This book describes Mirror Activator™, which allows you to combine the benefits of transaction replication and disk replication, thereby eliminating the disadvantages of using either system alone in a disaster recovery solution.The Mirror Activator solution includes the following Sybase software products:
Mirror Replication Agent™
Replication Server®
Enterprise Connect™ Data Access (ECDA) Option for Oracle and the ECDA Option for ODBC
This book is for anyone who needs to manage or administer a Mirror Activator system. This may include:
System administrators
Database administrators
Network administrators
This book is organized as follows:
Chapter 1, “Introduction to Mirror Activator” provides an overview of replication solutions for disaster recovery, and introduces the Mirror Activator solution and the Mirror Replication Agent component.
Chapter 2, “Setting Up and Configuring Mirror Activator” describes how to set up and configure the Mirror Replication Agent, and other software components of the Mirror Activator system.
Chapter 3, “Administering Mirror Replication Agent” describes administrative tasks and procedures for the Mirror Replication Agent.
Chapter 4, “Troubleshooting Mirror Replication Agent” describes basic troubleshooting and system recovery procedures.
Appendix A, “Materializing Databases in a Mirror Activator system” describes how to materialize the databases in a Mirror Activator system.
Appendix B, “Failover and Failback with Mirror Activator” describes procedures for failover and failback in a Mirror Activator system.
Mirror Activator Refer to the following documents to learn more about Mirror Activator:
Mirror Replication Agent Reference Manual – for information about all Mirror Activator commands and configuration parameters, including syntax, examples, and detailed command usage notes.
Mirror Replication Agent Primary Database Guide – for detailed, database-specific information about each non-Sybase database that is supported by Mirror Activator.
Mirror Activator Quick Start Guide – for instructions on how to install and configure a sample replication environment using the Mirror Activator components.
Mirror Replication Agent Installation Guide – for information about installing Mirror Activator software.
Mirror Replication Agent Release Bulletin – for last-minute information that was too late to be included in the books.
A more recent version of the Mirror Replication
Agent Release Bulletin may be available on the World
Wide Web. To check for critical product or document information
that was added after the release of the product CD, use the Sybase
Technical Library Web site.
Replication Server Refer to the following documents for more information about transaction replication systems and the Replication Server software:
Replication Server Administration Guide for an introduction to Replication Server support for warm standby applications
Replication Server Design Guide – for an introduction to basic transaction replication concepts and Sybase replication technology.
Replication Server Heterogeneous Replication Guide – for detailed information about configuring Replication Server and implementing a Sybase replication system with non-Sybase databases.
Primary data server Make sure that you have appropriate documentation for the non-Sybase primary data server that you use with the Sybase replication system.
Java environment Mirror Replication Agent requires a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) on the Mirror Replication Agent host machine.
The Mirror Replication Agent Release Bulletin contains the most up-to-date information about Java and JRE requirements.
Java documentation available from your operating system vendor describes how to set up and manage the Java environment on your platform.
Use the Sybase Getting Started CD, the SyBooks CD, and the Sybase Product Manuals Web site to learn more about your product:
The Getting Started CD contains Release Bulletins and installation guides in PDF format, and may also contain other documents or updated information not included on the SyBooks CD. It is included with your software. To read or print documents on the Getting Started CD, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can download at no charge from the Adobe Web site using a link provided on the CD.
The SyBooks CD contains product manuals and is included with your software. The Eclipse-based SyBooks browser allows you to access the manuals in an easy-to-use, HTML-based format.
Some documentation may be provided in PDF format, which you can access through the PDF directory on the SyBooks CD. To read or print the PDF files, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Refer to the SyBooks Installation Guide on the Getting Started CD, or the README.txt file on the SyBooks CD for instructions on installing and starting SyBooks.
The Sybase Product Manuals Web site is an online version of the SyBooks CD that you can access using a standard Web browser. In addition to product manuals, you can find links to EBFs/Maintenance, Technical Documents, Case Management, Solved Cases, newsgroups, and the Sybase Developer Network.
To access the Sybase Product Manuals Web site, go to Product Manuals.
Technical documentation at the Sybase Web site is updated frequently.
Finding the latest information on product certifications
Point your Web browser to Technical Documents.
Click Certification Report.
In the Certification Report filter select a product, platform, and timeframe and then click Go.
Click a Certification Report title to display the report.
Finding the latest information on component certifications
Point your Web browser to Availability and Certification Reports.
Either select the product family and product under Search by Base Product; or select the platform and product under Search by Platform.
Select Search to display the availability and certification report for the selection.
Creating a personalized view of the Sybase Web
site (including support pages)
Set up a MySybase profile. MySybase is a free service that allows you to create a personalized view of Sybase Web pages.
Point your Web browser to Technical Documents.
Click MySybase and create a MySybase profile.
Finding the latest information on EBFs and software
maintenance
Point your Web browser to the Sybase Support Page.
Select EBFs/Maintenance. If prompted, enter your MySybase user name and password.
Select a product.
Specify a time frame and click Go. A list of EBF/Maintenance releases is displayed.
Padlock icons indicate that you do not have download authorization for certain EBF/Maintenance releases because you are not registered as a Technical Support Contact. If you have not registered, but have valid information provided by your Sybase representative or through your support contract, click Edit Roles to add the “Technical Support Contact” role to your MySybase profile.
Click the Info icon to display the EBF/Maintenance report, or click the product description to download the software.
The following style conventions are used in this book:
In a sample screen display, commands that you should enter exactly as shown appear like this:
ra_version
In the regular text of this document, variables or user-supplied words appear like this:
Specify the value option to change the setting of the configuration parameter.
In a sample screen display, variables or words that you should replace with the appropriate value for your site appear like this:
resume connection to pds.pdb
Here, pds and pdb are the variables you should replace.
In the regular text of this document, names of programs, utilities, procedures, and commands appear like this:
Use the pdb_init command to initialize the primary database.
In the regular text of this document, names of database objects (tables, columns, stored procedures, and so on) appear like this:
Check the price column in the widgets table.
In the regular text of this document, names of datatypes appear like this:
Use the date or datetime datatype.
In the regular text of this document, names of files and directories appear like this:
Log files are located in the $SYBASE/MA-15_2/inst_name/log directory.
The following syntax conventions are used in this book:
Key |
Definition |
|---|---|
{ } |
Curly braces indicate that you must choose at least one of the enclosed options. Do not type the braces when you enter the command. |
[ ] |
Brackets mean that choosing one or more of the enclosed options is optional. Do not type the brackets when you enter the command. |
( ) |
Parentheses are to be typed as part of the command. |
| |
The vertical bar means you can select only one of the options shown. |
, |
The comma means you can choose as many of the options shown as you like, separating your choices with commas that you type as part of the command. |
In reference sections of this document, statements that show the syntax of commands appear like this:
ra_config [param[, value]]
The words param and value in the syntax are variables or user-supplied words.
The following character case conventions are used in this book:
All command syntax and command examples are shown in lowercase. However, Mirror Replication Agent command names are not case-sensitive. For example, RA_CONFIG, Ra_Config, and ra_config are equivalent.
Names of configuration parameters are case-sensitive. For example, Scan_Sleep_Max is not the same as scan_sleep_max, and the former would be interpreted as an invalid parameter name.
Database object names are not case-sensitive in Mirror Replication Agent commands. However, if you need to use a mixed-case object name in a Mirror Replication Agent command (to match a mixed-case object name in the primary database), you must delimit the object name with quote characters. For example:
pdb_get_tables "TableName"
This document is available in an HTML version that is specialized for accessibility. You can navigate the HTML with an adaptive technology such as a screen reader, or view it with a screen enlarger.
Mirror Replication Agent 15.2 and the HTML documentation have been tested for compliance with U.S. government Section 508 Accessibility requirements. Documents that comply with Section 508 generally also meet non-U.S. accessibility guidelines, such as the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) guidelines for Web sites.
You might need to configure your accessibility tool
for optimal use. Some screen readers pronounce text based on its
case; for example, they pronounce ALL UPPERCASE TEXT as initials,
and MixedCase Text as words. You might find it helpful to configure
your tool to announce syntax conventions. Consult the documentation
for your tool.
For information about how Sybase supports accessibility, see Sybase Accessibility. The Sybase Accessibility site includes links to information on Section 508 and W3C standards.
For a Section 508 compliance statement for Mirror Replication Agent 15.2, see Sybase Accessibility.
Each Sybase installation that has purchased a support contract has one or more designated people who are authorized to contact Sybase Technical Support. If you cannot resolve a problem using the manuals or online help, please have the designated person contact Sybase Technical Support or the Sybase subsidiary in your area.
