Migration of SAN volumes from 7-mode to cDOT

[frank_iro]

Hi guys,

I have a client that will migrating from 7-mode on FAS3270HA to cDOT on FAS6250. They have some SAN (FC) volumes that will have to be transitioned (Exchange, SQL and VMWare). I have been looking through NetApp documentation and noted that the 7-mode transition tool only supports migration of NAS volumes. What methods are available to migrate SAN volumes, other than host-side copies? Can I use SnapManager for Exchange/SQL to move data from volumes on a 7-mode filer to volumes on a cDOT filer? I'm really hoping there's something available, because the alternative is frankly extremely tedious!

Thanks.

[balazs_lovas]

Hi,

A couple of approaches:

-map new luns to the server and do an in-server copy of the data (easy with vmware storage vmotion, less nice if you have millions of files)

-use snapmirror to pull volume data to cdot

-ndmpcopy could also be considered I believe.

Netapp also sells this as a service. The price is based on TBs of data I think.

If you plan to migrate a lot of systems/data you could also check out the DTA appliance (http://www.netapp.com/us/system/pdf-reader.aspx?m=tr-4061.pdf&cc=us). It comes at a ridiculous price, but might be good for a large scale migration.

[aborzenkov]

You cannot SnapMirror LUNs from 7-mode to c-mode, that's the problem.

[balazs_lovas]

indeed, my bad.

[frank_iro]

Balazs,

Thanks for the response, but like aborzenkov pointed out, and as I'd mentioned in the original post, volume SnapMirror of SAN volumes from 7-mode to cDOT is not supported. We're hoping to avoid using NetApp Professional Services or the DTA for cost reasons. I figure VMware is pretty straightforward. Storage vMotion should be just fine as you've suggested. I was however hoping to avoid host-side copies for the exchange and SQL. Does anyone know if you can use the latest SnapManagers to do this migration? I also just happened to check out the release notes for SnapManager for Exchange 7.0, and was surprised to read that it works ONLY with Exchange 2013. Support for all previous version of Exchange has been removed! My client is on Exchange 2010. AFAIK, version 6 doesn't support cDOT. What to do?

[balazs_lovas]

I'm kinda shooting in the dark, but I don't think that the snapmanagers would be helpful in this. They are related to the mgmt of snapshots and luns withint the same box and not accross boxes.

So far in all of the migration projects I was involved in a server side approach was used. DTA is usually an overkill. If you have two storage systems (7mode and cdot), why don't you try ndmpcopy?

[frank_iro]

You can NDMPcopy from 7-mode to cDOT? That'd definitely be helpful.

As for the SnapManagers, usually you can use them to migrate Exchange/SQL db files off local disks to Snapdrive connected LUNs. I've actually used them before to migrate data off of LUNs on an old 7-mode filer to LUNs on a new 7-mode filer for a customer who was upgrading. In that case, LUNs from both filers were connected to the servers. I'm just wondering if the same can be done from 7-mode to cDOT mode filers. Can Snapdrive v7 connect to LUNs on 7-mode and cDOT simultaneously? If so, then that might just work.

[GRAEMEOGDEN]

We completed a 7-mode to cDOT migration last year.

The best way is to co-present LUNs from both systems. For VMware it's a simple Storage vMotion (good opportunity to align VMs, tidy up where you store VMDK files, thin provision as you go).

Although you can use SnapManager for SQL to move your Databases, we found this was too slow as it was single-threaded. Robocopy with the /MT switch worked well for us.

SME 6.0.4 supports cDOT for Exchange 2010 - check the IMT. http://support.netapp.com/matrix

[CHUNCHITNG]

For Windows server

1. Present the new LUN to the server.

2, From Windows Disk Management, Change the disks to dynamic disk, mirror the LUN to new LUN,

3. Break the mirror.

4. Remove the old LUN from the server.

Is it going to work?

[aborzenkov]

I guess yes. Keep in mind that SnapDrive does not support dynamic disks in case you use it. Also, is it possible to convert simple volume back to basic disk?

[CHUNCHITNG]

Unfortunately not possible to convert it back to basic disk. Most of the environment I seen don't use SnapDrive.