Product Overview
If you have a business-critical application and want to ensure that the application recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs) are met, you need Unisys Business Continuity Accelerator software.
Business Continuity Accelerator software ensures continuous availability of applications and data by accelerating and automating the process of relocating an application workload and its associated data from a primary server to an alternate server. The software then reinitiates the execution of those applications on an alternate server.
Automation reduces the time, the required skill level, and the risk of human error associated with redeploying a workload running on a primary server to an alternate server. Automation also makes the process repeatable and predictable.
Business Continuity Accelerator can also help you reduce the number of servers dedicated to business continuity by repurposing a server as necessary—for example, from test and development. By reducing the number of idle business continuity servers, this solution reduces costs, optimizes resources, and ensures greater risk protection.
The primary and alternate servers are active participants in a “constellation.” A constellation is a group of ClearPath MCP servers or partitions capable of transferring or assuming workloads among themselves.
You can use Business Continuity Accelerator software in a variety of situations to ensure continuous availability of critical applications and data. For instance, you can
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Relocate a workload to an alternate server in a remote data center as a result of a disaster.
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Move a workload to an alternate server while the primary server is unavailable because of maintenance or upgrade activities.
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Migrate a workload to a new system or application software release while providing a secure fallback position.
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Permanently move a workload onto a newly purchased server.
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Relocate a server environment to another physical server as needed for purposes such as testing, modeling, or backup.
If you have a ClearPath MCP server with several partitions, Business Continuity Accelerator software can help you develop and execute a customized business continuity plan for each partition.
General Features
Business Continuity Accelerator software provides a one-button solution for business continuity, eliminating the need for multiple product interfaces to develop and execute a business continuity plan.
Developing a Business Continuity Plan
Business Continuity Accelerator software includes the Business Continuity Manager (SYSTEM/BCMGR) utility, which guides you through the development of your business continuity plan and generates tailored scripts based on your needs and configuration. These scripts automate execution of the plan when needed.
You can use Business Continuity Accelerator software to build a customized solution with other products in the ClearPath MCP business continuity product portfolio. These products include
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Remote Database Backup
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EMC Symmetrix Remote Data Facility (SRDF)
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EMC MirrorView
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SAN Mirror Disk Manager
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SAN StoreSafe Manager
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SAN Spare Disk Manager
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SMA OpCon
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Disaster recovery image enablers
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Metered Business Continuance workloads
You can use Business Continuity Accelerator software to relocate a workload between partitions within the same cabinet or to an alternate server in a remote data center thousands of miles away. Although the Business Continuity Accelerator software has no distance limitations, you need to know the distance ranges supported by your storage replication solutions.
Business Continuity Accelerator supports three-host configurations, which allows for both a local and remote disaster recovery (DR) site for a single production host. A three-host configuration requires two replicated copies of the data set.
You can select the data replication mode—synchronous or asynchronous—that is most appropriate for your application.
When your business continuity requirements change, when a server configuration changes, or when more storage is added, you can use the Business Continuity Manager utility to generate new automation scripts.
Business Continuity Accelerator enables you to perform non-disruptive DR tests without having to interrupt either the production server or the DR server. This is accomplished by using EMC replication Business Continuance Volumes (BCVs) for failovers.
Executing a Business Continuity Plan
When a business continuity plan is executed—as part of a test or in response to a real event—the Business Continuity Accelerator software
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Automatically detects a failed server.
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Notifies administrators of the need for attention by using multiple event notification schemes, including e-mail and instant messaging to mobile devices.
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Offers administrators a choice to
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Accept or reject the automatic transfer of the workload to an alternate server.
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Optionally provide for an automatic transfer after a defined amount of time has transpired with no administrative acceptance or rejection.
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If the decision is made to transfer the workload to an alternate server, the administrator enters a single command, and the Business Continuity Accelerator software uses previously generated scripts to respond as follows:
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Automatically manages the transfer of the primary server resources including
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Storage subsystem
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Software license keys
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Image enablers that control server performance
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Halt/load parameters
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USERDATAFILE contents
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Network addresses and the host name identity
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Halt/loads the alternate server using a copy of the primary server halt/load unit.
Users can continue to perform useful work until the primary server is restored.
When the primary server becomes available, the system administrator can issue a single command to cause the Business Continuity Accelerator software to reverse its actions, thus redeploying the workload and associated resources to the primary server.
Advantages
Business Continuity Accelerator software eliminates the need for system operators to perform a series of manual operations, such as
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Halt both systems using Server Control.
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Make the disk drives normally used by the primary server available to the alternate server using products such as EMC Navisphere or EMC Control Center.
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Make partition configuration changes using LOADER.
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Change halt/load units and load a partition using Server Control.
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Deal with the DEAD 431 system stop related to host-based mirrored halt/load units.
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Copy the SYSTEM/KEYSFILE from the primary server to the alternate server using Native File Transfer or using tape or CD-ROM media.
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Activate Image Enabler performance keys using the system console.
Configuration Requirements
Primary and alternate ClearPath MCP servers must be configured with image enablers, MCP operating environments, and network adapters as well as a network connection between them. In addition, the alternate server must be configured with adequate disaster recovery, emergency recovery, or business continuance capacity to assume the workload of the primary server.
Two networked storage subsystems must be configured with a data replication capability.
Your Unisys representative can identify the specific hardware and software components required to deploy the Unisys Business Continuity Accelerator in your installation.
Ordering Information
Contact your Unisys representative to order the Unisys Business Continuity Accelerator.
The Business Continuity Accelerator product includes System Assistant.
Source code is not available for this product.
Product Information
Refer to the following documents for more information:
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Business Continuity Installation and Operations Guide (8600 2953)
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System Assistant Operations and Programming Guide (8600 0825)
