The new NetApp ASA r2 systems deliver a unified hardware and software solution that creates a simplified experience specific to the needs of SAN-only customers. Learn about ASA r2 storage systems.

CA is a trusted entity that issues Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates.

A consistency group is a collection of volumes managed as a single unit. CGs are synchronized for data consistency across storage units and volumes. In ONTAP, they provide easy management and a protection guarantee for an application workload spanning multiple volumes. Learn more about consistency groups.

A dual-stack network is a networking environment that supports the simultaneous use of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.

Cluster nodes are configured in HA pairs for non-disruptive operations.

A LUN is a number used to identify a logical unit within a Storage Area Network (SAN). These addressable devices are typically logical disks accessed through the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) protocol or one of its encapsulated derivatives.

An NVMe namespace is a quantity of non-volatile memory that can be formatted into logical blocks. Namespaces are the equivalent of LUNs for FC and iSCSI protocols, and an NVMe subsystem is analogous to an igroup. An NVMe subsystem can be associated with initiators so that the associated initiators can access namespaces within the subsystem.

ONTAP tools Manager provides more control to ONTAP tools for VMware vSphere administrators over the managed vCenter Server instances and onboarded storage backends. It helps manage vCenter Server instances, storage backends, certificates, passwords, and log bundle downloads.

OVA is an open standard for packaging and distributing virtual appliances or software that must be run on virtual machines.

RPO measures how frequently you back up or replicate data. It specifies the exact point in time you need to restore data after an outage to resume business operations. For example, if an organization has an RPO of 4 hours, it can tolerate losing up to 4 hours of data in the event of a disaster.

SnapMirror active sync enables business services to continue operating even with a complete site failure, supporting applications to fail over transparently using a secondary copy. Manual intervention or custom scripting is not required to trigger a failover with SnapMirror active sync. Learn more about SnapMirror active sync.

Storage backends are the underlying storage infrastructure that the ESXi host uses to store virtual machine files, data, and other resources. They allow the ESXi host to access and manage persistent data, providing the required storage capability and performance for a virtualized environment.

Global storage backends, available only with ONTAP cluster credentials, are onboarded through the ONTAP tools Manager interface. They can be added with minimal privileges to enable the discovery of essential cluster resources needed for vVols management. Global clusters are ideal for multitenancy scenarios where an SVM user is added locally for vVols management.

Local storage backends with cluster or SVM credentials are added through the ONTAP tools user interface and are limited to a vCenter. When using cluster credentials locally, the associated SVMs automatically map with the vCenter to manage vVols or VMFS. For VMFS management, including SRA, ONTAP tools supports SVM credentials without needing a global cluster.

SRA is the storage vendor-specific software installed inside the VMware Live Site Recovery appliance. The adapter enables communication between the Site Recovery Manager and a storage controller at the Storage Virtual Machine (SVM) level and the cluster level configuration.

SVM is the unit of multitenancy in ONTAP. Like a virtual machine running on a hypervisor, SVM is a logical entity that abstracts physical resources. SVM contains data volumes and one or more LIFs through which they serve data to the clients.

VMFS is a clustered file system designed to store virtual machine files in VMware vSphere environments.

vVols provide a volume-level abstraction for storage used by a virtual machine. It includes several benefits and provides an alternative to using a traditional LUN. A vVol datastore is typically associated with a single LUN which acts as a container for the vVols.

VM Storage Policies are created in the vCenter Server under Policies and Profiles. For vVols, create a rule set using rules from the NetApp vVols storage type provider.

VMware Live Site Recovery formerly known as Site Recovery Manager (SRM) provides business continuity, disaster recovery, site migration, and non-disruptive testing capabilities for VMware virtual environments.

VASA is a set of APIs that integrate storage arrays with vCenter Server for management and administration. The architecture is based on several components, including the VASA Provider, which handles communication between VMware vSphere and the storage systems.

VAAI is a set of APIs that enables communication between VMware vSphere ESXi hosts and the storage devices. The APIs include a set of primitive operations used by the hosts to offload storage operations to the array. VAAI can provide significant performance improvements for storage-intensive tasks.

vSphere Metro Storage Cluster (vMSC) is an architecture that enables and supports vSphere in a stretched cluster deployment. vMSC solutions are supported with NetApp MetroCluster and SnapMirror active sync (formerly SMBC). These solutions provide enhanced business continuity in the case of domain failure. The resiliency model is based on your specific configuration choices. Learn more about VMware vSphere Metro Storage Cluster.

The vVols datastore is a logical datastore representation of a vVols container created and maintained by a VASA Provider.

RPO stands for recovery point objective, the amount of data loss deemed acceptable during a given time. Zero RPO signifies that no data loss is acceptable.