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Well-architected dashboard

Configuration analysis for Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP

Contributors netapp-rlithman
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NetApp Console analyzes storage system configurations regularly to determine if any there are any configuration issues. When issues are found, NetApp Console shows you what the issues are and explains what needs to change to ensure your storage systems achieve peak performance, cost efficiency, and compliance with best practices.

Key capabilities include:

  • Daily configuration analysis

  • Automatic best practice validations for NetApp ONTAP storage systems and partner storage providers

  • Proactive observability

  • Insights to action

How it works

Workload Factory analyzes your workloads running on Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP file systems deployments daily. The analysis provides well-architected status, insights, and recommendations.

After the daily analysis completes, configurations appear as "optimized" or "not optimized" in the Well-architected dashboard for the deployment. You'll find the total optimization score, configuration issues by category, and a list of configuration issues and recommendations. You can review the recommendations for configuration issues. Some issues can be fixed automatically by Workload Factory, while others require manual intervention. In this case, Workload Factory provides detailed instructions to help you implement the recommended changes.

You can dismiss the analysis of configurations that do not apply to your environments. This avoids unnecessary alerts and inaccurate optimization results. When you dismiss a specific configuration analysis, Workload Factory does not include the configuration in the total optimization score.

Why it matters

Workload Factory applies best practices to large storage, database, and VMware environments by combining ongoing assessment with recommendation insights and remediation. Automated fixes applied in the Workload Factory console reduce human error, ensure uniform management, and preserve performance and reliability across your workload infrastructures.

Analysis requirements

For a complete file system analysis, you must do the following:

Best practices and recommendations for storage workloads

Workload Factory assesses storage configurations against ONTAP best practices and the AWS Well-Architected Framework. The assessment also recommends improvements and fixes.

The well-architected analysis categorizes configurations in the following pillars of the framework: reliability, security, operational excellence, cost optimization, and performance efficiency.

Reliability

Reliability ensures that workloads perform their intended functions correctly and consistently, even when there are disruptions.

  • Schedule volume backups

    Backing up your volumes helps support data retention and compliance needs. Use volume backups to set up automated backups and retention for your data.

  • Schedule local snapshots

    Schedule local snapshots for efficient backup and quick restores. Snapshots are instant, point-in-time images of your volumes.

  • Cross-region replication

    Cross-region replication ensures that your data is replicated to another AWS region, providing enhanced data durability and availability. Workload Factory recommends setting up cross-region replication to help with disaster recovery and compliance.

  • Set up data replication

    To extend data reliability, data can be replicated to an FSx for ONTAP file system in the same region or in another region. Set up data replication to support migration, disaster recovery, and long-term retention across file systems.

  • Increase SSD capacity threshold

    The SSD storage tier capacity should not exceed 80% utilization. This might impact data reads and writes to your capacity pool storage tier and impact the throughput capacity of your file system. Running out of capacity causes data volumes to become read-only. Services trying to write new data also fail.

  • Match labels to ensure data reliability

    The snapshot policy labels of the source volume and the replication policy labels must match to ensure data reliability.

  • Increase file capacity threshold

    The file capacity threshold should be raised to avoid hitting the volume capacity limit. Low file capacity (inodes) prevents writing additional data to the volume. Workload Factory recommends maintaining file capacity utilization below 80%. Available file capacity is required to create new files in the volume.

Security

Security emphasizes protecting data, systems, and assets through risk assessments and mitigation strategies.

  • Enable ARP/AI

    NetApp Autonomous Ransomware Protection with AI (ARP/AI) helps protect your volumes from ransomware threats. Workload Factory recommends enabling ARP/AI for all volumes.

  • Unauthorized access to volumes

    Volumes serving application data using iSCSI should not allow NAS access at the same time. Workload Factory recommends restricting iSCSI volumes from using any other protocol.

Operational excellence

Operational excellence focuses on delivering the most optimal architecture and business value.

  • Enable automatic capacity management

    Automatic capacity management should be enabled to regularly ensure that the SSD tier doesn't exceed the threshold.

  • Volume capacity utilization threshold

    Workload Factory recommends that volume capacity doesn't exceed 80% utilization on an ongoing basis. This might impact data reads and writes to your application. Volume capacity increases can be manual or automatic using the volume autogrow feature.

  • Volume utilization nearing full

    When a volume is nearing full capacity, Workload Factory recommends taking action to increase the volume capacity to avoid potential application disruptions.

  • Cache relationship write mode

    For optimal performance, Workload Factory recommends the cache relationship write mode that best suits your workload. Write-around mode provides better performance for read-heavy workloads with small files, whereas write-back mode provides better performance for write-heavy workloads with large files.

  • Optimize cache volume size

    Workload Factory recommends enabling volume autosize and scrubbing on cache volumes to maintain optimal size and focus the cache on hot data for peak efficiency.

  • Storage VM logical reporting

    Workload Factory recommends that the default reporting setting is set to logical for a storage VM to provide better visibility into storage usage at the volume level.

Cost optimization

Cost optimization helps you get the most value for your business while keeping costs low.

  • Optimize TCO by tiering cold data

    Enable cold data tiering to reduce SSD storage tier utilization. Workload Factory recommends applying a tiering policy to every volume. FSx for ONTAP scans the data continuously to detect cold data and move it to the capacity storage pool tier without disruption.

  • Enable storage efficiencies

    Enable storage efficiencies — compaction, compression, and deduplication — to optimize storage utilization and reduce the SSD tier cost.

  • Unnecessary snapshot and backup deletion

    Snapshots and backups that are no longer needed should be deleted to reduce costs.

  • Inactive block devices

    After a block device isn't used for seven days, Workload Factory recommends archiving block device data or deleting the unused block device to reduce costs.

  • Underutilized SSD capacity

    An underutilized SSD capacity tier incurs unnecessary costs. Workload Factory recommends reducing the SSD tier capacity while maintaining a 20% free space buffer above current used capacity. A decrease operation can take several hours to several days, and the system doesn't support other file system operations during this time.

  • Inactive NAS volumes

    The configuration analysis identifies NAS volumes that are not actively used and recommends deleting or archiving the volumes to reduce costs.

What's next

Implement well-architected FSx for ONTAP file system configurations