Since 8.2.1 is a maintenance release, "major" features aren't usually added to Data ONTAP maintenance releases. "Major" features are usually added to the Data ONTAP major releases (i.e. 8.1, 8.2, 8.3). Further details on the Data ONTAP Release Model can be found here: http://mysupport.netapp.com/NOW/products/ontap_releasemodel/PostJul2010.shtml
From the release notes, Data ONTAP 8.2.1 added:
- Support for the FAS8000 platform
- Support for 400GB, 800GB & 1.2TB SSD Drives
- Support for hot-shelf removal
- Convert 32-bit aggregates to 64-bit aggregates without adding disks
- Addition of the Automated Workload Analyzer which provides a real-time workload analysis to estimate the recommended Flash Pool size and estimated cache hit rate
- Support for VMware vStorage over IPv6
- CIFS (SMB) default TCP Window Size inceased to 64,240. If you have modified the current CIFS TCP WIndow size from the current default value of 17,520, your custom value will be retained with the upgrade to 8.2.1.
Those are what I would consider the highlights, but there are other updates for MetroCluster & v-Series as well. If those apply to your environment, then review of the Release Notes would be in order (https://library.netapp.com/ecm/ecm_get_file/ECMP1368838)
Hope this helps!
Ken
