This book provides operational information and procedures for using Assure MIMIX Enterprise, Assure MIMIX Professional, or Assure MIMIX DR through the native user interface user interface. For simplicity, this book uses the term MIMIX to refer to the functionality provided unless a more specific name is necessary. Some topics may not apply to all products.
This book provides concepts, configuration procedures, and reference information for using Assure MIMIX Enterprise, Assure MIMIX Professional, or Assure MIMIX DR. For simplicity, this book uses the term MIMIX to refer to the functionality provided unless a more specific name is necessary. Concepts and reference information may also apply to Assure MIMIX for PowerHA. Some topics may not apply to all products.
This MIMIX version provides high availability for your critical data in a production environment on IBM® Power™ Systems through real-time replication of changes and the ability to quickly switch your production environment to a ready backup system. These capabilities allow your business operations to continue when you have planned or unplanned outages in your System i environment. MIMIX also provides advanced capabilities that can help ensure the integrity of your MIMIX environment.
Replication: MIMIX continuously captures changes to critical database files and objects on a production system, sends the changes to a backup system, and applies the changes to the appropriate database file or object on the backup system. The backup system stores exact duplicates of the critical database files and objects from the production system.
MIMIX uses two replication paths to address different pieces of your replication needs. These paths operate with configurable levels of cooperation or can operate independently.
The user journal replication path captures changes to critical files and objects configured for replication through a user journal. When configuring this path, shipped defaults use the remote journaling function of the operating system to simplify sending data to the remote system. In previous versions, MIMIX DB2 Replicator provided this function.
The system journal replication path handles replication of critical system objects (such as user profiles, program objects, or spooled files), integrated file system (IFS) objects, and document library object (DLOs) using the system journal. In previous versions MIMIX Object Replicator provided this function.
Configuration choices determine the degree of cooperative processing used between the system journal and user journal replication paths when replicating database files, IFS objects, data areas, and data queues.
Switching: One common use of MIMIX is to support a hot backup system to which operations can be switched in the event of a planned or unplanned outage. If a production system becomes unavailable, its backup is already prepared for users. In the event of an outage, you can quickly switch users to the backup system where they can continue using their applications. MIMIX captures changes on the backup system for later synchronization with the original production system. When the original production system is brought back online, MIMIX assists you with analysis and synchronization of the database files and other objects.
Automatic verification and correction: MIMIX assists in maintaining availability and switch-readiness in your replication environment by automatically detecting problems during replication, verifying replicated objects as well as configuration integrity with audits, and automatically attempting to correct any problems detected.
MIMIX is shipped with these capabilities enabled. Incorporated best practices for maintaining availability and switch-readiness are key to ensuring that your MIMIX environment is in tip-top shape for protecting your data. User interfaces allow you to fine-tune to the needs of your environment.
Analysis:MIMIX also provides advanced analysis capabilities through the Assure MIMIX portal application for the Assure Unified Interface. When using the Assure Unified Interface (Assure UI portal) from a web browser, it is easier to identify what is at risk should a switch be necessary, what would prevent a switch, and how long it may take to perform a planned switch. You can view a list of the objects replicated by MIMIX and a list of objects with detected problems or changes for which automatic recovery actions have been requested or are in progress. You can use reports to view which objects on a system are and are not identified to MIMIX configuration. You can also check historical arrival and backlog rates for replication to help you identify trends in your operations that may affect MIMIX performance.
Uses: MIMIX is typically used among systems in a network to support a hot backup system. Simple environments have one production system and one backup system. More complex environments have multiple production systems or backup systems. MIMIX can also be used on a single system.
You can view the replicated data on the backup system at any time without affecting productivity. This allows you to generate reports, submit (read-only) batch jobs, or perform backups to tape from the backup system. In addition to real-time backup capability, replicated databases and objects can be used for distributed processing, allowing you to off-load applications to a backup system.