Usually, replication occurs between two or more systems. The most common scenario for replication is a two-system environment in which one system is used for production activities and the other system is used as a backup system.
The terms production system and backup system are used to describe the role of a system relative to the way applications are used on that system. In an availability management context, a production system is the system currently running the production workload for the applications. In normal operations, the production system is the system on which the principal copy of the data and objects associated with the application exist. A backup system is the system that is not currently running the production workload for the applications. In normal operations, the backup system is the system on which you maintain a copy of the data and objects associated with the application. These roles are not always associated with a specific system. For example, if you switch application processing to the backup system, the backup system temporarily becomes the production system.
Typically, for normal operations in basic two-system environment, replicated data flows from the system running the production workload to the backup system. In a more complex environment, the terms production system and backup system may not be sufficient to clearly identify a specific system or its current role in the replication process. For example, if a payroll application on system CHICAGO is backed up on system LONDON and another application on system LONDON is backed up to the CHICAGO system, both systems are acting as production systems and as backup systems at the same time.
The terms source system and target system identify the direction in which an activity occurs between two participating systems. A source system is the system from which MIMIX replication activity between two systems originates. In replication, the source system contains the journal entries used for replication. Information from the journal entries is either replicated to the target system or used to identify objects to be replicated to the target system. A target system is the system on which MIMIX replication activity between two systems completes.
Because multiple instances of MIMIX can be installed on any system, it is important to correctly identify the instance to which you are referring. It is helpful to consider each installation of MIMIX on a system as being part of a separate network that is referred to as a MIMIX installation. A MIMIX installation is a network of systems that transfer data and objects among each other using functions of a common MIMIX product. A MIMIX installation is defined by the way in which you configure the MIMIX product for each of the participating systems. A system can participate in multiple independent MIMIX installations.
The terms management system and network system define the role of a system relative to how the products interact within a MIMIX installation. These roles remain associated with the system within the MIMIX installation to which they are defined. Typically one system in the MIMIX installation is designated as the management system and the remaining one or more systems are designated as network systems. A management system is the system in a MIMIX installation that is designated as the control point for all installations of the product within the MIMIX installation. The management system is the location from which work to be performed by the product is defined and maintained. Often the system defined as the management system also serves as the backup system during normal operations. A network system is any system in a MIMIX installation that is not designated as the management system (control point) of that MIMIX installation. Work definitions are automatically distributed from the management system to a network system. Often a system defined as a network system also serves as the production system during normal operations.