Remote Copy over FC (RCFC) network transport requirements

The physical connections between all storage systems used with Remote Copy over FC (RCFC) are through an FC-capable network. Each link between storage systems is a physical link between a controller node on one storage system and a controller node on the other storage system in the configuration.

To use an FC network for Remote Copy, the following requirements must be met.

  • A minimum of two storage systems that are supported for Remote Copy over FC.

    TIP:

    RCFC can link two HPE Primera systems, but not an HPE Primera system and an HPE 3PAR system. HPE Primera OS 4.1 or later is required on each system.

  • A minimum of two links from two different nodes for each storage system in the Remote Copy configuration. You can have multiple RCFC ports configured per node.

    Utilizing like node pairs (such as 0/1, 2/3) on each storage system is highly recommended, but is not a requirement.

  • A minimum of one pair of FC HBAs for each storage system. There must be enough ports available to accommodate separate port usage for FC host connectivity and RCFC link connectivity. Ports for RCFC cannot be shared with ports for FC host I/O. The HBA pair is required for load sharing and fault tolerance. The HBAs in each storage system connect those systems through FC SAN using FC cable connections.

  • FC SAN is used to connect the storage systems (direct connect FC is not supported).

  • Fabric zoning. The RCFC ports on the source and target storage systems must be zoned one-to-one. The zone cannot be shared with other RCFC ports on the storage systems. Only two ports per zone are allowed. Each zone must contain one port from the primary site and a second port from the secondary site.

    For example, Zone 1 contains ports 0:3:3 from System1 and System2. Zone 2 contains ports 1:3:3 from System1 and System2. No other ports are configured for those zones.

  • Requirements in the SAN Design Reference Guide are met.