Creating AIM Sets
After you have created your AIM source and destination candidates and any AIM groups (if required) using SANmanager, and assigned a destination server, you are ready to create AIM sets by associating specific source virtual volumes with specific destination virtual volumes.
AIM allows mirroring between a single source virtual volume and single or multiple destination virtual volumes. Destination virtual volumes should be from different servers than the source servers. By matching the virtual volumes, data from a specific source will be transferred to the specific destinations that you assign.
In the instructions below, AIM sets are created using the New AIM Set dialog box, which allows one or multiple destinations to be assigned to a source virtual volume. Alternatively, you can use the Properties dialog box to assign a single destination to a source virtual volume, refer to AIM Set Properties.
Follow these steps on the AIM source server to create AIM sets:
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Navigate to SANcentral>Tools>AIM Source Manager.
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In the left pane, expand AIM Source Manager.
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In the left pane, select AIM Source Volumes and choose New AIM Set from the context menu.
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In the Configuration area of the New AIM Set dialog box, select the following from the pull-down menus: Source Volume, Destination Server, and Destination Volume.
CAUTION: Due to a new feature of Windows Server 2008, all newly discovered SAN volumes will be set Offline. After defining AIM destination virtual volumes, a loopback image of that virtual volume is created. Use DcsDiskInfo.exe (located in the SANsymphony folder) to locate your destination virtual volumes and make a note of the drive number. Open Server Manager>Storage>Disk Management and set the disks Online. (Do not Initialize them.)
If the disks are not online, the AIM destination will be unable to destage to the destination virtual volumes, resulting in errors in the Aim Destination log:
ERROR: AsynchReconstructFile WriteFileEx (%lu,%lu) failed (0×00000013)
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In the Automatic Setting area, select Flush, Snapshot, or Default Marker from the Type pull-down menu, if desired. Enter Start Time and Interval in the appropriate fields. Refer to Setting Up Services and Commands for more information.
The status of Automatic Settings configured for AIM sets can be viewed in the AIM Destination Manager.
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Click OK. You will see a message that configuration changes are automatically applied.
New data will automatically be prepared for an AIM transfer. Next, you must synchronize the AIM set. Refer to Initializing AIM Sets.