NetApp Qtrees

A NetApp qtree is a directory with special properties.  Originally, the "Q" is the quota and also know as the “quota-tree”.  Quota-tree can be used to set a quota on a particular directory.

Nowadays, we have FlexVols in NetApp, which also can be quota-limited.  In addition to a quota, a qtree possesses a few other properties.

A qtree enables you to apply attributes such as oplocks and security style to a subset of files and directories rather than to an entire volume.
Single files can be moved across a qtree without moving the data blocks. Directories cannot be moved across a qtree. However, since most clients use recursion to move the children of directories, the actual observed behavior is that directories are copied and files are then moved. Security style & oplocks settings can be different than rest of volume.

The following describes the replication relationship to qtress:

SnapMirror 
- Whole volumes OR qtrees can be replicated

SnapVault 
- Only qtrees can be replicated

OSSV (Open Systems SnapVault)
- Only directories can be replicated to qtrees

NetApp SnapVault

Netapp SnapVault is a heterogeneous disk-to-disk backup solution for Netapp filers and heterogeneous OS systems (Windows, Linux , Solaris, HPUX and AIX). Basically, Snapvault uses netapp snapshot technology to take point-in-time snapshot and store them as online backups. In event of data loss or corruption on a filer, the backup data can be restored from the SnapVault filer with less downtime. It has significant advantages over traditional tape backups, such as:

• Reduce backup windows versus traditional tape-based backup
• Media cost savings
• No backup/recovery failures due to media errors
• Simple and Fast recovery of corrupted or destroyed data

Snapvault consists of major two entities –  snapvault clients and a snapvault storage server. A snapvault client (Netapp filers and unix/windows servers) is the system whose data should be backed-up.  The SnapVault server is a Netapp filer – which gets the data from clients and backs up data. For Server to Netapp Snapvault, we need to install Open System Snapvault client software provided by Netapp, on the servers. Using the snapvault agent software, the Snapvault server can pull and backup data on to the backup qtrees. SnapVault protects data on a client system by maintaining a number of read-only versions (snapshots) of that data on a SnapVault filer. The replicated data on the snapvault server system can be accessed via NFS or CIFS. The client systems can restore entire directories or single files directly from the snapvault filer.  Snapvault requires primary and secondary license.

NetApp Snapmirror And Its Advantages

NetApp® SnapMirror® software has been the preferred technology for replication and disaster recovery in a wide variety of NetApp storage environments for years because of its proven efficiency, simplicity, and modest cost when compared with other DR solutions. Over the years, NetApp has continued to enhance SnapMirror with new features and capabilities to make the product fit an even broader range of requirements and to use network bandwidth even more efficiently.

The use of SnapMirror technology offers significant advantages:

Efficient
Block-level updates reduce network bandwidth and time requirements. Starting with Data ONTAP® 7.3.2, volume SnapMirror also offers native network compression to further reduce bandwidth costs.

Flexible
Data can be replicated between dissimilar NetApp storage systems. One-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, or many-to-many replication topologies are supported with async mode.

More productive
When you use SnapMirror in combination with NetApp FlexClone®, you can use the data stored in your DR environment for dev/test, data mining, or other purposes.

Consistent. Through integration with the NetApp SnapManager® suite, application data can be replicated while making sure of full consistency for quick recovery.

Safe
Your DR plan can be tested without affecting production and ongoing replication so you can test more frequently to make sure there aren’t any surprises should disaster strike. To protect against application data corruption, your DR site can keep multiple Snapshot® copies on hand and quickly and easily restore to a point in time before the data corruption occurred.

There are two operating modes for SnapMirror: volume and qtree. Volume SnapMirror is generally the preferred mode. Because of its relative popularity, much of our development effort, including integration with the SnapManager suite of products, has focused on volume SnapMirror. As a result, volume SnapMirror offers greater flexibility and efficiency. This chapter of Back to Basics explores how volume SnapMirror technology is implemented, the most common use cases, best practices for implementing SnapMirror, and more.

NetApp Most Commonly Used Commands

NetApp Most Commonly Used Commands

man (man pages)
Browses through man(ual) pages of command documentation

sysconfig (-a, -r, -c, -t, -m)
Shows information about filer (hardware, disks, aggregates & RAID groups, ...)

options
Queries or changes values for various “registry” options setup. Walks through initial setup questions: filer name, IP addresses, etc., but does not erase any data

cifs setup
Walks through CIFS setup questions: domain/workgroup membership etc.

sysstat -x -s 1
Prints out all-round performance statistics

license
Adds/removes/prints licenses on filer

version (-b)
Prints out Data ONTAP & Diagnostics/Firmware version numbers

rdfile
Reads a text file and prints contents to console (Unix “cat”)

wrfile
Reads from console and sends output to text file (Unix “Cat >”)

snap (restore)
Performs snapshot operations, eg. restore from snapshot snapvault

snapmirror
Manipulates/controls SnapMirror/SnapVault/OSSV operations from the command-line

cf
Controls clustering, eg. enabling/disabling, forcing takeover & giveback

aggr
Creates/expands/destroys/manipulates aggregates, eg. change options

vol
Create/resizes/destroys/manipulates volumes, eg. change options

df
Shows free disk space (volumes, aggregates, also inodes)

qtree
Creates/manipulates qtrees (=special directories)

vif
Creates/destroys/manipulates virtual network interfaces (eg.team interfaces for failover or load-balancing)

ifconfig
Sets network IP configuration (put in /etc/rc to survive reboots)

ifstat
Shows network interface statistics

netdiag
Performs basic network diagnostic testing

ndmpd
ndmpcopy
Manipulates NDMP settings, or use ndmpcopy to copy files via NDMP

priv set
priv set advanced
priv set diag

Goes into advanced/diagnostics mode

NetApp Common Terminology

NetApp Common Terminology  - Storage Terms

storage controller
The component of a storage system that runs the Data ONTAP operating system and controls its disk subsystem. Storage controllers are also sometimes called controllers, storage appliances, appliances, storage engines, heads, CPU modules, or controller modules.

storage system
The hardware device running Data ONTAP that receives data from and sends data to native disk shelves, third-party storage, or both. Storage systems that run Data
ONTAP are sometimes referred to as filers, appliances, storage appliances, VSeries systems, or systems.

Cluster and high-availability terms below:

cluster

• In Data ONTAP 8.x Cluster-Mode, a group of connected nodes (storage systems) that share a global namespace and that you can manage as a single virtual server or multiple virtual servers, providing performance, reliability, and scalability benefits.
• In the Data ONTAP 7.1 release family and earlier releases, a pair of storage systems (sometimes called nodes) configured to serve data for each other if one of the two systems stops functioning.
• In the Data ONTAP 7.3 and 7.2 release families, this functionality is referred to as an active/active configuration.
• For some storage array vendors, cluster refers to the hardware component on which host adapters and ports are located. Some storage array vendors refer to this component as a controller.

HA (high availability)

• In Data ONTAP 8.x, the recovery capability provided by a pair of nodes (storage systems), called an HA pair, that are configured to serve data for each other if one of the two nodes stops functioning.
• In the Data ONTAP 7.3 and 7.2 release families, this functionality is referred to as an active/active configuration.

HA pair 

• In Data ONTAP 8.x, a pair of nodes (storage systems) configured to serve data for each other if one of the two nodes stops functioning.
• In the Data ONTAP 7.3 and 7.2 release families, this functionality is referred to as an active/active configuration.

What is NetApp Autosupport

What is NetApp AutoSupport?

NetApp AutoSupport is an integrated and efficient monitoring and reporting technology that checks the health of AutoSupport-enabled NetApp systems on a continual basis. It’s an effective troubleshooting tool for you and for the NetApp Support team. It provides capability to configure filers to initiate automatic sending of email notifications to NetApp technical support and other designated addressees when specific events occur

Why ?
Helps solve problems proactively

How ?

• Via email (smtp, preferred) or the web (http(s))
• Configure via the web interface or
• Via the 'options' command

filer> options autosupport.support.transport smtp
filer> options autosupport.doit testing123

If the email subject contains the word “test”, NetApp will send a reply to all email recipients.

rdfile command

rdfile (read), wrfile (write)

rdfile is a NetApp command is to read a file in NetApp environment.  Example below to read the quota file.

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.