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Provision ONTAP SAN storage on the ASA r2 systems

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When you provision storage, you enable your SAN hosts to read from and write data to ASA r2 storage systems. To provision storage, you use ONTAP System Manager to create storage units, add host initiators, and map the host to a storage unit. You also need to perform steps on the host to enable read/write operations.

Create storage units

On an ASA r2 system, a storage unit makes storage space available to your SAN hosts for data operations. A storage unit refers to a LUN for SCSI hosts or an NVMe namespace for NVMe hosts. If your cluster is configured to support SCSI hosts, you are prompted to create a LUN. If your cluster is configured to support NVMe hosts, you are prompted to create an NVMe namespace. An ASA r2 storage unit has a maximum capacity of 128TB.

See the NetApp Hardware Universe for the most current storage limits for ASA r2 systems.

Host initiators are added and mapped to the storage unit as part of the storage unit creation process. You can also add host initiators and map them to your storage units after the storage units are created.

Steps

  1. In System Manager, select Storage; then select rectangular icon with blue background and the word add centered in white letters.

  2. Enter a name for the new storage unit.

  3. Enter the number of units you want to create.

    If you create more than one storage unit, each unit is created with the same capacity, host operating system, and host mapping.

  4. Enter the storage unit capacity; then select the host operating system.

  5. Accept the auto-selected host mapping or select a different host group for the storage unit to be mapped to.

    Host mapping refers to the host group that the new storage unit will be mapped to. If there is a pre-existing host group for the type of host you selected for your new storage unit, the pre-existing host group is auto-selected for your host mapping. You can accept the host group that is auto-selected for your host mapping or you can select a different host group.

    If there is no pre-existing host group for hosts running on the operating system you specified, a new host group is automatically created by ONTAP.

  6. If you want to do any of the following, select More Options and complete the required steps.

    Option Steps

    Change the default Quality of Service (QoS) policy

    If the default QoS policy has not previously been set on the storage virtual machine (VM) on which the storage unit is being created, this option is not available.

    1. Under Storage and optimization, next to Quality of service (QoS), select icon of blue arrow pointing in downward direction .

    2. Select an existing QoS policy.

    Create a new QoS policy

    1. Under Storage and optimization, next to Quality of service (QoS), select icon of blue arrow pointing in downward direction .

    2. Select Define new policy.

    3. Enter a name for the new QoS policy.

    4. Set a Qos limit, a QoS guarantee, or both.

      1. Optionally, under Limit, enter a maximum throughput limit, a maximum IOPS limit, or both.

        Setting a maximum throughput and IOPS for a storage unit restricts its impact on system resources so that it does not degrade the performance of critical workloads.

      2. Optionally, under Guarantee, enter a minimum throughput, a minimum IOPS, or both.

        Setting a minimum throughput and IOPS for a storage unit guarantees that it meets minimum performance targets regardless of demand by competing workloads.

    5. Select Add.

    Add a new SCSI host

    1. Under Host information, select SCSI for the connection protocol.

    2. Select the host operating system.

    3. Under Host Mapping, select New hosts.

    4. Select FC or iSCSI.

    5. Select existing host initiators or select Add initiator to add a new host initiator.

      An example of a valid FC WWPN is "01:02:03:04:0a:0b:0c:0d". Examples of valid iSCSI initiator names are "iqn.1995-08.com.example:string" and "eui.0123456789abcdef".

    Create a new SCSI host group

    1. Under Host information, select SCSI for the connection protocol.

    2. Select the host operating system.

    3. Under Host Mapping, select New host group.

    4. Enter a name for the host group; then select the hosts to add to the group.

    Add a new NVMe subsystem

    1. Under Host information, select NVMe for the connection protocol.

    2. Select the host operating system.

    3. Under Host Mapping, select New NVMe subsystem.

    4. Enter a name for the subsystem or accept the default name.

    5. Enter a name for the initiator.

    6. If you want to enable in-band authentication or Transport Layer Security (TLS), select icon of blue arrow pointing in downward direction; then select your options.

      In-band authentication allows secure bidirectional and unidirectional authentication between your NVMe hosts and your ASA r2 system.

      TLS encrypts all data sent over the network between your NVMe/TCP hosts and your ASA r2 system.

    7. Select Add initiator to add more initiators.

      The host NQN should be formatted as <nqn.yyyy-mm> followed by a fully qualified domain name. The year should be equal to or later than 1970. The total maximum length should be 223. An example of a valid NVMe initiator is nqn.2014-08.com.example:string

  7. Select Add.

What's next?

Your storage units are created and mapped to your hosts. You can now create snapshots to protect the data on your ASA r2 system.

For more information

Learn more about how ASA r2 systems use storage virtual machines.

Add host initiators

You can add new host initiators to your ASA r2 system at any time. Initiators make the hosts eligible to access storage units and perform data operations.

Before you begin

If you want to replicate the host configuration to a destination cluster during the process of adding your host initiators, your cluster must be in a replication relationship. Optionally, you can create a replication relationship after your host is added.

Add host initiators for SCSI or NVMe hosts.

SCSI hosts
Steps

  1. Select Host.

  2. Select SCSI; then select icon of blue rectangle containing a plus sign followed by the word add in white letters.

  3. Enter the host name, select the host operating system and enter a host description.

  4. If you want to replicate the host configuration to a destination cluster, select Replicate host configuration; then select the destination cluster.

    Your cluster must be in a replication relationship to replicate the host configuration.

  5. Add new or existing hosts.

    Add new hosts Add existing hosts

    1. Select New hosts.

    2. Select FC or iSCSI; then select the host initiators.

    3. Optionally, select Configure host proximity.

      Configuring host proximity enables ONTAP to identify the controller nearest to the host for data path optimization and latency reduction. This is only applicable if you have replicated data to a remote location. If you have not set up snapshot replication, you do not need to select this option.

    4. If you need to add new initiators, select Add initiators.

    1. Select Existing hosts.

    2. Select the host you want to add.

    3. Select Add.

  6. Select Add.

What's next?

Your SCSI hosts are added to your ASA r2 system and you are ready to map your hosts to your storage units.

NVMe hosts
Steps

  1. Select Host.

  2. Select NVMe; then select rectangular icon with blue background and the word add centered in white letters.

  3. Enter a name for the NVMe subsystem, select the host operating system and enter a description.

  4. Select Add initiator.

What's next?

Your NVMe hosts are added to your ASA r2 system and you are ready to map your hosts to your storage units.

Create host groups

On an ASA r2 system, a host group is the mechanism used to give hosts access to storage units. A host group refers to an igroup for SCSI hosts or to an NVMe subsystem for NVMe hosts. A host can only see the storage units that are mapped to the host groups to which it belongs. When a host group is mapped to a storage unit, the hosts that are members of the group, are then able to mount (create directories and file structures on) the storage unit.

Host groups are automatically or manually created when you create your storage units. You can optionally use the following steps to create host groups before or after storage unit creation.

Steps

  1. From System Manager, select Host.

  2. Select the hosts you want to add to the host group.

    After you select the first host, the option to add to a host group appears above the list of hosts.

  3. Select Add to host group.

  4. Search for and select the host group to which you want to add the host.

What's next?

You have created a host group and you can now map it to a storage unit.

Map the storage unit to a host

After you have created your ASA r2 storage units and added host initiators, you need to map your hosts to your storage units to begin serving data. Storage units are mapped to hosts as part of the storage unit creation process. You can also map existing storage units to new or existing hosts at any time.

Steps

  1. Select Storage.

  2. Hover over the name of the storage unit you want to map.

  3. Select three vertical blue dots; then select Map to hosts.

  4. Select the hosts you want to map to the storage unit; then select Map.

What's next?

Your storage unit is mapped to your hosts and you are ready to complete the provisioning process on your hosts.

Complete host-side provisioning

After you have created your storage units, added your host initiators and mapped your storage units, there are steps you must perform on your hosts before they can read and write data on your ASA r2 system.

Steps

  1. For FC and FC/NVMe, zone your FC switches by WWPN.

    Use one zone per initiator and include all target ports in each zone.

  2. Discover the new storage unit.

  3. Initialize the storage unit and a create file system.

  4. Verify that your host can read and write data on the storage unit.

What's next?

You have completed the provisioning process and are ready to begin serving data. You can now create snapshots to protect the data on your ASA r2 system.

For more information

For more details about host-side configuration, see the ONTAP SAN host documentation for your specific host.