What’s new with Dell EMC AppSync Copy Management Software and PowerStore
Fri, 02 Sep 2022 13:54:20 -0000
|Read Time: 0 minutes
For those who don’t already know, Dell EMC AppSync is a software package that can simplify and automate the process of generating and consuming copies of production data. At a high-level, AppSync can perform end to end operations such as quiescing the database, snapping the volumes, and mounting and recovering the database. For many end users, these operations can be difficult without AppSync, because of different applications and storage platforms.
AppSync provides a single pane of glass and its workflows work the same, regardless of the underlying array or application. AppSync natively supports Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange, SAP HANA, VMware, and filesystems from various operating systems. The product also provides an extensible framework through plug-in scripts to deliver a copy data management solution for custom applications.
Customers use AppSync for repurposing data, operational recovery, and backup acceleration.
There are two primary workflows for AppSync:
- Protection workflows allow customers to schedule copy creation and expiration to meet service level objectives of operational recovery or backup acceleration.
- Repurposing workflows allow customers to schedule the creation and refresh of multi-generation copies.
Both workflows offer automated mount and recovery of the copy data.
AppSync is available as a 90-day full featured trial download, and provides two licensing options:
- The AppSync Basic license ships with all PowerStore systems.
- The AppSync Advanced license is fully featured and available for purchase with all Dell EMC primary arrays.
For supported configurations, see the AppSync support matrix. (You’ll need to create a Dell EMC account profile if you do not already have one.)
The latest version, AppSync 4.3 – released on July 13th, 2021 – contains many new features and enhancements, but in this blog I want to focus on the PowerStore system support and functionality. AppSync has supported PowerStore since version 4.1. Because PowerStore supports both licensing models mentioned above, testing it and implementing it into production is simple.
AppSync supports the discovery of both the PowerStore T and PowerStore X model hardware and multi-appliance clusters. The new PowerStore 500 is also supported: a low cost, entry level PowerStore system that can support up to 25 NVMe drives. Clustering the 500 model with other PowerStore 1000-9000 models is fully supported. For more details, check out the PowerStore 500 product page and the PowerStore Info Hub.
PowerStore 500
PowerStore can use both local and remote AppSync workflows: Protection and Repurposing. Production restore is supported for both local and remote. AppSync uses the PowerStore Snapshot and Thin Clone technologies embedded in the appliance, so copies are created instantly and efficiently. It also leverages PowerStore async native replication for remote copy management. (When replicating between two PowerStore systems, source to target, you can only have one target system.) The figure below shows how a PowerStore array is discovered in AppSync.
We have more sources of information about integrating AppSync and PowerStore. Here are some to get you started:
- Dell EMC PowerStore and AppSync Integration – This video shows how AppSync can automatically create remote application consistent copies on PowerStore for Microsoft SQL Server. (The configuration includes a PowerStore X model appliance at the source site, running AppSync and SQL Server virtual machines using PowerStore AppsON functionality. The remote site uses a PowerStore T model as the replication destination site.)
- Dell EMC PowerStore: AppSync – This white paper provides guidelines for integrating the two for copy management.
You can also find other AppSync related documents on the Dell Info Hub AppSync section.
We hope you have a great experience using these products together!
Author: Andrew Sirpis LinkedIn