Multi-site storage solutions play a crucial role in ensuring high availability and disaster recovery for block storage solutions. While many customers prefer 2 site deployments for file storage, utilizing either stretched clustering or asynchronous replication, the trend is shifting towards increased adoption of stretched clustering among IBM Storage Scale customers. However, the practice of implementing 3 or 4 site deployments for comprehensive high availability and disaster recovery remains uncommon for file based storage solutions.

IBM Storage Scale's Active File Management based Asynchronous Disaster Recovery (AFM-DR) offers remarkable versatility but is not widely combined with stretched clustering for multi-site deployments. This document aims to illustrate the seamless integration of IBM Storage Scale stretched clustering with AFM-DR to support 3 or 4 site deployments, ensuring both high availability and disaster recovery.

The content delves into essential concepts often overlooked during the deployment of IBM Storage Scale stretched clusters. It also highlights the process of seamless failover and failback between sites using AFM-DR. This guide is intended for anyone involved in the assessment, management, operation, or design of a 3 or 4 site IBM Storage Scale solution tailored for both high availability and disaster.