about remove hard-disks from NetApp AFF-A250 storage for physical relocation of NetApp storage

[Rocky35018]

Dear all,

There is one NetApp AFF-A250 storage which contain 2 nodes.

There are 8 hard-disks among the 2 nodes, with each node containing 4 hard-disks.

The software version of NetApp AFF-A250 storage = NetApp Release 9.12.1 P2

The NetApp AFF-A250 storage will be physically relocated from one location to another location.

Would it be advisable to remove the eight hard-disks from the NetApp AFF-A250 storage system to reduce its weight during the physical relocation of the NetApp storage ?

Then, we can add the 8 hard-disks into the NetApp AFF-A250 storage after physical relocation.

Thanks very much !

[TMACMD · Accepted solution]

You should be ok. You do want to leave something in every slot for chassis stability, either a disk or a blank. 
plus they are a solid state, no moving parts to worry about

[SpindleNinja]

Can't say I've ever done it,  but it's doable.  

Though, can 8 drives really save that much weight?  rough math using hwu info show's it about 7oz a drive x 8 drives 56oz / 3.5 lbs.   on a system that weights ~50lbs. 

[Sanaman]

You can relocate them with the disks, we did relocate one last year (B site of a metro). As long as professionally un-racked and re-racked (for continued NetApp support)

[ShivendraPsingh]

AFF A250 system running ONTAP 9.12.1P2, it is not advisable to remove the internal hard disks during physical relocation unless explicitly instructed by NetApp support or the relocation procedure requires it.

Here’s why:

 Why Disk Removal Is Not Recommended During Relocation
1. Internal Disk Configuration: The AFF A250 contains internal NVMe SSDs. These are tightly integrated with the system and not designed for routine removal like external shelf drives.
2.System ID and Disk Ownership: Removing disks can lead to system ID mismatches and ownership issues when reinstalled, especially in HA pairs. This can complicate the boot process and require manual reassignment of disks.
3. Risk of Damage or Misalignment: Handling NVMe SSDs improperly during removal or reinsertion can cause physical damage or misalignment, affecting system performance or causing failure.
4. Weight Consideration: The AFF A250 is designed to be relocated as a unit. The weight reduction from removing 8 SSDs is minimal and does not justify the risk.

Recommended Procedure for Relocation
NetApp recommends relocating the system with all components intact, including disks. You should:

• Power down the system properly.
• Follow rack and cabling guidelines.
• Use anti-static and shock-protection measures.
• Reconnect and verify disk ownership post-relocation using tools like Active IQ Config Advisor.

[TMACMD]

Ok. Let me set everyone straight here. Please

For regular ONTAP clusters

 ONTAP really REALLY doesn’t care which slot which drive is it. It never has. All the way back to the beginning of WAFL/ONTAP.  ONTAP boots off the boot media. It then loads ONTAP which ultimately will go out to all storage paths available (SAS or Ethernet on current systems), discover all available storage devices, read the disk labels, logically “organize” them and makes all is well with every RAID group of every aggregate (including spares). 

WAFL has always relied on labels on every single drive. Around 7-mode 6.0, software ownership happened which means the location means even less!

 Is it good to shuffle around? 

If you need or want automatic disk assignment then you really need to be cognizant of placement at least as far as the drives are shelf/bay/stack/etc. the auto assign policy depends on disk location

 there won’t be any ownership issues as long as all drives are back, inserted and online. 

SSDs do not have any moving parts. What’s to misalign? The carrier? Certainly not the device

Metro cluster is a different beast and I think there are some rules regarding placement