would it be possible to mount a NAS vol to the host without ethernet switch ?

[sangyoon]

As it says in the title, I want to explore to mount a NAS vol without the switch in between. Would there be some concerns involving risks too, doing so ? 

Best,

[Ontapforrum]

Could you elaborate more ? I am not a network guy but just trying to understand your intentions.

Mounting NAS volume (I am assuming NFS here), we don't mount CIFS, we simply browse to the share \\UNC.

To mount, you need a Target IP of the NAS , that IP is tied to a LIF, that is tied to the Physical port on the NAS side. That physical port has a cable that must be connected to your Data Network Switch ? In short : Host should be able talk to that Target IP(LIF) in order to mount it. Unless your storage has RJ45 port and you are hooking your laptop(host) directly?

[paul_stejskal]

If you're wanting to hook your laptop up directly to a 1GbE port on the filer, in theory it should work as long as the IP is in the same subnet. I've never personally tried this.

[parisi]

NAS just needs IP addresses to work. If you set the IP on the data LIF to the same subnet as the one on the host, it will work.

However, you don't get access to multiple hosts and you lose failover capabilities (as there's no path to the partner interfaces).

[wareer]

This situation is OK, we can directly use the network cable to connect the data port to the client, but must be in the same subnet, after mounting can be used normally, but once the network cable is disconnected, it will interrupt the mounting, and if there are other problems, it will not float to another controller, production we are not recommended to use this

[paul_stejskal]

So the takeaway is: just because you can do something doesn't necessarily mean you should.