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Decide whether to use this aggregate relocation procedure

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There are several aggregate relocation (ARL) methods for upgrading controller hardware. This content describes how to upgrade storage controllers in an HA pair by converting the existing system to the replacement system, keeping the existing system chassis and disks. You should only use this complex procedure if you're an experienced ONTAP administrator.

To help you decide if this ARL procedure is suitable for your controller hardware upgrade, you should review all of the following circumstances for supported and unsupported upgrades.

Supported for this ARL upgrade

You can use this ARL procedure under the following circumstances:

  • Your controller upgrade is listed in the supported systems matrix.

  • You have verified with your NetApp sales representative that you have received the hardware that you need for the controller upgrade:

    • Two AFF A90, AFF A70, or AFF C80 controllers and all I/O modules. The required lengths of 100GbE cables.

    • Two AFF A50, AFF A30, AFF C30, or AFF C60 controllers and I/O modules and the required cables

    • ASA A150, AFF A150, or FAS2820 controller

    • ASA A900, AFF A900, or FAS9500 controller and NVRAM modules and parts

  • You're running the minimum ONTAP version for your upgrade. For more information, refer to the supported system upgrade combinations.

  • You're experienced in administering ONTAP and are comfortable with the risks of working in diagnostic privilege mode.

  • Your systems are running ONTAP 9.15.1 or later, and they are using Ethernet switches to connect to Ethernet-attached storage.

Note You can use NetApp Storage Encryption (NSE), NetApp Volume Encryption (NVE), and NetApp Aggregate Encryption (NAE) with this procedure.

Not supported for this ARL upgrade

You cannot use this ARL procedure under the following circumstances:

  • You want to add the new controllers as a new HA pair to the cluster and migrate the data by using volume moves.

  • You're using FlexArray Virtualization Software on the existing system that is being upgraded.

  • You're upgrading a MetroCluster IP configuration.

    To upgrade a MetroCluster IP configuration, see References to link to the MetroCluster Upgrade and Expansion content.

Supported system upgrade combinations

The following table shows the supported systems matrix for performing a controller upgrade by converting the existing system to the replacement system, keeping the existing system chassis and disks.

Caution This procedure strictly applies to the following upgrade configurations. Don't use this procedure to perform an upgrade between any other system combinations. For all other controller models, refer to References to link to Use "system controller replace" commands to upgrade controller hardware running ONTAP 9.8 or later and Using aggregate relocation to manually upgrade controller hardware running ONTAP 9.8 or later.
Existing system Replacement system Supported ONTAP versions

AFF C250 1

AFF C30, AFF C60

9.16.1

AFF A250 1

AFF A30, AFF A50

9.16.1

AFF C800 1

AFF C80

9.16.1

AFF A800 1

AFF A90 or AFF A70

9.15.1 and later

AFF A220 configured as an All SAN Array (ASA)

ASA A150

9.13.1P1 and later

AFF A220

AFF A150

9.10.1P15, 9.11.1P11, 9.12.1P5 and later

AFF A200

AFF A150

9.10.1P15, 9.11.1P11 and later 2

AFF C190

AFF A150

9.10.1P15, 9.11.1P11, 9.12.1P5 and later

FAS2620

FAS2820

9.11.1P7 or later patch releases (FAS2620) 2

9.13.1 and later (FAS2820)

FAS2720

FAS2820

9.13.1 and later

AFF A700 configured as an ASA

ASA A900

9.13.1P1 and later

AFF A700

AFF A900

9.10.1P10, 9.11.1P6 and later

FAS9000

FAS9500

9.10.1P10, 9.11.1P6 and later

1 When you upgrade to a system introduced in ONTAP 9.15.1 or later, ONTAP converts the storage efficiency of all existing thin-provisioned volumes, including those not using storage efficiency, and applies the new storage efficiency features that make use of the hardware offload functionality. This is an automatic background process, with no visible performance impact to the system. Learn more.

2 The AFF A200 and FAS2620 systems don't support ONTAP versions later than 9.11.1.

Note

NetApp strongly recommends, when possible, that you have the same ONTAP version on the old and replacement systems.

The minimum ONTAP versions in the preceding table are mandatory. These ONTAP versions have the Service Processor or baseboard management controller (BMC) firmware version that is required to support mixing controller types within a chassis during an upgrade.

Choose a different hardware upgrade procedure

Related information

Refer to References to link to the ONTAP 9 Documentation.