DS224 Expansion or Systems Upgrade

[AdminNetapp091320]

Hello Experts,

I have a new DS224  to install but bit concerns about my existing environment. Should I just go first upgrade my system to 9.8 for instance and address a bunch of firmware requirements? Also, do I need to settle any concerns related to my Metro cluster IP hardware as well before doing storage expansion? Please advise and thanks in advance.

[ttran]

Hello @AdminNetapp091320,

If you plan to upgrade to ONTAP 9.8 soon, then it would be best to perform the upgrade prior to adding shelves.

Here is documentation that goes into detail on preparing your MetroCluster implementation for hot-adding a shelf:

Preparing to hot-add a shelf with MetroCluster 

Hot-adding a shelf with MetroCluster 

Regards,

Team NetApp

[AlexDawson · Accepted solution]

Hi there!

Do you have a NetApp SE or partner SE working with you on your storage environment? This is probably too much of a broad question for us to give a specific answer - I will say that as a general rule, it is important to fix any existing issues before making changes, so without knowing the exact nature of your MCCIP issues, I would suggest that should be sorted out first. I would also resolve these issues before upgrading to 9.8P4 - unless the 9.8P4 upgrade has been suggested as a resolution to your specific MCCIP issue.

That said.. MCCIP does not sit in the disk access path, so adding the shelf should not cause any additional problems, so with technical assistance from your account team, I would be ok with doing it.

[AdminNetapp091320]

Hi Alex,

Thanks for the information. Btw, does 9.8P4 are now stable or I should go to P3 instead?

[ttran]

Hello @AdminNetapp091320,

Yes, ONTAP 9.8P4 is stable as we are already releasing ONTAP 9.9.1x. You can also look at the list of fixed bugs in 9.8P4 to see if you would be susceptible to any issues, but I would recommend going to P4 instead of P3.

ONTAP 9.8P4 Fix List 

Regards,

Team NetApp

[tahmad]

Hi @AdminNetapp091320 ,

Do you have any further question regarding your upgrade process and version?

[AdminNetapp091320]

Thanks again everyone for all the information provided. But I have few more questions to add. ( i hope you don't mind)

1. Any helpful tips when dealing with 9.8 upgrades in Metro Custer IP environment? Was advise that it will going to perform with the “cluster image update” command. This command is executed on one site and the update process then will update both sites simultaneously and automated. A bit concerns about the production application and servers but i think all protocols should be fine except CIFS. Please verify.

2. Assumption Upgrade widows hours for a 2 node A300 cluster site 1 and 2 node A300 cluster for site 2?

3.  NetApp Revert widows hours for a 2 node A300 cluster site 1 and 2 node A300 cluster for site 2?