I initially started writing this blog as an introduction and explanation of Cloud Backup Service by itself. I quickly realized that you can’t really understand Cloud Backup without talking about the SnapMirror to Cloud functionality now available in ONTAP 9.8. Bear with me and you’ll see what I mean. Oh, and for the sake of (relative) simplicity I will try and use full terms for each of the components I’m talking about. Though I may refer to Cloud Volumes ONTAP as CVO here and there. It’s bad enough that there’s multiple terms for the same functionality without adding “CBS” “SM2C”[…]
Read moreAuthor: Judson McKratz
Compare and Contrast: NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP compared to Azure NetApp Files
It’s time for you to deploy in Azure. As part of your project you’ve got a bunch of NAS data you want to mange and present to various users and applications. You could stand up a virtual machine and install SMB services, but who wants to manage that? You could use Azure Files, but even Microsoft says Azure NetApp Files is the better solution. Then you got someone talking about Cloud Volumes ONTAP. Hopefully this quick article will give you the foundation to understanding the differences and decide which (or sometimes a mix) is best for your use case. For[…]
Read moreDeploying Cloud Volumes ONTAP in Azure via Cloud.NetApp.com (draft)
My last guide was built around installing Cloud Volumes ONTAP (CVO) in Azure done predominantly through the Azure portal. NetApp has since transitioned much of the process to NetApp Cloud Central (cloud.netapp.com) portal. The process is largely the same, just some of the workflow steps have shifted around. For this guide I’m going to walk through deploying CVO and Cloud Manager in Azure. CVO deployment in AWS is also available, Google Cloud is on the road map. Cloud Manager can either be installed in your preferred hyperscaler or in your local environment. Best practice is to have it in the[…]
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A quick introduction to NetApp’s StorageGRID
Before I go further it’s best to have an understanding of object storage. The analogy I hear quite a bit, and now tell myself, equates object storage to valet parking. Well, magical valet parking. Using traditional file storage is like using your average self park lot. You find a place to put your car, you put it there, and you’re responsible to remembering where you parked it and retrieving it for later. Object storage comparatively like valet parking. You drop your file off, get a ticket, and use that as a reference to for the valet to find the file[…]
Read moreNetApp ONTAP Cloud in AWS – Full Deployment Guide
Intro Welcome to my quick guide on deploying NetApp’s ONTAP Cloud into AWS (Amazon Web Services). If you’re unfamiliar with the product, ONTAP Cloud is NetApp’s ONTAP software, as see on FAS and AFF equipment for many years, now available in AWS and Azure. By running ONTAP Cloud you can gain the same efficiencies and software features available on a traditional hardware platform in your cloud infrastructure. There are many benefits of presenting storage via ONTAP Cloud, such as using its deduplication abilities to lower costs and SnapMirror to easily replicate data between hyperscalers. Every ONTAP Cloud deployment starts with[…]
Read moreNetApp ONTAP Cloud Licensing
If you’re looking to deploy an instance of NetApp’s ONTAP Cloud in AWS or Azure it’s important to understand the licensing models. Not only does it effect the size and performance of your instance, but it also effects your bottom line. Pay-As-You-Go Pay-as-you-go licenses are charged on an hourly basis along side the cost of running the instance/VM. The costs associated will appear on your bill from AWS/Azure. This license model is best suited for short term or smaller environments. You don’t have to associate your NetApp Support Site account but it’s highly recommended to get service support. License[…]
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NetApp ONTAP Cloud in Azure – Full Deployment Guide
Intro Welcome to my quick guide on deploying NetApp’s ONTAP Cloud into Azure. If you’re unfamiliar with the product, ONTAP Cloud is NetApp’s ONTAP software, as see on FAS and AFF equipment for many years, now available in AWS and Azure. By running ONTAP Cloud you can gain the same efficiencies and software features available on a traditional hardware platform in your cloud infrastructure. There are many benefits of presenting storage via ONTAP Cloud, such as using its deduplication abilities to lower costs and SnapMirror to easily replicate data between hyperscalers. Every ONTAP Cloud deployment starts with OnCommand Cloud Manager. OnCommand[…]
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An Introduction to Unity, EMC’s New Storage Array
EMC is rolling out a new SAN array lineup called the EMC Unity. At a high level the Unity comes into two main flavors, all flash and hybrid, and support fibre channel, iSCSI, NFS, and CIFS/SMB. It’s a mid-tier array, destined to supplant higher level VNXe arrays, and lower level VNX2 arrays. Specifically, the VNXe 3200 and VNX 5200, 5400, 5600, & 5800. As for right now I’m not aware of any plans to depreciate those arrays so if you’ve just picked one up or aren’t ready to jump into some cutting edge EMC tech then no need to worry.[…]
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Data Domain: DDOS Replication Version Compatibility Matrix (through DDOS 6.0)
For, I presume silly reasons, EMC hasn’t updated their public facing documentation pertaining to Data Domain’s system-to-system replication compatibility matrix (in relation to the various DDOS releases)(what a mouthful)(phrasing). Their public facing doc, KB459943, only covers up to DDOS 5.5. Here’s the updated chart, straight from EMC, now covering DDOS 5.6, 5.7, and 6.0*. As always, please confirm with EMC and don’t take the below for granted. All this is subject to change, more or less, at random. Oh, and I added colour coding, because why not? * Not sure why the chart EMC provided to me includes DDOS 6.0.[…]
Read moreLicensing an Avamar System
Here’s the procedure to add a license to an Avamar server as of 4/1/2016. This only needs to be ran on the Utility node, is non-disruptive, and takes very little time. The only delay you might run into is reviving the relevant info, and the license itself, from EMC. Generating a License Key Information File Start by opening a SSH session into the utility node as the admin user and run the following commands. cd /tmp ssh-agent bash ssh-add ~admin/.ssh/admin_key Enter the admin_key password if promoted (default is P3t3rPan). gathergsankeydata After you run gathergsankeydata you will be promoted to two[…]
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