Skip to main content
SAN hosts and cloud clients

Use Windows Server 2016 with ONTAP

Contributors netapp-ranuk netapp-pcarriga netapp-cplumer
PDFs

You can use the ONTAP SAN host configuration settings to configure Windows Server 2016 for operation with ONTAP storage.

Boot the Windows OS

You can boot the Windows OS using a local boot or a SAN boot. NetApp recommends using a SAN boot if it is supported by your configuration.

Local boot

Perform a local boot by installing the Windows OS on the local hard disk (SSD, SATA, RAID, and so on).

SAN boot

If you choose to use SAN booting, it must be supported by your configuration.

Note You can use the configuration settings provided in this procedure to configure cloud clients connected to Cloud Volumes ONTAP and Amazon FSx for ONTAP.
Before you begin

Use the Interoperability Matrix Tool to verify that your Windows OS, host bus adapter (HBA), HBA firmware, HBA boot BIOS, and ONTAP version support SAN booting.

Steps

  1. Map the SAN boot LUN to the host.

    See SAN storage management.

  2. Verify that multiple paths are available.

    Note Multiple paths only become available after the host OS is up and running on the paths.

  3. Enable SAN booting in the server BIOS for the ports to which the SAN boot LUN is mapped.

    For information on how to enable the HBA BIOS, see your vendor-specific documentation.

  4. Reboot the host to verify the boot was successful

Install Windows hotfixes

NetApp recommends installing the latest cumulative update available from the Microsoft Update Catalog on the host server.

Steps

  1. Download the hotfixes from the Microsoft Update Catalog 2016.

Note You need to contact Microsoft support for the hotfixes that aren't available for download from the Microsoft Update Catalog.

  1. Follow the instructions provided by Microsoft to install the hotfixes.

Tip Many hotfixes require a reboot of your Windows host. You can choose to wait to reboot the host until after you install or upgrade the Host Utilities.

Install the Windows Host Utilities

The Windows Host Utilities are a set of software programs with documentation that enables you to connect host computers to virtual disks (LUNs) on a NetApp SAN. NetApp recommends downloading and installing the latest utility kit. For Windows Host Utilities configuration information and instructions, see the Windows Host Utilities documentation and select the installation procedure for your Windows Host Utilities version.

Multipathing

You need to install the Microsoft Multipath I/O (MPIO) software and enable multipathing if your Windows host has more than one path to the storage system. When you select MPIO support, the Windows Host Utilities enables the MPIO feature included in Windows Server 2016. If you're not using the Windows Host Utilities, you need to enable multipathing manually.

The MPIO software presents a single disk to the Windows OS for all paths, and a device-specific module (DSM) manages path failover. On a Windows system, the two main components in any MPIO solution are the DSM and the Windows MPIO.

Caution If you don't install the MPIO software, the Windows OS might see each path as a separate disk. This can lead to data corruption.
Note Windows XP or Windows Vista running in a Hyper-V virtual machine doesn't support MPIO.

SAN configuration

Depending on your SAN configuration, the host uses All SAN Array (ASA) or non-ASA configurations to access ONTAP LUNs. In both ASA and non-ASA configurations, you shouldn't require more than four paths to access a single ONTAP LUN. If you have more than four paths, it might cause issues with the paths during a storage failure.

All SAN array configuration

An ASA configuration should have one group of Active/Optimized paths with single priorities. This means the paths are serviced by the controller and the I/O is sent on all the active paths.

The following example displays the correct output for an ONTAP LUN with Active/Optimized paths.

Screenshot of ONTAP LUN with active/optimized paths

Non-ASA configuration

A non-ASA configuration should have two groups of paths with different priorities. The paths with higher priorities are Active/Optimized. This means the Active/Optimized paths are serviced by the controller where the aggregate is located. The paths with lower priorities are active but non-optimized because they are served from a different controller. The non-optimized paths are only used when optimized paths aren't available.

The following example displays the correct output for an ONTAP LUN with two Active/Optimized paths and two Active/Non-Optimized paths.

Screenshot of an ONTAP LUN with two active/optimized paths and two active/non-optimized paths

When you select MPIO on systems using FC, the Host Utilities installer sets the required timeout values for Emulex and QLogic FC HBAs.

Emulex FC

The timeout values for Emulex FC HBAs:

Property type Property value

LinkTimeOut

1

NodeTimeOut

10
QLogic FC

The timeout values for QLogic FC HBAs:

Property type Property value

LinkDownTimeOut

1

PortDownRetryCount

10
Note For more information on the recommended settings, see Configure registry settings for Windows Host Utilities.

Known issues

There are no known issues for the Windows Server 2016 with ONTAP release.