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Add cache to a local tier (aggregate) by creating an SSD storage pool

Contributors netapp-thomi netapp-aherbin
PDFs

You can provision cache by converting an existing local tier (aggregate) to a Flash Pool local tier (aggregate) by adding solid state drives (SSDs).

You can create solid state drive (SSD) storage pools to provide SSD cache for two to four Flash Pool local tiers (aggregates). Flash Pool aggregates enable you to deploy flash as high performance cache for your working data set while using lower-cost HDDs for less frequently accessed data.

About this task

  • You must supply a disk list when creating or adding disks to a storage pool.

    Storage pools do not support a diskcount parameter.

  • The SSDs used in the storage pool should be the same size.

System Manager
Use System Manager to add an SSD cache (ONTAP 9.12.1 and later)

Beginning with ONTAP 9.12.1, you can use System Manager to add an SSD cache.

Note Storage pool options are not available on AFF systems.
Steps

  1. Click Cluster > Disks and then click Show/Hide.

  2. Select Type and verify that spare SSDs exist on the cluster.

  3. Click to Storage > Tiers and click Add Storage Pool.

  4. Select the disk type.

  5. Enter a disk size.

  6. Select the number of disks to add to the storage pool.

  7. Review the estimated cache size.

Use System Manager to add an SSD cache (ONTAP 9.7 only)
Note Use the CLI procedure if you are using an ONTAP version later than ONTAP 9.7 or earlier than ONTAP 9.12.1.
Steps

  1. Click (Return to classic version).

  2. Click Storage > Aggregates & Disks > Aggregates.

  3. Select the local tier (aggregate), and then click Actions > Add Cache.

  4. Select the cache source as "storage pools" or "dedicated SSDs".

  5. Click (Switch to the new experience).

  6. Click Storage > Tiers to verify the size of the new aggregate.

CLI

Use the CLI to create an SSD storage pool

Steps

  1. Determine the names of the available spare SSDs:

    storage aggregate show-spare-disks -disk-type SSD

    The SSDs used in a storage pool can be owned by either node of an HA pair.

  2. Create the storage pool:

    storage pool create -storage-pool sp_name -disk-list disk1,disk2,…​

  3. Optional: Verify the newly created storage pool:

    storage pool show -storage-pool sp_name

Results

After the SSDs are placed into the storage pool, they no longer appear as spares on the cluster, even though the storage provided by the storage pool has not yet been allocated to any Flash Pool caches. You cannot add SSDs to a RAID group as discrete drives; their storage can be provisioned only by using the allocation units of the storage pool to which they belong.