How to add another DS4243 shelves to an existing stack connected to FAS3240 HA pair

[#1]

Hi Experts,

We are about to add another DS4243 shelf with SATA drives, in an existing stack. We want to do this without downtime. On the last shelf in the stack order, I cannot remember which SAS cable should I unplug first. Is it the SAS cable connected to the filer or the SAS cable connected to the shelf next to last in the stack order? Please see attached diagram

Also, what do I need to do next after they are attached? What commands I need to run?

We have ONTAP 8.02 P3 7-mode.

Thanks,

Maico

netapp+stack.png ‏104 KB

[#2]

It does not really matter which cable you unplug first as long as you do it one at a time ☺

After physically attaching shelf you need to assign disks in new shelf to controller(s) using “disk assign”. It could be that disks will be assigned automatically if the whole stack is currently owned by single controller.

[#3 · Accepted solution]

First disconnect the cables that go to the last shelf of the stack.(the red ones in your picture)

Then connect the cables from the new shelf to the ports you just disconnect,

Be carefull to connect a square to a cirkel and NOT a square tot a square.

Then after that reconnect the cables you disconnected in the first step to th newly placed shelf.

Check if the disk are visible (storage show disk -p) and are multipathed.

After you see the disks, if auto assign is active the disks are assigned to your filer.

If not, assign the disks by entering disk assign <disk name> or if you want to assign them all to 1 controller, use disk assign all

After that, you can add the to a new aggregate, or create a new one.

aggr add <aggregate name> <disk> or aggr create <aggregate name> <disk>

Cheers,

Arco

[#4]

Hi Arco,

Thank you for the detailed answer. Which part do I assign a number on the shelf? I know you have to press some buttons at the front of the shelf, correct?

Maico

[#5]

Correct, on the left is adisplay. if you remove the plastic bracket from the shelf, there's a dipswitch behind it.

If you press it for a second of 2, it will start to blink.

Bij pressing it shortly, you can change your shelf ID.

Use a shelf ID that is unused, use the number on you last shelf and add one.

After changing, just press it a few seconds and the display will blink again.

Reboot the shelf and check if the ID is correct.

Do this before you connect the shelf to your stack.

Cheers,

Arco

[#6]

Thanks again Arco,

Right now when I use the ‘storage show disk –p’, I see this (I did not include all the output):

1> storage show disk -p

PRIMARY PORT SECONDARY PORT SHELF BAY

[#7]

You should see that your disks are connected by multipath

Under primary you see the disk, under port you see B

Under secondairy you see the disk again, under port the A

Maybe it's the other way around, your ports can be A as pri, B as sec.

[#8]

Sorry I don’t know why my entire reply did not show up. Here again is my reply:

Right now when I use the ‘storage show disk –p’, I see this (I did not include all the output):

1> storage show disk -p

PRIMARY PORT SECONDARY PORT SHELF BAY

3a.10.0 A 0a.10.0 B 10 0

3a.10.1 A 0a.10.1 B 10 1

3a.10.2 A 0a.10.2 B 10 2

3a.10.3 A 0a.10.3 B 10 3

3a.10.4 A 0a.10.4 B 10 4

3a.10.5 A 0a.10.5 B 10 5

3a.10.6 A 0a.10.6 B 10 6

3a.10.7 A 0a.10.7 B 10 7

3a.10.8 A 0a.10.8 B 10 8

3a.10.9 A 0a.10.9 B 10 9

3a.10.10 A 0a.10.10 B 10 10

3a.10.11 A 0a.10.11 B 10 11

3a.10.12 A 0a.10.12 B 10 12

3a.10.13 A 0a.10.13 B 10 13

I cannot be sure if autoassign is active. But I think since we are using HA, each controller sees all the disks and shelves even if some are assigned to the other filer in the HA pair.

How can I double-check if auto-assign is on? Also if I assign manually, if I use the “disk assign all”, does that automatically assign only those that are unassigned?

Maico

[#9]

Disk auto-assignment is controlled by option disk.auto_assign.

“disk assign all” assigns only unassigned disks.

[#10]

your output looks fine.

To check if the disks are assigned, enter disk show -n

If there are any, this will give you a list and you can than assign them.

To check if autoassign is on, you can check by entering options disk.autoassign

On means active, off means not active:-)

The filer where you enter the disk assign command will be the owner, sof if you have a cluster be carefull.

The number of ID you assigned to the shelf by the dipswitch, should aslo be correct.

In your output it says 10, so if you did that, it's looking well.

Arco