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Storage limits in Azure

Contributors netapp-rlithman netapp-driley netapp-bcammett

Cloud Volumes ONTAP has storage configuration limits to provide reliable operations. For best performance, do not configure your system at the maximum values.

Maximum system capacity by license

The maximum system capacity for a Cloud Volumes ONTAP system is determined by its license. The maximum system capacity includes disk-based storage plus object storage used for data tiering.

NetApp doesn't support exceeding the system capacity limit. If you reach the licensed capacity limit, BlueXP displays an action required message and no longer allows you to add additional disks.

License Maximum system capacity (disks + object storage)

Freemium

500 GiB

PAYGO Explore

2 TiB (data tiering is not supported with Explore)

PAYGO Standard

10 TiB

PAYGO Premium

368 TiB

Node-based license

2 PiB (requires multiple licenses)

Capacity-based license

2 PiB

For HA, is the license capacity limit per node or for the entire HA pair?

The capacity limit is for the entire HA pair. It is not per node. For example, if you use the Premium license, you can have up to 368 TiB of capacity between both nodes.

Aggregate limits

Cloud Volumes ONTAP uses Azure storage as disks and groups them into aggregates. Aggregates provide storage to volumes.

Parameter Limit

Maximum number of aggregates

Same as the disk limit

Maximum aggregate size 1

384 TiB of raw capacity for single node 2
352 TiB of raw capacity for single node with PAYGO
96 TiB of raw capacity for HA pairs with page blob
384 TiB of raw capacity for HA pairs with managed disks

Disks per aggregate

1-12 3

Maximum number of RAID groups per aggregate

1

Notes:

  1. The aggregate capacity limit is based on the disks that comprise the aggregate. The limit does not include object storage used for data tiering.

  2. If using node-based licensing, two BYOL licenses are required to reach 384 TiB.

  3. All disks in an aggregate must be the same size.

Disk and tiering limits by VM size

Capacity limits are different depending on the VM size that you use and whether you're using a single node system or an HA pair.

The following notes provide details about the numbers that you'll see in the tables below:

  • The disk limits are specific to disks that contain user data.

    The limits do not include the root disk, core disk, and VNVRAM.

  • A maximum system capacity is listed when using disks alone and when using disks and cold data tiering to object storage.

  • Single node and HA systems which use managed disks have a maximum of 32 TiB per disk. The number of supported disks varies by VM size.

  • HA systems which use page blobs have a maximum of 8 TiB per page blob. The number of supported disks varies by VM size.

  • The 896 TiB disk-based limit that's listed for single node systems with certain VM sizes is the tested limit.

Limits for capacity-based licensing

The following disk limits apply to Cloud Volumes ONTAP systems that use a capacity-based licensing package. Learn about Cloud Volumes ONTAP licensing options

Single node

VM size Max data disks per node Max system capacity with disks alone Max system capacity with disks and data tiering

DS4_v2

29

896 TiB

2 PiB

DS5_v2

61

896 TiB

2 PiB

DS13_v2

29

896 TiB

2 PiB

DS14_v2

61

896 TiB

2 PiB

DS15_v2

61

896 TiB

2 PiB

E4s_v3

5

160 TiB

2 PiB

E8s_v3

13

416 TiB

2 PiB

E32s_v3

29

896 TiB

2 PiB

E48s_v3

29

896 TiB

2 PiB

E64is_v3

29

896 TiB

2 PiB

E4ds_v4

5

160 TiB

2 PiB

E8ds_v4

13

416 TiB

2 PiB

E32ds_v4

29

896 TiB

2 PiB

E48ds_v4

29

896 TiB

2 PiB

E80ids_v4

61

896 TiB

2 PiB

E4ds_v5

5

160 TiB

2 PiB

E8ds_v5

13

416 TiB

2 PiB

E20ds_v5

29

896 TiB

2 PiB

E32ds_v5

29

896 TiB

2 PiB

E48ds_v5

29

896 TiB

2 PiB

E64ds_v5

29

896 TiB

2 PiB

L8s_v3

12

384 TiB

2 PiB

L16s_v3

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

L32s_v3

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

L48s_v3

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

L64s_v3

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

HA pairs in a single availability zone with page blobs

VM size Max data disks for an HA pair Max system capacity with disks alone Max system capacity with disks and data tiering

DS4_v2

29

232 TiB

2 PiB

DS5_v2

61

488 TiB

2 PiB

DS13_v2

29

232 TiB

2 PiB

DS14_v2

61

488 TiB

2 PiB

DS15_v2

61

488 TiB

2 PiB

E8s_v3

13

104 TiB

2 PiB

E48s_v3

29

232 TiB

2 PiB

E8ds_v4

13

104 TiB

2 PiB

E32ds_v4

29

232 TiB

2 PiB

E48ds_v4

29

232 TiB

2 PiB

E80ids_v4

61

488 TiB

2 PiB

HA pairs in a single availability zone with shared managed disks

VM size Max data disks for an HA pair Max system capacity with disks alone Max system capacity with disks and data tiering

E8ds_v4

12

384 TiB

2 PiB

E32ds_v4

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

E48ds_v4

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

E80ids_v4

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

E8ds_v5

12

384 TiB

2 PiB

E20ds_v5

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

E32ds_v5

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

E48ds_v5

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

E64ds_v5

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

L16s_v3

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

L32s_v3

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

L48s_v3

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

L64s_v3

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

HA pairs in multiple availability zones with shared managed disks

VM size Max data disks for an HA pair Max system capacity with disks alone Max system capacity with disks and data tiering

E8ds_v4

12

384 TiB

2 PiB

E32ds_v4

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

E48ds_v4

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

E80ids_v4

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

E8ds_v5

12

384 TiB

2 PiB

E20ds_v5

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

E32ds_v5

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

E48ds_v5

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

E64ds_v5

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

L16s_v3

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

L32s_v3

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

L48s_v3

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

L64s_v3

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

Limits for node-based licensing

The following disk limits apply to Cloud Volumes ONTAP systems that use node-based licensing, which is the previous generation licensing model that enabled you to license Cloud Volumes ONTAP by node. Node-based licensing is still available for existing customers.

You can purchase multiple node-based licenses for a Cloud Volumes ONTAP BYOL single node or HA pair system to allocate more than 368 TiB of capacity, up to the maximum tested and supported system capacity limit of 2 PiB. Be aware that disk limits can prevent you from reaching the capacity limit by using disks alone. You can go beyond the disk limit by tiering inactive data to object storage. Learn how to add additional system licenses to Cloud Volumes ONTAP. Though Cloud Volumes ONTAP supports up to the maximum tested and supported system capacity of 2 PiB, crossing the 2 PiB limit results in an unsupported system configuration.

Single node

Single node has two node-based licensing options: PAYGO Premium and BYOL.

Single node with PAYGO Premium
VM size Max data disks per node Max system capacity with disks alone Max system capacity with disks and data tiering

DS5_v2

61

368 TiB

368 TiB

DS14_v2

61

368 TiB

368 TiB

DS15_v2

61

368 TiB

368 TiB

E32s_v3

29

368 TiB

368 TiB

E48s_v3

29

368 TiB

368 TiB

E64is_v3

29

368 TiB

368 TiB

E32ds_v4

29

368 TiB

368 TiB

E48ds_v4

29

368 TiB

368 TiB

E80ids_v4

61

368 TiB

368 TiB

E20ds_v5

29

896 TiB

2 PiB

E32ds_v5

29

896 TiB

2 PiB

E48ds_v5

29

896 TiB

2 PiB

E64ds_v5

29

896 TiB

2 PiB

Single node with BYOL
VM size Max data disks per node Max system capacity with one license Max system capacity with multiple licenses

Disks alone

Disks + data tiering

Disks alone

Disks + data tiering

DS4_v2

29

368 TiB

368 TiB

896 TiB

2 PiB

DS5_v2

61

368 TiB

368 TiB

896 TiB

2 PiB

DS13_v2

29

368 TiB

368 TiB

896 TiB

2 PiB

DS14_v2

61

368 TiB

368 TiB

896 TiB

2 PiB

DS15_v2

61

368 TiB

368 TiB

896 TiB

2 PiB

L8s_v2

13

368 TiB

368 TiB

416 TiB

2 PiB

E4s_v3

5

160 TiB

368 TiB

160 TiB

2 PiB

E8s_v3

13

368 TiB

368 TiB

416 TiB

2 PiB

E32s_v3

29

368 TiB

368 TiB

896 TiB

2 PiB

E48s_v3

29

368 TiB

368 TiB

896 TiB

2 PiB

E64is_v3

29

368 TiB

368 TiB

896 TiB

2 PiB

E4ds_v4

5

160 TiB

368 TiB

160 TiB

2 PiB

E8ds_v4

13

368 TiB

368 TiB

416 TiB

2 PiB

E32ds_v4

29

368 TiB

368 TiB

896 TiB

2 PiB

E48ds_v4

29

368 TiB

368 TiB

896 TiB

2 PiB

E80ids_v4

61

368 TiB

368 TiB

896 TiB

2 PiB

E4ds_v5

5

160 TiB

368 TiB

160 TiB

2 PiB

E8ds_v5

13

368 TiB

368 TiB

416 TiB

2 PiB

E20ds_v5

29

368 TiB

368 TiB

896 TiB

2 PiB

E32ds_v5

29

368 TiB

368 TiB

896 TiB

2 PiB

E48ds_v5

29

368 TiB

368 TiB

896 TiB

2 PiB

E64ds_v5

29

368 TiB

368 TiB

896 TiB

2 PiB

HA pairs

HA pairs have two configuration types: page blob and multiple availability zone. Each configuration has two node-based licensing options: PAYGO Premium and BYOL.

PAYGO Premium: HA pairs in single availability zone with page blobs
VM size Max data disks for an HA pair Max system capacity with disks alone Max system capacity with disks and data tiering

DS5_v2

61

368 TiB

368 TiB

DS14_v2

61

368 TiB

368 TiB

DS15_v2

61

368 TiB

368 TiB

E8s_v3

13

104 TiB

368 TiB

E48s_v3

29

232 TiB

368 TiB

E32ds_v4

29

232 TiB

368 TiB

E48ds_v4

29

232 TiB

368 TiB

E80ids_v4

61

368 TiB

368 TiB

PAYGO Premium: HA pairs in a multiple availability zone configuration with shared managed disks
VM size Max data disks for an HA pair Max system capacity with disks alone Max system capacity with disks and data tiering

E32ds_v4

28

368 TiB

368 TiB

E48ds_v4

28

368 TiB

368 TiB

E80ids_v4

28

368 TiB

368 TiB

E20ds_v5

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

E32ds_v5

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

E48ds_v5

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

E64ds_v5

28

896 TiB

2 PiB

BYOL: HA pairs in single availability zone with page blobs
VM size Max data disks for an HA pair Max system capacity with one license Max system capacity with multiple licenses

Disks alone

Disks + data tiering

Disks alone

Disks + data tiering

DS4_v2

29

232 TiB

368 TiB

232 TiB

2 PiB

DS5_v2

61

368 TiB

368 TiB

488 TiB

2 PiB

DS13_v2

29

232 TiB

368 TiB

232 TiB

2 PiB

DS14_v2

61

368 TiB

368 TiB

488 TiB

2 PiB

DS15_v2

61

368 TiB

368 TiB

488 TiB

2 PiB

E8s_v3

13

104 TiB

368 TiB

104 TiB

2 PiB

E48s_v3

29

232 TiB

368 TiB

232 TiB

2 PiB

E8ds_v4

13

104 TiB

368 TiB

104 TiB

2 PiB

E32ds_v4

29

232 TiB

368 TiB

232 TiB

2 PiB

E48ds_v4

29

232 TiB

368 TiB

232 TiB

2 PiB

E80ids_v4

61

368 TiB

368 TiB

488 TiB

2 PiB

BYOL: HA pairs in a multiple availability zone configuration with shared managed disks
VM size Max data disks for an HA pair Max system capacity with one license Max system capacity with multiple licenses

Disks alone

Disks + data tiering

Disks alone

Disks + data tiering

E8ds_v4

12

368 TiB

368 TiB

368 TiB

2 PiB

E32ds_v4

28

368 TiB

368 TiB

368 TiB

2 PiB

E48ds_v4

28

368 TiB

368 TiB

368 TiB

2 PiB

E80ids_v4

28

368 TiB

368 TiB

368 TiB

2 PiB

E8ds_v5

12

368 TiB

368 TiB

368 TiB

2 PiB

E20ds_v5

28

368 TiB

368 TiB

368 TiB

2 PiB

E32ds_v5

28

368 TiB

368 TiB

368 TiB

2 PiB

E48ds_v5

28

368 TiB

368 TiB

368 TiB

2 PiB

E64ds_v5

28

368 TiB

368 TiB

368 TiB

2 PiB

Storage VM limits

Some configurations enable you to create additional storage VMs (SVMs) for Cloud Volumes ONTAP.

These are the tested limits. While it is theoretically possible to configure additional storage VMs, it's not supported.

License type Storage VM limit

Freemium

24 storage VMs total 1,2

Capacity-based PAYGO or BYOL 3

24 storage VMs total 1,2

Node-based BYOL 4

24 storage VMs total 1,2

Node-based PAYGO

  • 1 storage VM for serving data

  • 1 storage VM for disaster recovery

  1. These 24 storage VMs can serve data or be configured for disaster recovery (DR).

  2. Each storage VM can have up to three LIFs where two are data LIFs and one is an SVM management LIF.

  3. For capacity-based licensing, there are no extra licensing costs for additional storage VMs, but there is a 4 TiB minimum capacity charge per storage VM. For example, if you create two storage VMs and each has 2 TiB of provisioned capacity, you'll be charged a total of 8 TiB.

  4. For node-based BYOL, an add-on license is required for each additional data-serving storage VM beyond the first storage VM that comes with Cloud Volumes ONTAP by default. Contact your account team to obtain a storage VM add-on license.

    Storage VMs that you configure for disaster recovery (DR) don't require an add-on license (they are free of charge), but they do count against the storage VM limit. For example, if you have 12 data-serving storage VMs and 12 storage VMs configured for disaster recovery, then you've reached the limit and can't create any additional storage VMs.

File and volume limits

Logical storage Parameter Limit

Files

Maximum size 2

128 TB

Maximum per volume

Volume size dependent, up to 2 billion

FlexClone volumes

Hierarchical clone depth 1

499

FlexVol volumes

Maximum per node

500

Minimum size

20 MB

Maximum size 3

300 TiB

Qtrees

Maximum per FlexVol volume

4,995

Snapshot copies

Maximum per FlexVol volume

1,023

  1. Hierarchical clone depth is the maximum depth of a nested hierarchy of FlexClone volumes that can be created from a single FlexVol volume.

  2. Beginning with ONTAP 9.12.1P2, the limit is 128 TB. In ONTAP 9.11.1 and earlier versions, the limit is 16 TB.

  3. FlexVol volume creation up to maximum size of 300 TiB is supported using the following tools and minimum versions:

    • System Manager and the ONTAP CLI starting from Cloud Volumes ONTAP 9.12.1 P2 and 9.13.0 P2

    • BlueXP starting from Cloud Volumes ONTAP 9.13.1

iSCSI storage limits

iSCSI storage Parameter Limit

LUNs

Maximum per node

1,024

Maximum number of LUN maps

1,024

Maximum size

16 TiB

Maximum per volume

512

igroups

Maximum per node

256

Initiators

Maximum per node

512

Maximum per igroup

128

iSCSI sessions

Maximum per node

1,024

LIFs

Maximum per port

32

Maximum per portset

32

Portsets

Maximum per node

256