The concept of storage units is crucial in the realm of data storage and management, particularly within the NetApp ecosystem. Storage units in new ASA systems are essentially containers that make storage space accessible to SAN (Storage Area Network) hosts for data operations. These storage units correspond to LUNs (Logical Unit Numbers) for SCSI hosts or NVMe namespaces for NVMe hosts, which are integral components for managing and accessing block storage over a network.
Creation of storage units in new ASA systems
The creation of storage units in the new ASA system is a process that involves a single step and is facilitated by the ONTAP System Manager. Here's a breakdown of how storage units are created:
- In System Manager, select Storage; then select the Add button.
- Enter the name of the new storage unit.
- Enter the number of units you want to create.
- Enter the storage unit capacity; then select the host operating system, format, and mapping.
- If you create more than one storage unit, each unit is created with the same capacity, host operating system, format, and mapping.
- Customizing Options: If there's a need to change the default Quality of Service (QoS) policy or other settings, the administrator can select the relevant options and complete the required steps.
- After all the details are entered and options are set, the storage unit is created with the specified capacity, host operating system, and format mapping.
Managing and Using storage units
Once created, storage units need to be mapped to hosts to begin serving data. This is done by selecting the storage unit and choosing the 'Map to Hosts' option. After mapping, the storage unit is ready for the provisioning process on the hosts, which involves zoning for FC and FC/NVMe, discovering the new storage unit, initializing it, and verifying that the host can perform read/write operations.
For data protection, snapshots can be created for these storage units. Snapshots are read-only copies of data that can be used to restore storage units to specific points in time. They can be created manually for a single storage unit or scheduled for automatic creation across multiple storage units.
Important Considerations
It's important to be aware of the current new ASA systems storage limits for optimal performance and configuration support. These limits include the maximum number of nodes in a cluster (2 nodes) and the maximum storage unit size (128TB). For a complete list of current limits, administrators should refer to the NetApp Hardware Universe.
Conclusion
Storage units are fundamental to the operation of new ASA systems, providing the necessary space for SAN hosts to perform data operations. The creation process is streamlined through the ONTAP System Manager, ensuring that administrators can easily provision and manage storage according to their organization's needs.
For more detailed instructions and guidance on creating and managing storage units in new ASA systems, administrators should refer to the Netapp documentation.