A company has an existing RecoverPoint configured for replication and now wanted to add an RPA node to the existing cluster. What is the impact on the existing replication while adding the RPA node?

The Dell RecoverPoint architecture is designed for high availability and scalability. Adding a RecoverPoint Appliance (RPA) node to an existing cluster is a standard scale-out procedure intended to increase system resources and performance. This operation is non-disruptive by design. The existing RPAs in the cluster continue to manage replication and data protection without interruption while the new RPA is being added and integrated into the cluster. Ongoing replication for existing Consistency Groups is not halted, paused, or otherwise impacted.

A. Consistency Groups need to be re-configured: Adding an RPA is an infrastructure-level change; it does not require modification of logical data protection policies like Consistency Groups.
B. Replication will be paused: The process is non-disruptive. Pausing replication would be a service interruption, which the system is designed to avoid during scaling operations.
C. Replication will be stopped: Stopping replication is a more severe interruption than pausing and is incorrect. The system maintains replication continuity throughout the node addition process.

1. Dell RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.3 Administrator's Guide. In the section "Managing RPAs," the subsection "Adding an RPA to a cluster" explicitly states: "You can add an RPA to an existing cluster to increase system resources. Adding an RPA is a non-disruptive operation." (Page 103)

2. Dell EMC RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines 5.3 Installation and Deployment Guide. The procedure for "Adding an RPA to an existing vRPA cluster" is detailed as a post-installation task. The nature of the procedure and the architecture it describes support the non-disruptive addition of nodes to an operational cluster without impacting data protection. (Chapter 5: Post-installation tasks, Page 85)