Storage Replica: Frequently Asked Questions

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Updated: November 24, 2015

Applies To: Windows Server Technical Preview

Storage Replica Frequently Asked Questions

This topic contains answers to frequently asked questions about Storage Replica.

Is Storage Replica supported on Nano Server?

Yes.

Note

You must use the following Nano Server packages during setup:

  • Storage

  • EnableForwarders

  • EnableRemoteManagementPort

For more information about deploying Nano Server, see Getting Started with Nano Server.

Install Storage Replica on Nano Server using PowerShell remoting as follows:

  1. Set-Item WSMan:\localhost\Client\TrustedHosts "<IP address of Nano Server>"

  2. To start the remote Windows PowerShell session, start an elevated local Windows PowerShell session from your management computer, and then run these commands

    $ip = “<IP address of Nano Server>”

$user = “$ip\Administrator”

Enter-PSSession -ComputerName $ip -Credential $user

Enable-windowsfeature storage-replica

  3. Restart the Nano Server.

Using the Test-SRTopology cmdlet with Nano Server in Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview requires remote script invocation with CredSSP as follows:

Enable-WSManCredSSP -role server

Enable-WSManCredSSP Client -DelegateComputer <remote server name> 

$CustomCred = Get-Credential

Invoke-Command -ComputerName sr-srv01 -ScriptBlock { Test-SRTopology <commands> } -Authentication Credssp -Credential $CustomCred

How do I see the progress of replication during initial sync?

The Event 1237 messages shown in the Storage Replica Admin even log on the destination server show number of bytes copied and bytes remaining every 5 seconds. You can also use the Storage Replica performance counter on the destination showing \Storage Replica Statistics\Total Bytes Received for one or more replicated volumes. You can also query the replication group using Windows PowerShell. For instance, this sample command gets the name of the groups on the destination then queries one group named Replication 2 every 5 seconds to show progress:

Get-SRGroup 

while($true) {

 $v = (Get-SRGroup -Name "Replication 2").replicas | Select-Object numofbytesremaining
 [System.Console]::Write("Number of bytes remaining: {0}`r", $v.numofbytesremaining)

 Start-Sleep -s 5
}

Can I expand or shrink replicated volumes replicated by Storage Replica?

Not in Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview. You must remove replication, resize volumes, and then add replication back to the volumes. This may change in later releases.

Can I bring a destination volume online for read-only access?

Not in Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview. Storage Replica dismounts the destination volume and its drive letter or mount point when replication begins. This may change in later releases.

Can I specify specific network interfaces to be used for replication?

Not in Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview. This may change in later releases. You can use New-SmbMultichannelConstraint to prevent SMB from using certain networks, and this would include Storage Replica.

Can I configure one-to-many replication or transitive (A to B to C) replication?

Not in Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview. This release only supports one to one replication of a server, cluster, or stretch cluster node. This may change in later releases.

Can I configure non-CSV replication of Hyper-V virtual machines in a stretch cluster?

Yes, Storage Replica supports this scenario for Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview, but this guide does not specifically document steps. If removing replication from a non-CSV virtual machine PDR disk, do not first remove the virtual machine, as this will break the dependency chain of Storage Replica and prevent it from fully removing replication. Instead, first remove the replication, and then remove the virtual machine.

Can I configure Scale-out File Server (SOFS) in a stretch cluster?

While technically possible, this is not a supported configuration in Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview. This may change in later releases. If configuring cluster-to-cluster replication, Storage Replica fully supports Scale Out File Servers, including the use of Storage Spaces Direct.

Can I configure Storage Spaces Direct in a stretch cluster with Storage Replica

While technically possible, this is not a supported configuration in Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview. This may change in later releases. If configuring cluster-to-cluster replication, Storage Replica fully supports Scale Out File Servers and Hyper-V Servers, including the use of Storage Spaces Direct.

How do I configure asynchronous replication?

Specify New-SRPartnership –ReplicationMode and provide argument Asynchronous. By default, all replication in Storage Replica is synchronous. In Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview, the Set-SRPartnership cmdlet does not support changing replication mode.

How do I prevent automatic failover of a stretch cluster?

To prevent automatic failover, you can use Windows PowerShell to configure Get-ClusterNode –Name "NodeName").NodeWeight=0 . This removes the vote on each node in the disaster recovery site. Then you can use Start-ClusterNode –PreventQuorum on nodes in the primary site and Start-ClusterNode –ForceQuorum on nodes in the disaster site to force failover. There is no graphical option for preventing automatic failover, and preventing automatic failover is not recommended.

How do I disable virtual machine resiliency?

To prevent the new Hyper-V virtual machine resiliency feature from running and therefore pausing virtual machines instead of failing them over to the disaster recovery site, run (Get-Cluster).ResiliencyDefaultPeriod=0.

See Also