Looking for the best method to do this, maybe I'm missing something.
I have a 6TB database on a NETAPP San and we are moving to a NIMBLE San. Disk resources have been created and allocated on the same Physical machine.
I can't backup and restore the 6TB as would take too long as the downtime needs to be as little as possible i.e. max 2 to 3 hours.
The database is in simple mode so no log shipping. I've been advised by a third party that replication to the new disk is the way to go. (Comments welcome).
If going with replication how do I get the initial snapshot across to the 2nd drive? would the replication snapshot be the way forward for 6TB? I have 7 days to get them in sync before we swap drives across. I was thinking Async to start with the synchro just before we change to the new drive letter and change the drive allocation mappings?
I've read that Mirroring may be another way forward but again how to sync the initial snapshot?
The server is still on SQL2012 at the moment.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions or comments.
Kind Regards,
Ian