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Set up your AFX storage system ONTAP cluster

Contributors dmp-netapp netapp-driley netapp-dbagwell
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After your AFX hardware has been installed, you can complete the ONTAP cluster setup. This process involves related configuration phases that you should perform sequentially. As part of this, you can optionally add the data compute nodes (DCNs) running the AI Data Engine (AIDE), enabling the AFX storage cluster and DCN cluster to operate as a single system that's managed through the same ONTAP control plane.

Prepare to set up an AFX storage system

Before setting up your ONTAP cluster, you should review the core AFX requirements and additional AIDE considerations to ensure you have all the necessary information and resources to complete the setup process successfully.

Core AFX requirements

There are several core requirements to consider when setting up your AFX cluster.

Hardware installation

Make sure you've completed the hardware installation of your AFX system. For more information, see Install your AFX system.

Basic IP addressing

You need the following IP addressing configuration:

  • Cluster management IP address

    The cluster management IP address is a unique IPv4 address for the cluster management interface used by the cluster administrator to access the admin SVM and manage the cluster. You can obtain this IP address from the administrator responsible for assigning IP addresses in your organization.

  • Network subnet mask

    During cluster setup, ONTAP requires a set of network interfaces appropriate for your configuration. You can adjust the recommendation if necessary.

Additional network configuration

You'll also need the following related networking information:

  • Network gateway IP address

  • DNS domain names

  • DNS name server IP addresses

  • NTP server IP addresses

  • Subnet mask

Additional AIDE considerations

When installing and setting up AFX for the first time, you can optionally include NetApp AI Data Engine (AIDE). AIDE supports two deployment models: AIDE software on third-party servers or NetApp-provided data compute nodes (DCNs). If you plan to set up AIDE, complete the prerequisites for your deployment model first:

Perform initial cluster setup

You can connect your laptop device to the AFX cluster and set several global configuration values.

About this task

There are four areas of the AFX cluster that must be initially configured. The first three are required while the last one is optional.

Steps

  1. Discover your cluster network.

    1. Connect your laptop to the management switch and access the network computers and devices.

    2. Open File Explorer.

    3. Select Network; then right-click and select Refresh.

    4. Select either ONTAP icon; then accept any certificates displayed on your screen.

      The System Manager user interface is displayed.

  2. Set the administrator password.

    Provide and verify the password for the admin account. Select Continue.

  3. Configure the IP addresses for the AFX cluster and controller nodes.

    Provide IP addresses and the subnet masks.

  4. If you're installing AI Data Engine with your AFX storage system, provide the IP addresses for the three compute nodes.

  5. Configure the network services including DNS and NIS. Select Continue.

    Define the details for your DNS and NTP servers.

  6. Optionally set up encryption.

    You can define the details for cluster encryption. Select Continue.

    Note For information on how to create a cluster for a non-Windows environment, see Create an ONTAP cluster and join nodes.
What's next

You'll be redirected to the System Manager sign-in page. Perform the steps described in Complete cluster setup.

Complete cluster setup

After the initial configuration has been performed you can complete the ONTAP cluster setup using System Manager.

About this task

There are three areas of the AFX system ONTAP cluster configured during setup. Complete all three if possible but only the first is required.

Before you begin

You need to have the following information:

  • VLAN configuration details.

  • NAS and/or S3 configuration details.

Steps

  1. Sign in to System Manager using the administrator account you provided during initial cluster setup. Notice the popup window at the top right with three configuration options.

  2. Select VLAN and tagging and select the network options appropriate for your environment.

  3. Select Network Services and configure the client access protocols for the default data SVM.

  4. Select Data container and create a volume or S3 bucket.

What's next

  • If you included AIDE as part of AFX cluster setup, complete the additional AIDE configuration steps. Authentication configuration applies to all AIDE deployments. Licensing is required for NetApp DCN deployments that use licensed AIDE features; third-party server deployments are metadata-focused and do not require an AIDE license. See Set up AI Data Engine for more information.

  • You should Prepare to administer AFX before using your AFX cluster in a production environment.