HCP Replications Test

Replication is the process of keeping two or more Hitachi Content Platform systems in sync with each other. The replication service on each system automatically copies selected Hitachi Content Platform tenants and namespaces and default-namespace directories to one or more of the other systems to form replication topology. Both configuration information and namespace content are copied.

Replication enables Hitachi Content Platform to support cloud storage model, where any type of client request can be serviced equally by any system in the topology. If the systems are in geographically disperse locations, each system may be able to provide faster data access for some applications than the other systems can, depending on where the applications are running.

If a system in replication topology fails, other systems in the topology can both provide continued namespace availability and serve as sources for disaster recovery. This test monitors this replication process and reports bottlenecks (if any). The test tracks the status of the link between any two Hitachi Content Platform systems, and reports if the link is suspended. Replication latencies can be proactively detected by continuously monitoring the rate of data transfer and replication operations reported by this test. Also, by periodically reporting the count of objects that are yet to be replicated and their size, the test reveals whether/not objects are getting replicated at a steady pace.

Target of the test : Hitachi Content Platform

Agent deploying the test : A remote agent

Outputs of the test : One set of results for the target Hitachi Content Platform.

Configurable parameters for the test
Parameter Description

Test period

How often should the test be executed.

Host

The IP address of the target switch that is being monitored.

SNMPPort

The port at which the monitored target exposes its SNMP MIB; the default is 161.

SNMPVersion

By default, the eG agent supports SNMP version 1. Accordingly, the default selection in the SNMPversion list is v1. However, if a different SNMP framework is in use in your environment, say SNMP v2 or v3, then select the corresponding option from this list.

SNMPCommunity

The SNMP community name that the test uses to communicate with the switch. This parameter is specific to SNMP v1 and v2 only. Therefore, if the SNMPVersion chosen is v3, then this parameter will not appear.

Username

This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. SNMP version 3 (SNMPv3) is an extensible SNMP Framework which supplements the SNMPv2 Framework, by additionally supporting message security, access control, and remote SNMP configuration capabilities. To extract performance statistics from the MIB using the highly secure SNMP v3 protocol, the eG agent has to be configured with the required access privileges – in other words, the eG agent should connect to the MIB using the credentials of a user with access permissions to be MIB. Therefore, specify the name of such a user against this parameter.

AuthPass

Specify the password that corresponds to the above-mentioned Username. This parameter once again appears only if the SNMPversion selected is v3.

Confirm Password

Confirm the AuthPass by retyping it here.

AuthType

This parameter too appears only if v3 is selected as the SNMPversion. From the AuthType list box, choose the authentication algorithm using which SNMP v3 converts the specified username and password into a 32-bit format to ensure security of SNMP transactions. You can choose between the following options:

  • MD5 - Message Digest Algorithm
  • SHA - Secure Hash Algorithm
  • SHA224 - Secure Hash Algorithm 224 bit
  • SHA256 - Secure Hash Algorithm 256 bit
  • SHA384 - Secure Hash Algorithm 384 bit
  • SHA512 - Secure Hash Algorithm 512 bit

EncryptFlag

This flag appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. By default, the eG agent does not encrypt SNMP requests. Accordingly, the this flag is set to No by default. To ensure that SNMP requests sent by the eG agent are encrypted, select the Yes option.

EncryptType

If the EncryptFlag is set to Yes, then you will have to mention the encryption type by selecting an option from the EncryptType list. SNMP v3 supports the following encryption types:

  • DES - Data Encryption Standard
  • 3DES - Triple Data Encryption Standard
  • AES - Advanced Encryption Standard
  • AES128 - Advanced Encryption Standard 128 bit
  • AES192 - Advanced Encryption Standard 192 bit
  • AES256 - Advanced Encryption Standard 256 bit

EncryptPassword

Specify the encryption password here.

Confirm Password

Confirm the encryption password by retyping it here.

Timeout

Specify the duration (in seconds) within which the SNMP query executed by this test should time out in this text box. The default is 10 seconds.

Data Over TCP

By default, in an IT environment, all data transmission occurs over UDP. Some environments however, may be specifically configured to offload a fraction of the data traffic – for instance, certain types of data traffic or traffic pertaining to specific components – to other protocols like TCP, so as to prevent UDP overloads. In such environments, you can instruct the eG agent to conduct the SNMP data traffic related to the monitored target over TCP (and not UDP). For this, set this flag to Yes. By default, this flag is set to No.

EngineID

This parameter appears only when v3 is selected as the SNMPVersion. Sometimes, the test may not report metrics when AES192 or AES256 is chosen as the Encryption type. To ensure that the test report metrics consistently, administrators need to set this flag to Yes. By default, this parameter is set to No.

Measurements made by the test
Measurement Description Measurement Unit Interpretation

Replication status

Indicates the current replication status of the Hitachi Content Platform system.

 

The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below:

Measure Value

 Numeric Value
Replicating 0
Not replicating 1

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate the current replication status of the Hitachi Content Platform system.

Is link suspended?

Indicates whether/not the link between two Hitachi Content Platform systems is suspended.

 

The values reported by this measure and its numeric equivalents are mentioned in the table below:

Measure Value

 Numeric Value
Yes 1
No 2

Note:

By default, this measure reports the Measure Values listed in the table above to indicate whether/not the link between two Hitachi Content Platform systems is suspended.

Pending objects

Indicates the number of objects yet to be replicated.

Number

A low value is desired for these measures.

 

 

 

 

Pending data

Indicates the size of objects pending replication.

MB

Data transfer

Indicates the rate at which data was transferred during replication.

MB/sec

Operations

Indicates the rate of replication operations.

Operations/sec

Errors

Indicates the rate of replication errors.

Errors/sec