Ever had issue figuring out the exact network connection down the port, protocol, storage VM (SVM) and volume level? NetApp® ONTAP® System Manager 9.8 implemented a new network interface where all network mappings are laid out and you can interact with each object.
With the help of the network mapping feature implemented in the System Manager 9.8, you can visualize the exact network connection by clicking on any object within the graph. You can see additional performance information by clicking on the three dot icon so that it can be displayed to easily identify any overloaded port situation.
Let’s address a couple of common questions around networking in System Manager 9.8.
How do I add or remove broadcast domains? And where is the subnet based network interface?
For a simpler user experience, ONTAP 9.8 automatically detects how nodes are cabled and maps the ports into broadcast domains. YOu no longer need to create broadcast domains manually. Because subnet-based network provisioning flows were rarely used based on the NetApp Active IQ data, System Manager 9.8 no longer exposes subnet-based network interfaces. If you wish to manually configure these settings, it can be done through the ONTAP CLI.
How is port selected for Network LIFs?
ONTAP 9.8 has a new feature where it can automatically select a port for new network interfaces, so the port choice is no longer presented during provisioning in System Manager 9.8. If you wish to manually pick a port, it can be done in the CLI. You also have an option to move or rehome a port through the UI after the original provisioning, especially when you see this icon that indicates the LIF is not on the home port, by clicking Revert to fix it.
To see this in action, please check out this video demo. In the next blog, let’s take a look at how the hardware visualization works.
Where can I learn more?
Please see a list of useful resources at this link.
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There are many new, exciting features in the NetApp® ONTAP® 9.8 release and you can view the entire list of them in the release notes. Many of them are integrated with NetApp ONTAP System Manager 9.8 and here is a list of new features in System Manager 9.8. We will talk about each of them separately in this mini blog series.
Network visualization – a quick way to visualize your network map and connections
Hardware visualization–visualizing hardware status from the interactive interface
Single-click firmware update–a firmware update has never been easier
NetApp MetroCluster IP Configuration–set up and use MetroCluster with simplified processes
FSA (File System Analytics)–visualizes your file-level access activities
Data protection enhancements – added additional functions to perform reserve resync and reactivate a source SVM for disaster recovery setup
In the next blog, we will start with the network visualization feature and then go down the list to talk about each of these new features.
Where can I learn more?
Please see a list of useful resources at this link.
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The new UI has streamlined and simplified workflows to enhance user experience. Here are 10 common questions related to provisioning. You might have raised similar questions in the past; let’s take a look at them together.
Where are the aggregates in NetApp ONTAP System Manager 9.8?
One thing you might notice right away is that “aggregates” don’t show up in the UI anymore. “Aggregate” is an ONTAP®-specific term, which is not commonly known if you are new to NetApp®. The System Manager 9.8 UI now groups aggregates by disk type and presents them as “local tiers” along with the cluster’s “cloud tiers”. These can be viewed in the Tiers menu.
How can I create a new local tier?
When you have spare disks in a cluster, System Manager recommends how to arrange the disks into local tiers according to NetApp’s best practices. If you need to create a new local tier, just click “Add Local Tier” to review the recommendation. If you need a local tier configured in some way that’s not aligned with ONTAP best practices, it can be done by using the ONTAP CLI or REST APIs.
In addition, If you feel the need to evacuate a local tier, you can do so by moving or deleting all volumes in that local tier.
How do I pick a local tier during provisioning?
ONTAP now automatically handles provisioning new storage in the right local tiers based on your requirements, so you are not required to pick a specific local tier during provisioning. And, if you really need to pick a particular local tier, the CLI and APIs still expose that capability. You can also move the volume later to a different local tier by using System Manager, if needed.
What is the new Performance service level option in the provisioning UI?
If you’re creating a new volume or LUNs, you can select the performance policy you need for the new storage. This will guide ONTAP to choose the preferred disk media type and allocate it from the local tier with the most capacity and performance headroom that satisfies the provisioning request for workload placement. This is also known as quality of service (QoS) management, which is very beneficial and helps you avoid noisy neighbor and bully/victim scenarios. If you don’t feel that you need QoS, you can select “None” in the performance service level option.
How does ONTAP pick the best local tier?
ONTAP knows the maximum limits per node, per cluster, and is always current. ONTAP understands the current and historical performance of a given node in a cluster and will intelligently place data based on what is being requested. ONTAP also looks at storage capacity to make sure that there is enough room, and then looks to see if the workload latency requirements can be met on that node and disk type.
ONTAP picks the best local tier for the provisioned volume based on: capacity, LIF connectivity of the nodes serving each local tier and utilization, whether the local tier is or isn’t NetApp MetroCluster mirrored, whether the local tier has the required FabricPool cloud connectivity, and so on. For the service-level provisioning (QoS policy assigned during provisioning in System Manager), placement also takes into account disk type (only SSD-based local tiers are able to deliver Extreme, for example.) To choose between the same type of local tier , the algorithm looks at available space and available performance headroom. In System Manager 9.8, we actually assign a QoS policy when you pick a performance service level and only the available options are given based on the disk types available in the cluster.
What are the new default efficiency settings?
In addition to the automated placement changes, System Manager now uses platform smart defaults for more of the storage options. For example, thin provisioning is turned on for NetApp AFF arrays and turned off for NetApp FAS arrays.
How are the capacity numbers defined in System Manager?
ONTAP has several ways of understanding what’s used and available. To make this easier, System Manager now displays “logical used” and “physical available” space for local tiers. The data reduction ratios reflect logical versus physical used, including space savings from NetApp Snapshot™ copies. There are other ways to view the capacity data as well, by using the ONTAP CLI and REST APIs.
How do I configure Auto-Resize?
Making changes to the auto resize option is also easy; it can be done within the Edit Volume menu and you can pick the auto grow and auto shrink sizes as you see fit.
Can I evacuate a local tier in 9.8?
Yes. You can delete all volumes residing in the same local tier
Where can I get help if I run into more questions?
You can reach out to your NetApp Field contact or leave a comment below.
Please also see a list of useful resources at this link.
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