ACQUISITION AND WRITE VALIDATION OF DATA OF A NETWORKED HOST NODE TO PERFORM SECONDARY STORAGE

Methods and a system to acquire and perform write validation of data generated by one or more networked host nodes to perform secondary storage are disclosed. According to one embodiment, a method to passively acquire and perform write validation of data generated by one or more networked host nodes to perform secondary storage in a SAN-based data storage and recovery network includes generating data to store in primary storage. The method further includes generating metadata describing the data generated to store in primary storage, sending the data and metadata to a primary SAN storage device, acquiring passive access to data traveling a data path between a generating node and the primary SAN storage device, the data mirrored over an access line to a secondary storage server. The method further includes receiving, at the secondary storage server, an exact copy of a data stream that passes a splitter.