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System Manager Classic

Cluster expansion overview

Contributors netapp-mwallis
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You can quickly and nondisruptively expand an existing cluster by adding an HA pair. A larger cluster increases performance and storage capacity available in the cluster.

You should use this procedure only if the following is true:

  • The existing cluster meets the following requirements:

    • It is running ONTAP 9.

    • It contains at least two nodes.

      Although examples in this procedure use a two-node cluster, it also applies to clusters with more than two nodes.

      If you want to add a node to a single-node cluster, you must follow a different procedure.

      Adding a second controller to create an HA pair

    • It does not use IPv6 addressing or Storage Encryption.

    • It is not a MetroCluster configuration.

  • The controller modules that you plan to add meet the following requirements:

    • If they are not new, they have been wiped clean, are no longer part of a cluster, and are ready to be added to the new cluster.

    • They support ONTAP 9.

    • They are running a version of the ONTAP 9 release family.

  • When completing ONTAP configuration tasks with System Manager, you want to use the Classic System Manager UI for ONTAP 9.7 and earlier releases, not the ONTAP System Manager UI for ONTAP 9.7 and later.

    ONTAP System Manager documentation

  • You want to use best practices, not explore every available option.

  • You do not want to read a lot of conceptual background.