Maximum data drives per 16-TB aggregate

With the aggregate size calculation changes present in Data ONTAP 7.3, you can include more data
drives in an aggregate without exceeding the aggregate size limit.

The following table shows the maximum number of data drives that can be included in a 16-TB aggregate
for Data ONTAP 7.3 and for previous releases.

Metrocluster and Cable distances

Although NetApp recommends that dedicated dark fiber be used for a MetroCluster configuration, WDM devices are supported. Refer to the Brocade Compatibility Guide at www.brocade.com for supported devices.

Stretch MetroCluster can support a maximum of 500 meters between nodes at a speed of 2Gbps. Fabric MetroCluster, through the use of Fibre Channel switches, extends this distance to 100km at the same speed. At 4Gbps speeds, these distances are roughly cut in half unless using the Brocade 300, 5000 or 5100, which leaves this maximum distance at 100km.

CABLE TYPE
As shown in Table 3, the cable type affects both distance and speed. Single-mode cable is supported only for the inter-switch links. Example 1: A customer has 250 meters between sites and wants to run at 4Gbps. The OM-3 cable type is required. Example 2: A customer currently has a MetroCluster configuration running at 2Gbps with a distance of 300 meters over OM2 cabling and wants to upgrade to 4Gbps speeds. Upgrading the cabling will not help, because OM3 has a maximum of 270 meters. In this case the choices would be:
• Remain at 2Gbps speeds. Customers with the new ESH4 disk shelves could still use them at this distance, as long as the shelf speed is set to 2Gbps.
• Test current optical network infrastructure to make sure that attenuation and latency are acceptable.



The maximum distance shown in the picture is typically due to the standard 1310nm SFPs. Use of high-power SFPs can extend this dark fiber up to 30km. Using 1550nm high-power SFPs, a distance of 70–100km can be achieved. This topic is discussed in much greater technical detail in the following technical reports:

• MetroCluster Upgrade Planning Guide (TR-3517)
• Optical Network Installation Guide (TR-3552)

There are four types of Small Form-factor Pluggables (SFPs) associated with the Fabric MetroCluster configuration. They are:

Short-Wavelength Laser (SWL) Short Wavelength Laser transceivers based on 850nm lasers are designed to transmit short distances. This is the most common type of media and is the default on the Brocade 200E.

Long Wavelength Laser (LWL) Long Wavelength Laser transceivers may be based on 1310nm lasers. They are used for long distance native FC links. Generally, these media types are used with single-mode fiber cable.

Extended Long Wavelength Laser (ELWM) Extended Long wavelength Laser transceivers may be based on 1550nm lasers. They are used to run native Fibre Channel connections over even greater distance than LWL media can support. Generally these media types use single-mode fiber cable.

WDM Both coarse (CWDM) and dense (DWDM) SFP transceivers are commercially available for multi-wavelength channel transmission inside single mode fibers.

The type of SFP transceiver required is a function of the distance and the interconnect technology used. Table 2.4 summarizes the types and specifications for the SFP transceivers supported by the NetApp solution.

Enabling unix like commands on Data Ontap

Enabling unix like commands on Data Ontap


There is a completely unsupported method to actually accomplish this.

1) Get to a command prompt

2) priv set advanced

3) java netapp.cmds.jsh

4) do a LS to list the contents

5) now u can use rm to delete a qtree

6) CTRL+C brings you back to the Ontap command prompt

This works on the Simulators as well.




Example:


netapp1*> java netapp.cmds.jsh

jsh> ls

etc

home

source

.ha

stuff

jsh> ls -la

drwx------ 14 0 61440 Apr 12 2004 08:36:52 etc

drwxrwxrwx 2 0 4096 Nov 17 2003 07:39:40 home

drwxrwxrwx 5 0 4096 Mar 24 2004 13:21:21 source

dr-------- 2 0 4096 Feb 09 2004 10:02:18 .ha

drwxrwxrwx 5 0 4096 Mar 15 2004 14:12:47 stuff

jsh> cd etc

jsh> cat hosts

#Generated by setup Mon Nov 31 11:50:17 EST 2005

#Auto-generated by setup Fri Jan 23 14:12:57 GMT 2004

127.0.0.1 localhost

# 0.0.0.0 netapp1-ns1

192.168.99.10 filer1

192.168.99.11 netapp1

Hidden commands in the special boot menu of the filer

Hidden commands in the special boot menu of the filer


There are some hidden command in the special boot menu of a filer. Below is one of these commands. This command (WAFL_Check aggrname) checks the filesystem of the filer for any inconsistencies and corrects them when necessary.



Example:

Special boot options menu will be available.

NetApp Release 7.0.4P1: Mon Feb 27 14:36:15 PST 2006

Copyright (c) 1992-2006 Network Appliance, Inc.

Starting boot on Sat Mar 24 15:36:18 GMT 2007


(1) Normal boot.

(2) Boot without /etc/rc.

(3) Change password.

(4) Initialize all disks.

(4a) Same as option 4, but create a flexible root volume.

(5) Maintenance mode boot.

Selection (1-5)? WAFL_check aggr01


Sat Mar 24 15:38:15 GMT [wafl.vol.inconsistent:ALERT]: Aggregate aggr01 is inconsistent. Please contact NetApp Customer Support.

Sat Mar 24 15:38:15 GMT [raid.vol.replay.nvram:info]: Performing raid replay on volume(s)

Sat Mar 24 15:38:15 GMT [raid.cksum.replay.summary:info]: Replayed 0 checksum blocks.

Sat Mar 24 15:38:15 GMT [raid.stripe.replay.summary:info]: Replayed 0 stripes.

Checking aggr01...

WAFL_check NetApp Release 7.0.4P1

Starting at Sat Mar 24 15:38:17 GMT 2007

Phase 1: Verify fsinfo blocks.

Phase 2: Verify metadata indirect blocks.

Phase 3: Scan inode file.

Phase 3a: Scan inode file special files.

Phase 3a time in seconds: 9

Phase 3b: Scan inode file normal files.

(inodes 5%)

(inodes 10%)

(inodes 15%)

(inodes 20%)

(inodes 25%)

(inodes 30%)

(inodes 35%)

(inodes 41%)

(inodes 46%)

(inodes 51%)

(inodes 56%)

(inodes 61%)

(inodes 66%)

(inodes 71%)

(inodes 76%)

(inodes 82%)

(inodes 87%)

(inodes 92%)

(inodes 97%)

(inodes 99%)


So instead of making a selection of 1 to 5, type the command and the aggregate check takes off.

bootfs error

After an upgrade to ontap 7.2.1.1 bootfs error



Starting with version 7.2.1.1 DatOntap has a new code that checks integrity of the Compact Flash, and it looks for partially-written files. When the code finds some inconsistency in the file system on the compact flash it will result in a bootfs chkdsk error.


Here are the steps to resolve this issue:


filer>priv set advanced

filer>bootfs help info

* Take note of the name of the boot device.


filer>bootfs fdisk 1

For example: 0i.0 for name

This causes the boot device to be reformatted on the next download.


filer>download

Reformats and reloads your kernel on the boot device.


Note: You can use 'bootfs chkdsk "name"' to verify that the problem is corrected.

Stop those annoying console messages

Preventing console messages from interfering with troubleshooting



Stop those annoying on-screen console messages from interfering when your working on the filer console.


Complete the following steps to create a working /etc/syslog.conf file that will only update /etc/messages.


Note:

This procedure assumes the default configuration where the /etc/syslog.conf does not exist.


Copy the following line into the CLI:


wrfile /etc/syslog.conf


Press the Return key.


Copy the following line into the CLI:


*.info /etc/messages


Press the Return key and CTRL+C to close the file.


At this point, the console messages should stop. To enable console messages again, rename the syslog.conf file from a CIFS/NFS host.


Caution: Using the wrfile /etc/syslog.conf command will cause all contents of the syslog.conf file to be overwritten. If syslogging has already been customized, and these customizations must be kept, please use NFS or CIFS to edit the syslog.conf file.

Autosupport throttling

A new "feature" in DataOntap 7.0.5 is that there is a throttling option for sending autosupport messages. By default only "error" autosupports are send. So no more weekly logs and so on.


The option is:


autosupport.notify_threshold


Description:


For Data ONTAP 7.0.5 only. Specifies the minimum severity level of AutoSupport messages that customers want to receive. The available severity levels are: critical, error, warning, notice, info, debug.

The default for Data ONTAP 7.0.5 is to send critical and error messages only to the addresses specified in the AutoSupport.to and autosupport.noteto. To revert the message delivery method to that of Data ONTAP 7.0.4 and earlier, change the value to "debug".