Patent ID: 7290017

Claim:
A method for managing data replication for data stored in a data storage environment, the method comprising the computer-executed steps of: providing a graphical user interface in communication with a first data replication management (DRM) agent which is in communication with a first data storage system, wherein the graphical user interface is configured for managing replication on the first data storage system by allowing a user to use the graphical user interface to a) communicate with the DRM agent, b) group logical volumes that are part of the first data storage system and which store at least some data for replication, and c) use replication policies that involve groupings of the logical volumes; wherein at least one of the logical volumes functions as a mirror, wherein the logical volumes involved in the data replication are grouped by the user using the graphical user interface into increasing levels of granularity ordered by (i) a lower level of order that is logical device groups, (ii) a next higher level of order above logical device groups that is replication groups and which includes logical device groups, (iii) a next higher level of order above replication groups that is host groups and which includes replication groups, and (iv) a next higher level of order above host groups that is application groups and which includes host groups.