topic Re: 7 or cluster mode in ONTAP Discussions

7 or cluster mode

saranraj456 — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 06:30:52 GMT

Hi friends,

In terms of high availability and business continuance ,Which is better Ontap 8.0 7 mode or cluster mode ?

Thanks,

Saran

7 or cluster mode

saranraj456 — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 06:16:52 GMT

And also one more thing,is it possible to use the cluster mode as a 7-mode?

Thanks.

Saran

Re: 7 or cluster mode

radek_kubka — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:44:21 GMT

Hi Saran,

This is a type of question: "how long is the piece of string"? HA & BC is normally a feature of an end-to-end solution, which may, or may not be limited to IT elements - storage is just a part of it.

Or are you asking whether 7-Mode or Cluster-Mode is more "robust"? Again, I doubt anyone can give you a definite answer.

If we do a poll, then I vote for 7-Mode, as this is in my view still more mature & field-proven product (no doubt C-Mode will catch up over time).

Regards,

Radek

Re: 7 or cluster mode

radek_kubka — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:45:15 GMT

You've lost everyone with this question I am afraid - can you elaborate a bit more?

Re: 7 or cluster mode

scottgelb — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:09:03 GMT

Both run the same hardware so from a failure rate on the hardware side it is the same (Cluster Mode does have back-end switches, but don't see that affecting uptime). This is a good discussion to have with your NetApp team to see which mode fits best for you. In the not to distant future we will see mostly Cluster Mode so whether to go there now or later is the question, but 7-mode isn't going anywhere for a while and the migration paths are there to move to cluster-mode. Either way, you can't go wrong with the proven hardware and Data ONTAP.

Re: 7 or cluster mode

saranraj456 — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 04:03:11 GMT

Hi Radek,

I have gone through the Diff between 7 mode and cluster in NCDA boot camp material .There the features of 7-mode is mentioned like "Provide HA & BC".

What i am thinking from the structure of both the modes .I believe the cluster mode would be best in the two terms as it was grouped by large no .of storage clusters.

Please help me to get the right solution.

Thanks,

Saran