Overview File System Replication – OCI

This article describes File Storage replication and provides details on how to replicate the data in one file system to another file system in the same region or a different region.

Limitations and Considerations

Your tenancy must be subscribed to the destination region for cross-region replication.

• When you enable cross-region replication for a file system, the process includes an initial sync of the data from the source file system to the target file system. This sync can take hours, depending on the amount of data written to the file system.

• You can configure up to three replication jobs for each file system.

• You can’t use replication to migrate data from an on-premises location to OCI.

• Only a file system that has never been exported can be used as a target file system. If you want to use a previously exported file system as a target, first create a clone of the file system. Then, you can use the clone as a target.

Source Region	Target Region
Australia East (Sydney)	Australia Southeast (Melbourne)
Australia Southeast (Melbourne)	Australia East (Sydney)
Brazil East (Sao Paulo)	Brazil Southeast (Vinhedo) Chile (Santiago)
Brazil Southeast (Vinhedo)	Brazil East (Sao Paulo)
Canada Southeast (Montreal)	Canada Southeast (Toronto)
Canada Southeast (Toronto)	Canada Southeast (Montreal)
Chile (Santiago)	Brazil East (Sao Paulo)
France Central (Paris)	France South (Marseille) Italy Northwest (Milan)
France South (Marseille)	France Central (Paris) Italy Northwest (Milan) Spain Central (Madrid)
Germany Central (Frankfurt)	Netherlands Northwest (Amsterdam) Sweden Central (Stockholm) Switzerland North (Zurich)
India South (Hyderabad)	India West (Mumbai)
India West (Mumbai)	India South (Hyderabad)
Israel Central (Jerusalem)	UK South (London)
Italy Northwest (Milan)	France South (Marseille) France Central (Paris)
Japan Central (Osaka)	Japan East (Tokyo)
Japan East (Tokyo)	Japan Central (Osaka) Singapore (Singapore)
Mexico Central (Queretaro)	US West (Phoenix)
Netherlands Northwest (Amsterdam)	Germany Central (Frankfurt)
Saudi Arabia West (Jeddah)	UAE East (Dubai)
Singapore (Singapore)	Japan East (Tokyo)
South Africa Central (Johannesburg)	UK South (London)
South Korea Central (Seoul)	South Korea North (Chuncheon)
South Korea North (Chuncheon)	South Korea Central (Seoul)
Spain Central (Madrid)	France South (Marseille)
Sweden Central (Stockholm)	Germany Central (Frankfurt)
Switzerland North (Zurich)	Germany Central (Frankfurt)
UAE Central (Abu Dhabi)	UAE East (Dubai)
UAE East (Dubai)	Saudi Arabia West (Jeddah) UAE Central (Abu Dhabi)
UK South (London)	UK West (Newport) Israel Central (Jerusalem) South Africa Central (Johannesburg)
UK West (Newport)	UK South (London)
US Midwest (Chicago)	US East (Ashburn) US West (Phoenix)
US East (Ashburn)	US Midwest (Chicago) US West (Phoenix)
US West (Phoenix)	US East (Ashburn) US Midwest (Chicago) US West (San Jose) Mexico Central (Queretaro)
US West (San Jose)	US West (Phoenix)

Cost Considerations for Replication

After you enable replication for a file system, the file system is replicated to a target file system in the specified region and availability domain. File Storage is metered for your total capacity stored on disk for both the source and target file systems. Source and target file systems are priced at the same rate.

Your bill includes any applicable network costs for the replication process between regions. As part of the replication process, all data is updated on the source file system is transferred to the file system replica, so file systems with continual updates incur higher network costs. There is no additional charge for cross-availability domain bandwidth within the same region or inbound data transfer.

Many replication scenarios use a clone of an original source or target file system. Cloning the source from the last completely applied snapshot ensures that the source and target are compatible. You can also choose to use a new file system for failback. However, using a clone of the original source file system tends to be faster and more cost-effective than using a new file system.

How Replication Works

To enable File Storage replication, you create a replication resource attached to the source file system. The replication resource specifies the target file system to replicate to and how often the data is replicated. The location of the target file system can be in the same or different availability domain as the source file system, in the same or different region.

Only a file system that has never been exported can be used as a target file system. After the replication resource is created, the target file system is read-only and updated only by replication.

Data updates to the source file system are asynchronously replicated to the target file system.

Replicated data in the target file system has the same file and folder structure, snapshots, metadata, and permissions settings as the source file system. File system-specific data such as file locks, encryption keys, and tags are not replicated. Clones of the source file system are not replicated. Keys and tags for the target file system must be configured separately.

The Replication Process

The replication resource creates a special replication snapshot in the source file system. Then, it transfers the snapshot to the replication target resource, which writes the new data to the target file system. The last completed replication snapshot remains in the source and target file system until the next interval. At the next interval, the replication process automatically deletes the old replication snapshots and creates a new one. The replication process repeats at the specified interval as long as the replication is in effect.

In this diagram, File System A in the primary availability domain is replicated to File System B.

The replication captures the delta of data written to File System A in a replication snapshot.

Then, the data is transferred from the replication resource to the replication target resource and copied to File System B.

I will prepare a post on how to implement this feature.

Hope this helps you!!!

Disclaimer: “The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent may actual employer positions, strategies or opinions. The information here was edited  to be useful for general purpose, specific data and identifications was removed to allow reach generic audience and to be useful