Installing HBA card in a clustered FAS3140

[yasirbam]

Hello,

We have a two node FAS3140 cluster. we want to add fibre HBA cards to each controller.

The instruction we have https://now.netapp.com/NOW/knowledge/docs/hardware/filer/215-03583_B0.pdf recommends opening the filer from the rare, but we are unable to do that due to PDU power and other obstructions at the back of the rack.

My question is, can we pull out the controller from the front? does the instructions in the above document still apply to the failover procedure or do we need to do somthing different such as powering off the controller.

any advice greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Yas

[radek_kubka]

Hi Yas and welcome to the Community!

I don't think pulling out the 31x0 controller from the front is physically possible - you need to work your way from the back.

Failing this, you need to shut down both nodes, power everything off, remove cables and then pull out the controllers & install cards.

Regards,

Radek

[yasirbam]

thanks Radek,

There are 4 screws on the front of the controller that fixes the netapp to the cabinet, I was thinking to unscrew them and pull the controller like you do for normal servers on rails. is that not possible?

I forgot to mention that we cant afford to have the system completely down 😉

[radek_kubka · Accepted solution]

You can move the entire chassis forward if it helps.

But then you need to access the controllers from the rear anyway (two sit in the same chassis).

[yasirbam]

Aha.. it is not possible to pull ONLY one of the controllers from the front as they both sit in the same chassis.

[aborzenkov]

but we are unable to do that due to PDU power and other obstructions at the back of the rack.

That's bad and I would try to change it. First, colling is from front to rear. If you have something obstructing filer in the rear, you are risking increased temperature. Second, as you have seen, it makes non-disruptive maintenance impossible.

[yasirbam]

thank you for your feedback.

I am going to pull the chassis forward (15 cm)  and work on the controllers one at a time from the rear.

A seperate task is to clear and tidy up the racks