RAID optiones and capacity?

[HasayeretFMG]

Good morning!

My FAS2220 has 12 1.62TB disks (According to the System Manager). I'm totally new to NetApp and we need to re-do the entire device.
My question are: What are my RAID options and with these RAID options, how much TB I'll have once RAIDed?

Thanks so much!

[Alfs29]

Hi,

There are no 1.62TB drives ... those probably are 2TB drives 🙂

Do you have 1 or 2 controllers?

What version of ontap are you running?

Do you have "necessary" licences?

Lets assume you have 1 controller.

In general you could go 2 ways.

1) Have separate aggregates for root and data. It means raid4 (2 drives) for root + raid4 (9 drives) for data + 1hs.

Normally you dont put any data on root aggregate. So you will have 8 data drives+1parity = 8 x 1.62TB is what you get.

Not very good idea to have raid4 and only 1 hs.

2) Make one aggregate dp from 11drives + 1hs -> 9 data drives and have all volumes on one aggregate. This is much better/safer config for small spindle count installs.

If you have 2 controllers, then you will loose 3 drives on controller1 (root volume, raid4+1hs). On remaining 9 drives you have same situation as described in 1controller situation.

Do not try to divide/assign data drives for both controllers, because you have very small ammount of drives available. What you will have is only root for contr1 and root+data for contr2.

[HasayeretFMG]

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@Alfs29 wrote:

Hi,

There are no 1.62TB drives ... those probably are 2TB drives 🙂

Do you have 1 or 2 controllers?

What version of ontap are you running?

Do you have "necessary" licences?

Lets assume you have 1 controller.

In general you could go 2 ways.

1) Have separate aggregates for root and data. It means raid4 (2 drives) for root + raid4 (9 drives) for data + 1hs.

Normally you dont put any data on root aggregate. So you will have 8 data drives+1parity = 8 x 1.62TB is what you get.

Not very good idea to have raid4 and only 1 hs.

2) Make one aggregate dp from 11drives + 1hs -> 9 data drives and have all volumes on one aggregate. This is much better/safer config for small spindle count installs.

If you have 2 controllers, then you will loose 3 drives on controller1 (root volume, raid4+1hs). On remaining 9 drives you have same situation as described in 1controller situation.

Do not try to divide/assign data drives for both controllers, because you have very small ammount of drives available. What you will have is only root for contr1 and root+data for contr2.

---

Thank you!
So we have 2 controllers and I have no clue what version we are runnnig to be honest. Also not sure about the license. How can i check these?
So if we have 2 controllers, what's going to be the best RAID option for us and what amount of space will it give us?

Thank you!

[Alfs29]

1) 2 controllers ok. That means -> 3 drives raid4 + HS for controller1 (root volume only)

2) Not a kosher solution, but best you can do next is 8 drives raid-dp + 1hs (root and data on separate volumes but one aggregate) -> 6 usable data drives -> 6x 1.62  = ~9TB of usable space

3) Use serial cable to connect via terminal to your FAS and then you could proceed with password resets, licence checks etc ... Netapp is not just another WD Mybook style crap, it is a serious device and you need to know A LOT and be a very good friend with mother google 😄

Sorry pal, but you will have to do a lot of googling and learning.

Also note, that if you dont have licences installed then you are in deeeeeep ... your FAS is usable only as a hot air blower or something like that 🙂

You wont get any previous licences from Netapp ... in general.

If you buy stuff not from them or certified resellers -> you are on your own 🙂

I can say that for sure as im sailing in the same boat 🙂

BR

[HasayeretFMG]

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@Alfs29 wrote:

1) 2 controllers ok. That means -> 3 drives raid4 + HS for controller1 (root volume only)

2) Not a kosher solution, but best you can do next is 8 drives raid-dp + 1hs (root and data on separate volumes but one aggregate) -> 6 usable data drives -> 6x 1.62  = ~9TB of usable space

3) Use serial cable to connect via terminal to your FAS and then you could proceed with password resets, licence checks etc ... Netapp is not just another WD Mybook style crap, it is a serious device and you need to know A LOT and be a very good friend with mother google 😄

Sorry pal, but you will have to do a lot of googling and learning.

Also note, that if you dont have licences installed then you are in deeeeeep ... your FAS is usable only as a hot air blower or something like that 🙂

You wont get any previous licences from Netapp ... in general.

If you buy stuff not from them or certified resellers -> you are on your own 🙂

I can say that for sure as im sailing in the same boat 🙂

BR

---

Thank you mate! sounds like tons of stuff needs to be done.
Question fo you regarding the licensing: Can i find it through the system manager?

Thanks!

[Alfs29]

Are you talking about OnCommand System manager? Yes, sure ... but if you do have  system manager up and running and can connect with it to your FAS and cannot find licence/ontap version info then better get WD Mybook .... FAS is not for you in this case 😄

cotroller1->configuration->system tools-> licences !!!!!

Sorry for beeing very direct/sarcastic in my expressions but this is what i really think and how i see it all.

[HasayeretFMG]

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@Alfs29 wrote:

Are you talking about OnCommand System manager? Yes, sure ... but if you do have  system manager up and running and can connect with it to your FAS and cannot find licence/ontap version info then better get WD Mybook .... FAS is not for you in this case 😄

cotroller1->configuration->system tools-> licences !!!!!

Sorry for beeing very direct/sarcastic in my expressions but this is what i really think and how i see it all.

---

It's all good mate, i appreciate the honesty. Looks like i have 4 keys that never expire: HA Pair, Windows Shares, ISCSI and NFS.

Am i good to go with these?

[Alfs29]

Yes, this is totally ok to go with.

What version of ontap do you have?

If you already have this info, then it seems that your system is configured for something already.

Just look under aggregates and volumes to see what has been setup on both controllers.

Does OnCommand manager show you HA pair or what?

[HasayeretFMG]

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@Alfs29 wrote:

Yes, this is totally ok to go with.

What version of ontap do you have?

If you already have this info, then it seems that your system is configured for something already.

Just look under aggregates and volumes to see what has been setup on both controllers.

Does OnCommand manager show you HA pair or what?

---

The system is currently configured but we need to re-configure it. It looks like the hard drivers were split between the 2 controllers and i think that they were originally configured to the NFS instead of ISCSI. I'd like to change that to ISCSI and put everything under 1 controller...

[Alfs29]

How many drives belong to each controller and how are they configured?

How many aggreagates are on each controller?

How many and what volumes are on each controller?

[HasayeretFMG]

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@Alfs29 wrote:

How many drives belong to each controller and how are they configured?

How many aggreagates are on each controller?

How many and what volumes are on each controller?

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I take it back: looks like the 12 disks i have are showing on both controllers.
Each controller reports 1 aggregate. Looks like RAID-DP for each of these. Looks like 5 volumes on each controller (looks like they are the same on each controller) and they are set to aggr0 on both controllers.

[Alfs29]

If you have 12 physical drives in total then it is impossible that both controllers own 12 drives .... drive should be owned by one of controllers.

Look more carefully about drives and their ownership etc ....

[HasayeretFMG]

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@Alfs29 wrote:

If you have 12 physical drives in total then it is impossible that both controllers own 12 drives .... drive should be owned by one of controllers.

Look more carefully about drives and their ownership etc ....

---

Good catch,,, 6 and 6 looks like...

[Alfs29 · Accepted solution]

Kinda not very good config if you have only 12 drives .... but i would not suggest to YOU to reinstall system .... 

Are those aggregates raid-dp or raid-4? Do you have spares for each controller?

I would configure 12 drives as:

1) contr1 - 3 drives = raid-4 + hs (1 aggregate and 1 volume (root))

2) contr2 - 9 drives = raid-dp + hs (1 aggregate and 2 volumes (root, data)) ->  ~ 6x 1.62TB and deduct some for root volume

No, you cannot reconfigure without reinstall. 

Write down somewhere all licence keys from both controllers .... just in case

I hope your question about size and raid options is answered? 😉

[HasayeretFMG]

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@Alfs29 wrote:

Kinda not very good config if you have only 12 drives .... but i would not suggest to YOU to reinstall system .... 

Are those aggregates raid-dp or raid-4? Do you have spares for each controller?

I would configure 12 drives as:

1) contr1 - 3 drives = raid-4 + hs (1 aggregate and 1 volume (root))

2) contr2 - 9 drives = raid-dp + hs (1 aggregate and 2 volumes (root, data)) ->  ~ 6x 1.62TB and deduct some for root volume

No, you cannot reconfigure without reinstall. 

Write down somewhere all licence keys from both controllers .... just in case

I hope your question about size and raid options is answered? 😉

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Much appreciate your help. Will NetApp support be able to re-install the whole thing for me you think? I just don't feel comfortable doing the whole thing on my own...

[Alfs29]

No, netapp will not do anything even for money if you are not original FAS owner with valid support agreement.

You also wont be happy when you will see their support prices 😉

What version of Ontap are you running currently? 

You can see it in System manager main controller page. It will look something like:

Model:
FAS3220
System ID:
2784877826346234
Version:
NetApp Release 8.1.4P9 7-Mode 

If all questions are answered please do not forget to leave a Kudo and accept a solution 😉

[HasayeretFMG]

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@Alfs29 wrote:

No, netapp will not do anything even for money if you are not original FAS owner with valid support agreement.

You also wont be happy when you will see their support prices 😉

What version of Ontap are you running currently? 

You can see it in System manager main controller page. It will look something like:

Model:
FAS3220
System ID:
2784877826346234
Version:
NetApp Release 8.1.4P9 7-Mode 

If all questions are answered please do not forget to leave a Kudo and accept a solution 😉

---

Assuming that i have an active support with them, will they be able to help?
I saw the support prices... not too bad to be honest...

here it is mate:

FAS2220

1892879660

NetApp Release 8.1.2 7-Mode

200 days 22 hours 3 minutes

[Alfs29]

Sure, thats what you pay them for 🙂

But i dont think you have active support agreement .... if you had one, then you would not be here .... you would be sitting in a bar having beer while support company technicians do the magic 😄

Your netapp is up 200 days .... doesnt look like old test/learning equipment to me 😉

Please remember to accept my solution and leave a Kudo! 🙂