Back March 2019 NetApp released ONTAP 9.6 which improved on ease of use, security and data protection, as well the capabilities around extending the storage stack beyond on-premises and into the cloud.
In keeping with tradition, NetApp have announced the latest version of their data management software (ONTAP 9.7) during NetApp Insight in Las Vegas. As with the previous versions ONTAP 9.7 brings more enhancements and use cases, such as:
In keeping with tradition, NetApp have announced the latest version of their data management software (ONTAP 9.7) during NetApp Insight in Las Vegas. As with the previous versions ONTAP 9.7 brings more enhancements and use cases, such as:
- Improved and simpler management with ONTAP System Manager and Active IQ Unified Manager
- FabricPool
- Scale-out NAS
- FlexCache
- FlexGroup
- Data protection and business continuity
- SnapMirror Synchronous
- MetroCluster
System Manager 9.7
So first, lets take a look at System Manager 9.7.
If you remember from reading my blog back in March (https://dbtechblog.weebly.com/blog/ontap-96), System Manager 9.6 introduced a new, much improved dashboard over previous versions of ONTAP, with more information visible on a single page. In ONTAP 9.7, further enhancements have been made to the dashboard with more workflow optimizations and less clicks to allow you to get things done quicker and easier.
Cluster Setup
The first major workflow optimization is with Cluster Setup.
One annoyance for me was having to type in the license keys when deploying a cluster. This is no longer the case, as the license keys are now embedded into the boot media, so you no longer have to copy or type them in!
The Cluster Setup workflow now uses tiles to simplify the process of provisioning capacity and network, and as well as configuring performance settings, meaning you can now deploy a cluster in a matter of minutes.
If you remember from reading my blog back in March (https://dbtechblog.weebly.com/blog/ontap-96), System Manager 9.6 introduced a new, much improved dashboard over previous versions of ONTAP, with more information visible on a single page. In ONTAP 9.7, further enhancements have been made to the dashboard with more workflow optimizations and less clicks to allow you to get things done quicker and easier.
Cluster Setup
The first major workflow optimization is with Cluster Setup.
One annoyance for me was having to type in the license keys when deploying a cluster. This is no longer the case, as the license keys are now embedded into the boot media, so you no longer have to copy or type them in!
The Cluster Setup workflow now uses tiles to simplify the process of provisioning capacity and network, and as well as configuring performance settings, meaning you can now deploy a cluster in a matter of minutes.
Storage Provisioning
Storage Provision has also been vastly simplified. To give you an idea of how simple NetApp have made storage provisioning, it used to take 7 screens to provision a LUN in System Manager! Now, NAS and SAN provisioning has been condensed down to a single screen.
Storage Provision has also been vastly simplified. To give you an idea of how simple NetApp have made storage provisioning, it used to take 7 screens to provision a LUN in System Manager! Now, NAS and SAN provisioning has been condensed down to a single screen.
The simplicity theme continues with:
- Fast storage inventory search
- Faster filtering and sorting
- Peek views - allows you to compare volumes easier
- Intuitive Integrated Global Search - allows the cluster to be searched for:
- Storage Objects
- Ports
- Network Overview
- Page
- Application
- Actions
Active IQ Unified Manager 9.7
As with system Manager, Active IQ Unified Manager also has some new enhancements.
The diagram above shows the capabilities of Active IQ Unified Manager, but we'll focus on three of the circles, Simplified UI, Security Compliance and Active Management.
Dashboard
Keeping with the same clean look as System Manager 9.7, the Active IQ Unified Manager dashboard has also been simplified. A clear summary status of your clusters and the information that needs to be acted upon quickly is now easily accessible from the main dashboard.
Dashboard
Keeping with the same clean look as System Manager 9.7, the Active IQ Unified Manager dashboard has also been simplified. A clear summary status of your clusters and the information that needs to be acted upon quickly is now easily accessible from the main dashboard.
Security Compliance
What's also brand new on the dashboard is the security window. Clicking on this takes you to a new security page that provides compliance status and provides security hardening recommendations based on the Security Hardening Guide for ONTAP 9 (TR-4569). If you're not familiar with this guide then you can read it here.
What's also brand new on the dashboard is the security window. Clicking on this takes you to a new security page that provides compliance status and provides security hardening recommendations based on the Security Hardening Guide for ONTAP 9 (TR-4569). If you're not familiar with this guide then you can read it here.
It's also worth noting that in ONTAP 9.7 Data At-Rest Encryption is now enabled by Default; if the system is configured with encrypting SSDs or HDDs, ONTAP automatically applies hardware encryption, otherwise NAE or NVE is used when a encryption key manager has been configured.
Active Management
Service Level Manager (SLM) has now been integrated into Active IQ Unified Manager. If you're not familiar with SLM, it enables you to manage your storage infrastructure based on Performance Service Levels and Storage Efficiency Policies, and enables the delivery of storage as a service from your existing and new NetApp ONTAP software-based storage systems. Benefits of Active Management include:
Service Level Manager (SLM) has now been integrated into Active IQ Unified Manager. If you're not familiar with SLM, it enables you to manage your storage infrastructure based on Performance Service Levels and Storage Efficiency Policies, and enables the delivery of storage as a service from your existing and new NetApp ONTAP software-based storage systems. Benefits of Active Management include:
- Achieve application SLOs
- Deliver predictable workload performance with ease by provisioning storage using a service catalog of predefined service levels
- Improve ROI
- Maximize storage utilization and investment to meet business needs and objectives
- Easy integration
- Provides a framework for storage as a service deployments that integrates with tools such as ServiceNow and Ansible
ONTAP 9.7
Since ONTAP 9 was first release a 3.5 years ago, NetApp have introduced a significant number of enhancements. Although ONTAP 9.7 doesn't include any major new capabilities there are a number of incremental enhancements that you should be aware if that expand on the use cases that make ONTAP even more valuable.
FabricPool Enhancements
- FabricPool Mirrors
In ONTAP 9.6 you could only map a single or multiple aggregates to a bucket and one aggregate tiering to multiple buckets was not supported.
With ONTAP 9.7, you can now tier one aggregate to multiple buckets. This is great for users who want to be able to move cloud providers none disruptively; tiered cold data is not recalled back to the primary system.
Another use case is for added resiliency, where you can store your data across availability zones or cloud providers.
FlexGroup Enhancements
In ONTAP 9.7 you can now perform an in-place conversion of a FlexVol volume into a FlexGroup volume with a single member, and this conversion takes less than 40 seconds; regardless of the size of the dataset.
After conversion, you can then add member vols to the FlexGroup to expand capacity and performance. It also works with FabricPool without having to touch tiered data.
- FlexVol to FlexGroup Volume Conversion One much needed feature that was missing from ONTAP 9.6 was the ability to convert a FlexVol volume into a FlexGroup volume, meaning users would have to migrate data manually, and with large datasets this could take several days.
In ONTAP 9.7 you can now perform an in-place conversion of a FlexVol volume into a FlexGroup volume with a single member, and this conversion takes less than 40 seconds; regardless of the size of the dataset.
After conversion, you can then add member vols to the FlexGroup to expand capacity and performance. It also works with FabricPool without having to touch tiered data.
- Support for NFS 4.1 include pNFS
Enhances NFS security and locking, and pNFS fits nicely with FlexGroup volumes for data I/O path locality to get the best possible performance out of a cluster. This enhances the use cases for secure files share, GIT repositories and EDA and AI workloads. - NDMP Backup
Another nice new feature in ONTAP 9.7 is the ability to perform NDMP backups (baseline/incremental) to tape for FlexGroup volumes, directories and qtrees. This allows users to dump and restore across and between FlexGroup and FlexVol volumes. - FlexCache Support
A FlexGroup can now be an origin volumes for FlexCache, increasing ONTAP's scale out capabilities. - FlexClone, VAAI and copy offload support
FlexCache Enhancements
In ONTAP 9.6, any-to-any caching was introduced, including caching to and from ONTAP Select and Cloud Volumes ONTAP. ONTAP 9.7 brings the following enhancements:
In ONTAP 9.6, any-to-any caching was introduced, including caching to and from ONTAP Select and Cloud Volumes ONTAP. ONTAP 9.7 brings the following enhancements:
- Efficiencies
Compression and dedupe has been standard since ONTAP 9.5. ONTAP 9.7 brings more efficiencies to cached volumes by adding thin provisioning and data compaction. - Volume Migration
ONTAP 9.7 brings volume migration to FlexCache volumes using volmove. This enables users to non-disruptively relocate caches to another node when workloads need change. - Security Compliance
Auditing was already supported on origin volumes. In ONTAP 9.7, native auditing of cache volume reads enables regulatory and security compliance. - Antivirus Scanning
Antivirus scans can now be scheduled on origin volumes.
SnapMirror Synchronous Enhancements
- NVMe/FC and protocol and namespace support
SnapMirror Synchronous has also been enhanced with support for NVMe/FC and namespace support, which means all protocols are now supported. - Support for application-created snapshots and LUN clones
3rd party backup applications like CommVault can now leverage clones and app-created snapshots for indexing and host-based single-file restore workflows.
Note: only clones and app-created snapshots are replicated to secondary storage.
MetroCluster Enhancements
- MetroCluster IP
ONTAP 9.6 allowed MetroCluster IP users to use their own intersite switches if they had sufficient bandwidth. In ONTAP 9.7, users can now use their own network infrastructure to significantly further reduce deployment time and costs, making MetroCluster even more appealing as a high availability solution.
Note: Switches must comply with NetApp's spec for bandwidth, latency and option settings, and users are responsible for their own network infrastructure. - New MetroCluster IP Mediator
The new MetroCluster IP Mediator replaces the tie-breaker and enables automated switchover in a consistent state. Deployed at a third site, the Mediator prevents data loss. - FabricPool and FlexCache support - MCC FC and IP
Expanding MetroCluster's use cases further, MetroCluster in ONTAP 9.7 now supports both FabricPool and FlexCache. where FabricPool enables workloads that require continuous data availability to tier data automatically, for FlexCache, both origin and cache volumes can be provisioned on mirrored aggregates.