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SMB server and volume requirements for SQL Server over SMB

Contributors netapp-sumathi netapp-thomi

You need to be aware of certain SMB server and volume requirements when creating SQL Server over SMB configurations for nondisruptive operations.

SMB server requirements

  • SMB 3.0 must be enabled.

    This is enabled by default.

  • The default UNIX user CIFS server option must be configured with a valid UNIX user account.

    The application servers use the machine account when creating an SMB connection. Because all SMB access requires that the Windows user successfully map to a UNIX user account or to the default UNIX user account, ONTAP must be able to map the application server's machine account to the default UNIX user account.

    Additionally, SQL Server uses a domain user as the SQL Server service account. The service account must also map to the default UNIX user.

  • Automatic node referrals must be disabled (this functionality is disabled by default).

    If you want to use automatic node referrals for access to data other than SQL server database files, you must create a separate SVM for that data.

  • The Windows user account used for installing SQL Server on ONTAP must be assigned the SeSecurityPrivilege privilege.

    This privilege is assigned to the SMB server local BUILTIN\Administrators group.

Volume requirements

  • Volumes used to store virtual machine files must be created as NTFS security-style volumes.

    To provide NDOs for application servers using continuously available SMB connections, the volume containing the share must be an NTFS volume. Moreover, it must always have been an NTFS volume. You cannot change a mixed security-style volume or UNIX security-style volume to an NTFS security-style volume and directly use it for NDOs over SMB shares. If you change a mixed security-style volume to an NTFS security style volume and intend to use it for NDOs over SMB shares, you must manually place an ACL at the top of the volume and propagate that ACL to all contained files and folders. Otherwise, virtual machine migrations or database file exports and imports where files are moved to another volume can fail if either the source or the destination volumes were initially created as mixed or UNIX security-style volumes and later changed to NTFS security style.

  • Although the volume containing the database files can contain junctions, SQL Server does not cross junctions when creating the database directory structure.

  • For SnapCenter Plug-in for Microsoft SQL Server backup operations to succeed, you must have enough available space on the volume.

    The volume on which the SQL Server database files reside must be large enough to hold the database directory structure and all contained files residing within the share.