4x FAS 2240-4 - How do I setup HA ?

[low944]

I have 4 FAS2240-4 units.  These are being repurposed from a project that is no longer.  I currently have them setup with dual controller in the top shelf and cabled exactly like the attached picture.  I have been able to setup the first controller and gain ownership of the drives of all shelves using 7-mode.  I can even create aggregates, etc.  My question now is how do I setup HA with the second controller in the first shelf?  I did the wipeconfig on both controllers and then the boot option 4 to setup the first controller and drives.  Both controllers have the 10gb SFP's and only the first one e1a port is uplinked to the data network so far.  I thought since both controllers where in the same shelf, HA could happen without going through network uplinks.  Is this correct??   Thanks for any input or advice!

[SpindleNinja]

4x 2240-4.  - Do you mean 2 HA pairs (4 controllers)  or 4 HA pairs (8 controllers) ?

You can't link seperate HA pairs together with SAS connections like that. 

[low944]

I am sorry, still learning the lingo.  The first shelf / unit has 2 controllers.  The rest of the shelves have 2 SAS modules.  I think I am confusing mutlipath HA (the way I have it cabled) with maybe cluster HA?  In the picture you will see 4 shelves (4 power supplies each) just to clarify.  I cabled them just like the picture following NetApp documentation for what they call "Double Controller model (Multipath HA)".

[SpindleNinja]

You have a FAS2240-4 and some DS4243 or DS4246 disk shelves.      (Though technically the 2000 series is usually seen a shelf too) 

That's the correct way to cable them,  you can verify it if you run sysconfig on each,  you're see something like "MULTIPATH HA" and ACP Full Connectivity near the top of the output.    You can even run Config Advisor for a more detailed system overview.  

"HA" is there should one of the controllers dies.   If the second controller dies,  the first will "takeover" it and take over things like disk and aggr ownership as well as some network connections.      You do a "giveback"  to return the ownership of various things back to it's partner.       

https://library.netapp.com/ecmdocs/ECMP1210206/html/GUID-3D65CDAA-77DC-4D44-90D9-6F02787738B1.html

[low944]

Thank you for the clarification on the shelves.  I figured they were all the same since the modules seem to be interchangeable.  So with HA between controllers, would I need to run setup on each controller module via serial?  I have only set the first one up and assumed the second was automagically picked up and configured when I ran the boot option 4 on the first controller.

[SpindleNinja]

been a while since I setup a 7mode system.   But I would typically run opt4 on both at the same time,  and then configure each node.   They should be aware of each other at this point you're currently at.  

This might be helpful, though pretty long read.  

https://library.netapp.com/ecm/ecm_download_file/ecmp1155590  

[aborzenkov]

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@low944 wrote:

So with HA between controllers, would I need to run setup on each controller module via serial?

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Yes, you need. You cannot setup HA without completing basic setup of both controllers first. You also need to assign some disks to the second controller at least for root aggregate. You may also need cf license depending on Data ONTAP version.

[low944]

Thanks for the reply.  I have assigned some of the disks to the second controller now, but I cannot get ontap loaded without it erroring out.  I have tried the command "set defaults".  What else do I need to get that controller to boot up off of its newly assigned disks?

[aborzenkov · Accepted solution]

You need to go via special boot menu, option 4 or 4a (depending on your version).

[low944]

Thanks!  running that now...