Separating your HDD and SSD shelves in different stack is a performance best practice. That said, with only 2 shelves at play, placing them in the same stack has not significant performance impact. Each controller will have a direct SAS link to each shelf, if you properly cable the stack as multipath-HA (MP-HA). The docs show this configuration. That said, since the FAS8300 has 4 onboard SAS ports, why not future-proof your SAS storage for any future expansion?  Use 2 ports for the DS212C and the other 2 ports for the DS224C. If you need to add either HDD or SSD shelves, you can just hot-add them to the appropriate stack. ... View more

This is probably best handled by opening a technical case with NetApp Support. ... View more

Take a look at the NetApp Services Terms and Conditions, specifically Section 2.5 - Out-of-Scope Services and Section 4.6 - Equipment Relocation. https://www.netapp.com/how-to-buy/sales-terms-and-conditions/terms-with-customers/general-terms/services-terms/support-services-terms/    ... View more

You might find this Discord/NetApp channel thread interesting: https://discord.com/channels/855068651522490400/1397557792574935242 A step-by-step guide is provided by a trusted member. The X4013A NVMe SSDs are self-encrypting drives (SED). The fastest and best way to erase data on them is by using ONTAP "crypto sanitize" techniques (essentially shredding the key that the data was encrypted with). See KB: How to cryptographically sanitize a system with all self-encrypting disks (SEDs) If you are repurposing these drives, I would be careful with 3rd party erasure programs. They tend to screw up the boot sector and drive's block format - you end up potentially bricking the drive from an ONTAP perspective.  I have heard that Blancco software might have some awareness of NetApp's disk formats.     ... View more

It appears that you did not purchase NetApp-sourced drives. ONTAP requires specific custom formats and drive labeling for it to be considered supported.   As for the panic/disruption you see, see: Bug ID 1185571 - ONTAP disruption occurs when an unsupported hard disk drive (HDD) or solid-state disk (SSD) is detected ... View more

Partners can access Proposal Center resources on Partner Hub. ... View more

As the old saying goes... "drives can fail... stuff happens." Keep all of your drive and shelf firmware up-to-date for best reliability and resiliency of your storage subsystem. For internal drives in the AFF A250, you'll want to keep up-to-date with ONTAP (See Support Bulletin SU2) https://mysupport.netapp.com/site/downloads/firmware/disk-drive-firmware https://mysupport.netapp.com/site/downloads/firmware/disk-shelf-firmware   ... View more

Yes, support for the FAS2552 ended in January 2023. The last ONTAP version to support it was 9.8.   You might get some additional advice about using this hardware for "home lab" use from the NetApp Discord channel. I recommend joining it and asking your questions there. https://discord.com/channels/855068651522490400/1062049107096633454 ... View more

Mixing SAS and FSAS disks in the same aggregate is not supported ... View more

Are you sure your FAS2820 is 4xSSD + 10xHDD?  It's a 12-drive chassis, so it's really 4xSSD and 8xHDD. Anyway, Fusion is conservative, but it is a good tool to estimate performance at a somewhat granular workload configuration level.   You might get some additional advice from the NetApp Discord channel. I recommended joining it and asking your questions there. https://discord.com/channels/855068651522490400/1062049107096633454 I think there's still headroom in the FAS2820 for another shelf, if you add one. Don't be concerned over RAID group sizes - the RAID-DP maximum of 28 drives is always enforced. You simply create additional RAID groups to add to the aggregate (or just create new aggregates with the new storage, if you want). ... View more

Yes, the patch version's download page lists the specific fixes in that patch version of ONTAP.   To see a cumulative list of fixes between two ONTAP versions in general, we have this Bugs Online tool -- ONTAP - Release Bug Comparison.   Comparing 9.14.1 with 9.14.1P11 (fixed in 9.14.1P11): https://mysupport.netapp.com/site/bugs-online/release-comparison/product/ONTAP?version1=9.14.1&version2=9.14.1P11&type=fixed ... View more

The X66211B-5-C cable is a standards-based 5m 100GBASE-CR4 cable that we have formally tested with our hardware products. It is known to interoperate well with many switch vendor products.   Cisco switch software (NX-OS, iOS) is known for actively calling out transceivers and cables as "unsupported" if they are not Cisco-branded products. Furthermore, Cisco TAC might become less helpful if 3rd party cables are being used - often requiring a Cisco-branded part to be used to progress with troubleshooting.   Answer for #1:  The easiest path is to purchase Cisco cables, but that implies additional costs.  If you search for this issue on the Internet, a common solution is to run these commands to help with 3rd-party compatibility with Catalyst switches (Info from this Cisco Community Forum thread ) no errdisable detect cause gbic-invalid service unsupported-transceiver   Answer for #2 and #3: NetApp Hardware Universe provides formal compatibility information between storage systems and supported back-end (cluster, storage, MetroCluster) switches.   But, NetApp does not formally document cable compatibility for front-end data networking use-cases. We have a more flexible policy. Using 3rd party optics/cables is permitted, as long as they are similar in technology and compliant with applicable Ethernet standards. Generally, you would avoid active copper and active optical technologies, unless we specifically have our own solutions for them (per HWU). If using another vendor’s cables/optics, best to stick with ones that are approved by the device/switch vendor. In summary, for storage system front-end connectivity, the answer is “Try it – it might work.  YMMV”. From a hardware support perspective, the customer or switch vendor is responsible any component replacement. ... View more

Hardware Universe images and LED views will usually tell you which is port “a”.   PCIe Adapter cards always have the convention that the top port is the first or “a” port. “Top” is the port furthest away from the PCIe connectors (which is the “bottom”). When onsite, if a card is horizontal, the connectors will tell you which side (left or right) is “bottom”. Generally, for horizontal PCIe card slots, the riser is on the left, which means connectors are on the left. So, the “a” port is furthest to the right, “b” is to the left and so on. ... View more

I haven't seen this particular question, before.  Non-disruptive in-chassis HW upgrade is not supported - it would get hung up on seeing mixed controllers in the chassis, IMO. Thinking about it, it would have to be disruptive and you'd need to move any data off the FAS8300, first. Evacuate data off attached storage Unjoin FAS8300 (if applicable) Use parts of the "repurpose KB" workflow to init the FAS8300 and the attached storage (MSID 0x0 for encrypting drives, wipeclean, option 9a, etc.) Swap out the FAS8300 with FAS8700 controllers and recable Boot and init the FAS8700, create or join the cluster Move your data back. ... View more