SQL Server, Oracle, and VMware workloads rarely live on a single volume. See how Consistency Groups on Google Cloud NetApp Volumes Flex Unified ONTAP-mode help you protect the whole application — not volume by volume — with consistent snapshots and instant clones. ... View more

Achieving high-performance Oracle workloads in the cloud doesn’t have to mean overprovisioning or guesswork. This document shows how Google Cloud NetApp Volumes over iSCSI can deliver predictable, enterprise-grade performance for Oracle databases, achieving up to ~157K random read IOPS, ~146K mixed workload IOPS, and sub-millisecond latency with the right Oracle, Linux multipath, and iSCSI tuning. ... View more

New ONTAP MCP: AI that Modernizes Your Storage Operations In the last post, we talked about a shift in how teams interact with storage data. With NetApp ® Harvest MCP (Model Context Protocol), metrics stopped being something you had to hunt for. Instead, they became conversational — accessible through natural language, across NetApp ONTAP ® , StorageGRID ® , E‑Series, and even Cisco environments. Observability began to answer back. But insight alone isn’t the end goal. The real unlock happens when AI can move from understanding what’s happening to doing something about it. That’s where the ONTAP MCP server comes in. ... View more

In today’s data-centric landscape, the requirement for high-performance file and block storage - powering everything from AI/ML to enterprise applications - is non-negotiable. However, for developers and data scientists, managing the underlying storage infrastructure can often become a distraction from their primary focus: application development. To address this, Google Cloud NetApp Volumes (GCNV) offers an AI-enabled, developer-centric approach. We are excited to showcase how the open-source Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server for Google Cloud NetApp Volumes acts as a bridge, connecting the AI-native Gemini CLI directly to your NetApp cloud storage environment. By installing the MCP server as a Gemini CLI extension, you empower Gemini with expert-level knowledge of NetApp Volumes, allowing for rapid provisioning and protection through simple natural language commands. Not just basic operations, the MCP server now supports complex ONTAP-mode operations making it an extremely powerful tool for all our users.    Pre-Requisites - Installing the GCNV MCP Server The following must be present in your system for the MCP server to work: Node.js 18 or higher A Google Cloud project with the NetApp Volumes API enabled Google Cloud authentication credentials (see Authentication) The command to run the published package without any local build is: npx gcnv-mcp-server@latest --transport stdio Alternatively, you can also install via the Gemini CLI extension workflow: # 1. Authenticate gcloud auth login gcloud auth application-default login # 2. Install the extension gemini extension install <repository-url> # 3. Verify gemini mcp list For more details on installation, authentication and transport modes, you can refer to the documentation on our official GitHub repository.   A Simple Example: Provision, Present, and Protect a NetApp Volume using the Gemini CLI The MCP server enables a seamless end-to-end lifecycle for storage management. Here is how you can use the Gemini CLI to secure your critical application data. Step 1: Provisioning the Storage Pool The process begins with creating a storage pool. You can ask Gemini to create a pool by providing basic details such as desired capacity and region. Prompt: “Create a storage pool for me” Result: It first asks for details such as project ID, location, storage pool name, service level and capacity. Once the user presents these details, it asks for further clarifications if required. Once it gathers all the information, it goes ahead and creates the storage pool. Step 2: Creating and Presenting the Volume Once the pool is ready, you can command Gemini to carve out a specific volume and expose it to your clients. Prompt: "After the pool has been created, create a volume named mcp-demo-vol of size 200 GiB and add an NFS export rule to provide read and write access to my client IP 10.20.30.40". Result: The volume is provisioned within the storage pool, and an export rule with the necessary permissions is automatically applied for the specified IP. Step 3: Protecting the Volume The final, critical step is ensuring data durability.  Prompt: “After the volume has been created, can you help me back it up daily?” Result: Dependency Management: In the backend, Gemini identifies necessary dependencies, such as the creation of a Backup Vault and a Backup Policy. Execution: Upon your approval, Gemini creates these resources and implements the data protection plan.   Verifying Your Infrastructure One of the primary benefits of this integration is the transparency it maintains with standard Google Cloud Platform (GCP) tools. You can verify the entire setup within the GCP Console, where you will see the volume correctly mapped to the backup policy and vault created by Gemini through the MCP server. Action Outcome Provision Pool Creates a storage pool in a chosen region with specific network/replica settings. Provision Volume Carves out a volume and configures storage protocols (e.g., NFS) and export rules. Protect Volume Automatically configures backup vaults and policies to enable data protection.   Getting Started The MCP Server for Google Cloud NetApp Volumes transforms how you interact with cloud storage, delivering speed, simplicity, and powerful automation directly to your fingertips. If you want to watch the MCP server live in action, head over to our demo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xajPci4aJGE For installation and other details, please visit our GitHub repository.   ... View more

We are thrilled to announce the General Availability (GA) of ONTAP-mode backups for Google Cloud NetApp Volumes (GCNV) to the Flex Unified service level. This release marks a significant expansion of our data protection capabilities, allowing customers to protect volumes that are not directly managed as standard Google Cloud resources, ensuring comprehensive coverage for complex hybrid environments.   Bridging the Gap for Hybrid Workloads As organizations continue to migrate and manage critical workloads across hybrid environments, the need for a unified backup strategy becomes paramount. While GCNV has long provided robust protection for native cloud volumes, there was a clear demand for similar rigor for ONTAP-mode resources. Through this GA release, users can now leverage the GCNV backup infrastructure to secure their ONTAP-mode volumes. This integration provides a consistent experience for managing backups, whether your data resides in default-mode pools or is managed through ONTAP-mode storage pools.   Key Features of ONTAP-mode Backups This update introduces several purpose-built features designed to simplify the protection of your ONTAP-mode volume resources: UUID-Based Volume Selection: Seamlessly identify the exact data you need to protect by providing the UUID of your ONTAP-mode volume. Specific Snapshot Support: Beyond backing up the current state, users can target specific point-in-time data by inputting a unique ONTAP Snapshot UUID during the recovery process. Flexible Metadata Management: Easily organize and track your backups by editing descriptions and labels even after the backup is created. Flexible Policy Management: Change, pause or resume backup policies through a single parameter in the command. Support for Selective File Restore: Recover select files from your backup snapshots instead of restoring an entire volume.   Basic Workflows Create backup To create a backup for an existing ONTAP volume, follow these 2 simple steps: 1. Create a backup vault in a region of your choice: gcloud netapp backup-vaults create BACKUP_VAULT \ --location=LOCATION \ --backup-vault-type=IN_REGION \ --description=DESCRIPTION \ --labels=labels 2. Create a backup of an ONTAP-mode volume: gcloud netapp backup-vaults backups create BACKUP_NAME \ --location=LOCATION \ --backup-vault=projects/PROJECT/locations/LOCATION/backupVaults/BACKUP_VAULT \ --description=DESCRIPTION \ --ontap-source="storage-pool=projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/LOCATION/storagePools/STORAGE_POOL_NAME,volume-uuid=VOLUME_UUID" Restore volume gcloud netapp storage-pools restore-volume STORAGE_POOL_NAME \ --location=LOCATION \ --backup="projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/LOCATION/backupVaults/BACKUP_VAULT/backups/BACKUP_TO_RESTORE_FROM" \ --volume-uuid=VOLUME_UUID Selective File Restore gcloud netapp storage-pools restore-volume STORAGE_POOL_NAME \ --location=LOCATION \ --backup="projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/LOCATION/backupVaults/BACKUP_VAULT/backups/BACKUP_TO_RESTORE_FROM" \ --volume-uuid=VOLUME_UUID \ --files=[List of paths of files to be restored] \ --destination-path=DESTINATION   Experience ONTAP-Mode Backups Today With the General Availability of ONTAP-mode backups, Google Cloud NetApp Volumes continues to deliver the enterprise-grade flexibility and security required for today’s most demanding data strategies. Protect your hybrid workloads with the same confidence and simplicity you expect from Google Cloud. For more information, refer to the public documentation. ... View more