to Server2. I cannot access Server1 from anywhere.…

Using Volume Shadow Copy

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » FAQs » Using Volume Shadow Copy

Question Can Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) be Used with DataKeeper Volumes? Answer VSS Shadow Copy can be enabled for DataKeeper volumes. However, the following guidelines apply: VSS snapshot images must not be stored on a DataKeeper volume. Storing VSS snapshots on…

User Interface – Shows Only One Side of the Mirror

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Troubleshooting » Known Issues and Workarounds » User Interface – Shows Only One Side of the Mirror

If the SIOS DataKeeper UI shows a volume as a source and its corresponding target as available or a volume as a target with the corresponding source volume as available, you can use the command line utility to force an update to the SIOS DataKeeper GUI or delete the…

Reclaim Full Capacity of Target Drive

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » FAQs » Reclaim Full Capacity of Target Drive

Question How do I reclaim the full capacity of my target drive when I no longer need it for mirroring? Answer The file system on the target drive is overlaid by SIOS DataKeeper, thereby making it smaller than the actual partition size. Although Disk Management…

Registry Entries

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Administration » Registry Entries

The following registry entries are associated with the SIOS DataKeeper service or driver and can be viewed using Regedt32. The first section contains entries that may be modified; the second section contains entries that are for viewing only and should not be…

New-DataKeeperJob

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Administration » Using DKPwrShell with SIOS DataKeeper » New-DataKeeperJob

This cmdlet is used to create a DataKeeper job consisting of two nodes. Jobs created using this cmdlet will be added to the DataKeeper SnapIn the next time it is loaded. Parameters Parameter Type Required Position Notes JobName …

Inability to Create a Mirror

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » FAQs » Inability to Create a Mirror

Question Why can’t I create a mirror? Answer The common cause of this problem is that the volume on either source or target is in use by another process. Stop the process that is accessing the volume and try again. The SIOS DataKeeper software requires…

Installation of the iSCSI Target

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Using Microsoft iSCSI Target With DataKeeper on Windows 2012 » Installation of the iSCSI Target

From the Server Manager menu, select “Add Roles and Features” from the “Manage” drop-down. Select the “Role-based or feature-based installation” option. From the list of servers presented, select the appropriate server. On the…

Volume Considerations

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Introduction » Understanding Replication » Volume Considerations

SIOS DataKeeper primary and secondary systems have three types of volumes: system, non-mirrored and mirrored. During mirroring operations, system and non-mirrored volumes are not affected and the user has full access to all applications and data on these…

Volumes Unavailable for Mirroring

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » FAQs » Volumes Unavailable for Mirroring

Question Why are some of my volumes not available for mirroring? Answer The SIOS DataKeeper service filters out the following types of disk partitions: Windows system volume Volume(s) that contain the Windows pagefile Non-NTFS formatted volumes (e.g. FAT,…

Resynchronization

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Introduction » Understanding Replication » Resynchronization

SIOS DataKeeper Resynchronization SIOS DataKeeper performs resynchronization through the use of a bitmap file (intent log). It allocates memory that is used to keep track of “dirty” or “clean” blocks. When a full resync begins, SIOS DataKeeper…

Mirroring with Dynamic Disks

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Troubleshooting » Known Issues and Workarounds » Mirroring with Dynamic Disks

When changing from a Basic Disk to a Dynamic Disk, the underlying volume GUID may be changed by the OS upon reboot. This will cause a DataKeeper mirror to break. Suggested Action When mirroring with dynamic disks, your dynamic volumes should be created and a reboot…

Creating Mirrors With Shared Volumes

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Configuring Mirrors » Creating Mirrors With Shared Volumes

In order to properly configure DataKeeper in a shared volume configuration, use the DataKeeper GUI to connect to all systems where the shared volumes are configured. When connected, the DataKeeper GUI uses hardware signatures to automatically detect which volumes are…

Unable to Determine Previous Install Path

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Troubleshooting » Known Issues and Workarounds » Unable to Determine Previous Install Path

Installation – Fatal Error: Unable to Determine Previous Install Path Error/Message Fatal Error: Unable to determine previous install path. DataKeeper cannot be uninstalled or reinstalled. Description When performing a “Repair” or…

Network Adapter Settings

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Configuration » Network Adapter Settings

DataKeeper requires that “File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks” be enabled on the network interfaces to make a NAMED PIPE connection and be able to run DataKeeper’s command line tool (EMCMD). To test if you can make a Named Pipe connection,…

Introduction

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Introduction

SIOS DataKeeper Overview SIOS DataKeeper is a highly optimized host-based replication solution which ensures your data is replicated as quickly and as efficiently as possible from your source server across the network to one or more target servers. Features Some…

Components

NO TOC » DataKeeper Cluster Edition Technical Documentation » SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition Introduction » Components

DataKeeper Components SIOS DataKeeper for Windows is comprised of the following components: DataKeeper Driver (ExtMirr.sys) – The DataKeeper Driver is a kernel mode driver and is responsible for all mirroring activity between the mirror…

Add-DataKeeperJobPair

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Administration » Using DKPwrShell with SIOS DataKeeper » Add-DataKeeperJobPair

This cmdlet will add a node pair to an existing DataKeeper Job. It is used to expand the nodes and volumes contained within an existing job. For example, if a job exists for a volume between nodes A and B, and you want to add node C, run AddDataKeeperJobPair…

Switchover and Failover with Multiple Targets

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Configuring Mirrors » Switchover and Failover with Multiple Targets

In a multiple target configuration, it is important to understand how DataKeeper mirrors will work in the following scenarios: Manual switchover to a target server Source server failure followed by a manual switchover to a target server Example: In the…

Switching Over a Mirror

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Working With Jobs » Switching Over a Mirror

The Switchover Mirror function enables you to switch over all the mirrors in a job or just one of the mirrors in a job. A “mirror” includes all variants for mirrors such as standard single-target replication and complex geometries such as multi-target…

One-to-One

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Getting Started » One-to-One

This is a simple one source, one target configuration, mirroring Volume X across the network. In addition to providing a second physical copy of the data, DataKeeper also provides the ability to switch over the mirror which allows the data to become active on the…

Unextending a Hierarchy

NO TOC » SIOS Protection Suite for Windows » Administration » Working With Resource Hierarchies » Unextending a Hierarchy

The Unextend Resource Hierarchy option removes a complete hierarchy, including all of its resources, from a single server. This is different than the Delete Resource Hierarchy selection which removes a hierarchy from all servers. When using Unextend Resource…

CREATEMIRROR

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Administration » Using EMCMD with SIOS DataKeeper » CREATEMIRROR

EMCMD CREATEMIRROR [options] This command creates a mirror between two machines, using the same drive letter on each. The parameters are: This is the IP address of the source system (see Note below). This is the drive letter…

One-to-Many (Multiple Targets)

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Getting Started » One-to-Many (Multiple Targets)

This configuration involves one primary (source) system replicating one (or more) volume(s) to two different target systems across the network. This is referred to as a multiple target configuration. Note that there are two mirrors that are completely independent…

Jobs

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Working With Jobs » Jobs

For ease of use and configuration, SIOS DataKeeper does much of its management of mirrors through an entity called a job. A job is a logical grouping of related mirrors and servers. This feature allows you to create a job for complex repetitive tasks and run them…

Restrictions

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Troubleshooting » Restrictions

Included below are restrictions associated with DataKeeper and DataKeeper Cluster Edition as well as possible workarounds and/or solutions. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Bitlocker…

Setup

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Setup

Setting Up SIOS DataKeeper Follow these steps to start using SIOS DataKeeper: Connect to the servers you wish to configure for replication. You can select Connect to Server from the Action pull down menu, right-click on the job folder in the left panel tree…

Mirror Properties

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Working With Mirrors » Mirror Properties

Select a job in the Job Summary pane and right-click to choose Mirror Properties. This dialog displays the following information about the job, source and target systems: Job Name State (current state of the job; for example, Active) Source…

Many-to-One

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » User Guide » Getting Started » Many-to-One

This configuration involves multiple source servers replicating one (or more) volumes to the same target system. In this configuration, each volume being replicated to the target server must have a unique drive letter. Note: This is actually two One-to-One…

WAN Considerations

SIOS DataKeeper for Windows Technical Documentation » Configuration » WAN Considerations

Replicating data across the network to a remote server located miles away from the source server is the most common use of DataKeeper. Typically, this configuration relies on a WAN of some sort to provide the underlying network that DataKeeper uses to replicate the…