Overview
Microsoft recently announced the General Availability of Azure NetApp Files Cross Zone Replication.
Cross-zone replication enables you to replicate your Azure NetApp Files volumes asynchronously between Azure availability zones (AZs) within the same region. Here’s how it works:
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Efficient Data Transfer: Only changed blocks are sent over the network in a compressed format. This minimises data transfers and reduces replication time, allowing for a smaller Recovery Point Objective (RPO).
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Zone Failures Protection: Cross-zone replication helps safeguard your data from unforeseeable zone failures without relying on host-based data replication.
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Cost-Effective: Unlike cross-region replication, cross-zone replication doesn’t incur network transfer costs.
In summary, cross-zone replication is a reliable and cost-effective way to enhance data resilience within Azure. 😊🚀
Regional Availability
Azure NetApp Files (ANF) Cross Zone Replication is available in all Azure Regions with ANF where Availability Zones (AZs) are enabled. More details on AZs here.
Recovery Point Objectives
The Recovery Point Objective (RPO) defines the maximum allowable data loss after a recovery from a disaster or failure. It represents the point in time to which data can be recovered. Typically, the RPO target is less than twice the replication schedule, but it can vary based on factors like dataset size, change rate, data overwrites, and replication bandwidth.
In the context of cross-zone replication, there are three replication schedules: 10 minutes, hourly, and daily. Here are the typical RPOs for each schedule:
- 10-minute replication schedule: RPO is typically less than 20 minutes.
- Hourly replication schedule: RPO is typically less than two hours.
- Daily replication schedule: RPO is typically less than two days.
Note: Replication schedules of 10 minutes are not supported with ANF Large Volumes.
Summary
In summary, the Azure NetApp Cross Zone Replication feature provides a robust solution for disaster recovery across zones, ensuring your critical data remains safe, compliant, and easily recoverable. By replicating volumes between zones, you will be protected in the event of a zonal failure, reducing the time to recover and maintain service availability.
For more information, you can refer to the official Microsoft Learn Documentation
Additionally, check out What’s new in Azure NetApp Files for more updates on the service.