Avamar Replication

Like Data Domain, Avamar replicates data that is deduplicated, so only new data is sent over the wire.  THe tools to perform replication are Avamar Administrator or also the CLI command "replicate."

Standard replication is similar to DD's directory or MTree replication in that specific data is selected and replicated to the secondary Avamar.  THis can be in a 1-to-1, many-to-one and bidirectional replication because the Avamar can be both source and destination of replicated data.  Full Copy replication is similar to DD's full copy.  It is also called "root-to-root" replication and does a complet copy of the source Avamar to the destination.  This can only be a one-to-one copy and all data is overwritten on the destination.

Standard replication, when configured, creates a special REPLICATE domain on the destination server.  Client backup, server state and config data are all replicated while incomplete backup jobs are not.  Restore can take place directly from the destination Avamar without needing to restore to the original Avamar.  It handles restore as a redirected restore from a client on the Avamar to a different client.

Full copy replication is typically only used in migrating from one Avamar to a new Avamar.  When full copy is used, the Client ID's are migrated also and the clients all appear to be registered with the new Avamar automatically.  The clients just need to be redirected to the new Avamar, and this can be accomplished using DNS.

Best practice dictates that a longer time-out window would be used during initialization to accommodate the large amount of data that needs to be transferred.  While there are options to "include" and "exclude" clients from replication it is recommended to only use them with extreme caution.  Once "include" settings are configured, no new clients will replicate without being specifically added to the list.

Replication is best configured to begin 1-2 hours after the backup commences to get the bulk of backup out of the way, and to end the replication before the blackout window begins.  Ensure there is adequate bandwidth to complete the replication within 4 hours of starting - replication will consume 60-80% of available bandwidth.