zrepl/docs/configuration/replication.rst
Christian Schwarz 30cdc1430e replication + endpoint: replication guarantees: guarantee_{resumability,incremental,nothing}
This commit

- adds a configuration in which no step holds, replication cursors, etc. are created
- removes the send.step_holds.disable_incremental setting
- creates a new config option `replication` for active-side jobs
- adds the replication.protection.{initial,incremental} settings, each
  of which can have values
    - `guarantee_resumability`
    - `guarantee_incremental`
    - `guarantee_nothing`
  (refer to docs/configuration/replication.rst for semantics)

The `replication` config from an active side is sent to both endpoint.Sender and endpoint.Receiver
for each replication step. Sender and Receiver then act accordingly.

For `guarantee_incremental`, we add the new `tentative-replication-cursor` abstraction.
The necessity for that abstraction is outlined in https://github.com/zrepl/zrepl/issues/340.

fixes https://github.com/zrepl/zrepl/issues/340
2020-07-26 20:32:35 +02:00

48 lines
2.4 KiB
ReStructuredText

.. include:: ../global.rst.inc
Replication Options
===================
::
jobs:
- type: push
filesystems: ...
replication:
protection:
initial: guarantee_resumability # guarantee_{resumability,incremental,nothing}
incremental: guarantee_resumability # guarantee_{resumability,incremental,nothing}
...
.. _replication-option-protection:
``protection`` option
--------------------------
The ``protection`` variable controls the degree to which a replicated filesystem is protected from getting out of sync through a zrepl pruner or external tools that destroy snapshots.
zrepl can guarantee :ref:`resumability <step-holds>` or just :ref:`incremental replication <replication-cursor-and-last-received-hold>`.
``guarantee_resumability`` is the **default** value and guarantees that a replication step is always resumable and that incremental replication will always be possible.
The implementation uses replication cursors, last-received-hold and step holds.
``guarantee_incremental`` only guarantees that incremental replication will always be possible.
If a step ``from -> to`` is interrupted and its `to` snapshot is destroyed, zrepl will remove the half-received ``to``'s resume state and start a new step ``from -> to2``.
The implementation uses replication cursors, tentative replication cursors and last-received-hold.
``guarantee_nothing`` does not make any guarantees with regards to keeping sending and receiving side in sync.
No bookmarks or holds are created to protect sender and receiver from diverging.
**Tradeoffs**
Using ``guarantee_incremental`` instead of ``guarantee_resumability`` obviously removes the resumability guarantee.
This means that replication progress is no longer monotonic which might lead to a replication setup that never makes progress if mid-step interruptions are too frequent (e.g. frequent network outages).
However, the advantage and :issue:`reason for existence <288>` of the ``incremental`` mode is that it allows the pruner to delete snapshots of interrupted replication steps
which is useful if replication happens so rarely (or fails so frequently) that the amount of disk space exclusively referenced by the step's snapshots becomes intolerable.
.. NOTE::
When changing this flag, obsoleted zrepl-managed bookmarks and holds will be destroyed on the next replication step that is attempted for each filesystem.