What is Data ONTAP Cluster-Mode?

Data ONTAP 8.1 Cluster-Mode is based on the NetApp high-availability (HA) pair technology. Data ONTAP 8.1 Cluster-Mode includes a transformation of the layers of virtualization, the addition of a cluster-network path, virtualized storage containers that can span storage boundaries, and greater virtualized networking access.

All of these features map to the three key benefits:
Always-on, 
on-demand flexibility, and
Operational Flexibility

1st day with NetApp

Started on my first journey with NetApp learning today.  Signed up at http://now.netapp.com.  It's easy and takes a few minutes to do so.

Next, I went to sign up for the course called:

Data ONTAP 7-Mode Fundamentals

What is Data ONTAP 7-Mode?

First, lets go back to NetApp's operating system simply called Data ONTAP (latest version is 8 onwards) and under it, there are 2 types just like we have Windows 7 and Windows 8:'
- 7-mode
- Cluster-mode

Brief overview:
Data ONTAP 8 is the successor to Data ONTAP 7G and the culmination of years of storage technology development at NetApp. It was introduced in September 2009 and reached general availability (GA) status in March 2010. The latest version, Data ONTAP 8.0.1, was released in September 2010. (Note that when using the phrase Data ONTAP 8, I’m referring to all existing and future releases in the line.)
Data ONTAP 8 merges the capabilities of two previously separate branches of Data ONTAP—Data ONTAP 7G and Data ONTAP GX—into a single code base that has two distinct operating modes:

7-Mode. As the name implies, 7-Mode delivers capabilities equivalent to the Data ONTAP 7.3.x releases with the same user interface and management tool support. Systems running Data ONTAP 7.3.x releases can upgrade to 7-Mode nondisruptively.

Cluster-Mode. This mode inherits and improves upon the capabilities of Data ONTAP GX, its predecessor, clustered OS for scale-out storage. Cluster-Mode supports multicontroller configurations with a global namespace and clustered file system.