Workload Factory for Databases includes three new Active Directory (AD) fields when deploying Microsoft SQL Server using the Advanced create option. These enhancements let you to specify Active Directory join preferences and use a managed service account.

The new AD fields are:

Deploy Microsoft SQL Server

NetApp Workload Factory supports AWS S3 access points for your FSx for ONTAP file systems. You can create volumes using S3 access points, assign S3 access points to an existing volume, and manage S3 access points from the Workload Factory console. Using an S3 access point, you can access file data residing on SMB/CIFS or NFS volumes via the AWS S3 APIs. This allows you to integrate your existing data with GenAI, ML, and analytics from AWS services that support S3 access points.

Manage your block devices more effectively with the newly introduced block device support in NetApp Workload Factory. This feature allows you to view details and increase capacity for iSCSI LUNs, providing enhanced flexibility for your storage needs.

Manage block devices in Workload Factory

Workload factory analyzes your FSx for ONTAP file systems for the following configurations:

View the well-architected status of your FSx for ONTAP file systems

NetApp Workload Factory introduces an AI-powered analyzer for ONTAP Event Management System (EMS) events. This feature helps you quickly identify and troubleshoot issues by providing insights and recommendations based on the analysis of EMS event data.

Analyze EMS events in Workload Factory

You can monitor cost and usage trends for your FSx for ONTAP file systems directly from the NetApp Workload Factory console. This feature provides storage consumption and cost metrics as well as itemized costs, helping you optimize your resource allocation and budget planning.

Track costs for FSx for ONTAP file systems in Workload Factory

Easily manage your FSx tags for a file system directly from the NetApp Workload Factory console. This feature allows you to add, edit, or remove tags, enabling better organization and categorization of your FSx for ONTAP file systems.

Manage FSx tags in Workload Factory

You can increase and decrease capacity for cache volumes from the Workload Factory console.

Manage cache volumes in Workload Factory

Two new calculator features improve the cost savings analysis when running multiple instances with EBS storage so that you can save more by switching to FSx for ONTAP.

Explore savings for detected EBS hosts

You can download an Excel report of the well-architected dashboard. The report provides the well-architected status for the database resource and recommendations for all resource configurations, including sub-configurations for operating system and ONTAP.

The Agentic AI-powered error log analyzer is available for Oracle databases. The feature leverages advanced machine learning algorithms to automatically detect and analyze errors in log files. This tool aims to streamline the troubleshooting process by providing developers with actionable insights and recommendations based on the patterns it identifies in the logs.

Learn more about the Agentic AI-powered error log analyzer

The well-architected analysis includes two new storage sizing configurations. The analysis assesses and fixes configuration issues related to swap space allocation and file system headroom for existing Oracle database deployments.

Implement well-architected database configurations in Workload Factory

You can now explore the value of different deployment options for your cloud migration, optimize the efforts invested in solution evaluation, and deep dive into solutions that have the potential to deliver value and savings in the cloud.

You can also review the vCPU core savings that can be achieved by using FSx for ONTAP for an EVS deployment.

Explore savings for Amazon Elastic VMware Service with NetApp Workload Factory

The FSx for ONTAP EMS events analyzer uses the following Amazon Bedrock permissions in the operations and remediation permission policy to fetch events data for the Storage workload.

Permissions reference change log

You can perform the following cache volume management operations from within the Workload Factory console:

Manage cache volumes

You can enable automatic inode management without the need to enable automatic capacity management.

Enable automatic inode management

Threshold warnings are available for both capacity and inode usage. You can set these thresholds to when enabling automatic capacity or inode management. To use this setting, you'll need to configure notifications using the NetApp Workload Factory notification service.

You can decrease the size of NFS and SMB/CIFS volumes in NetApp Workload Factory. This feature allows for better management of storage resources by enabling you to reduce the size of volumes that are no longer needed at their current capacity.

Decrease the capacity of a volume

Workload Factory has enhanced the "misconfigured" resource state to include an explanation of the actual issue for the resource.

Workload factory analyzes your FSx for ONTAP file systems for the following configurations:

Workload Factory provides more clarity about the permissions it requires for specific actions and granularity for selecting only the permissions you need. When you add credentials, you'll have three permissions options to choose from instead of the previous permissions model which was read-only and read/write. The new permissions model breaks up the permission policies as follows:

When adding credentials, you can select one or more of these permission policies based on the level of access you want to provide to Workload Factory.

Workload Factory permissions reference

You can create a cyber vault using FSx for ONTAP as a source or target in the cyber vault architecture. Cyber vaults provide a secure and isolated environment for storing critical data, protecting it from ransomware and other cyber threats.

Set up a cyber vault with FSx for ONTAP

The new dashboard is streamlined and better organized to provide a clearer overview of your database resources and the key functionalities of Workload Factory on one screen; one card highlights database resources, one card provides information about the well-architected score and analysis, one card displays error analysis, two cards display monthly cost and potential savings, and one card displays information on sandboxes.

The well-architected analysis includes the following assessments and fixes for Oracle configurations:

Implement well-architected database configurations in Workload Factory

Workload Factory for Databases updated the permissions policies to provide more clarity into what it requires for specific actions and granularity for selecting only the permissions you need. When you add credentials, you'll have three permissions options to choose from instead of the previous permissions model which was read-only and read/write. The new permissions model breaks up the permissions policies as follows:

When adding credentials, you can select one or more of these permission policies based on the level of access you want to provide to Workload Factory for Databases.

Workload Factory permissions reference

A new Well-architected dashboard screen has been added to the Databases menu. From this screen, you can get an aggregated view of the configuration status of your entire database estate.

From the Workload Factory console, you can select to edit protection for a protected resource and then you'll be redirected to Backup and Recovery in the NetApp Console where you can modify the protection policy or schedule.

Edit protection for database deployments

You can filter and view Microsoft SQL Server error logs by infrastructure-oriented tags when using the error analysis feature in Workload Factory. This enhancement helps you quickly triage, troubleshoot, and resolve issues.

Analyze error logs with tag filtering

When you deploy an FSx for ONTAP file system to be used as external NFS datastores for Amazon Elastic VMware Service, you can now select the EVS environment where the datastores will be connected. This auto-populates several fields in the deployment wizard to simplify the deployment process.

Deploy the recommended FSx for ONTAP file system

VMware workloads provides more clarity about the permissions it requires for specific actions and granularity for selecting only the permissions you need. When you add credentials, you'll have two permissions options to choose from instead of the previous permissions model which was read-only and read/write. The new permissions model breaks up the permission policies as follows:

When adding credentials, you can select one or more of these permission policies based on the level of access you want to provide to VMware workloads.

Workload Factory permissions reference

This release of NetApp Workload Factory for VMware features several improvements to the migration advisor experience:

In this release, we have made significant updates to permission policies for Storage, Database, and VMware workloads to enhance security and user control. You can customize your permission settings more granularly, adding or dismissing permissions as you see fit.

Permissions reference for Workload Factory

The NetApp Workload Factory notification service includes the notification for automatic inode management for Storage.

Notifications for NetApp Workload Factory

Automatic capacity and inode management for Storage can be set up with a warning threshold that triggers a notification from the Workload Factory notification service. To use this feature, you must enable the Workload Factory notification service first.

Configure notifications for NetApp Workload Factory

BlueXP has been renamed and redesigned to better reflect the role it has in managing your data infrastructure. As a result, BlueXP workload factory has been renamed to NetApp Workload Factory.

BlueXP has been renamed and redesigned to better reflect the role it has in managing your data infrastructure. As a result, BlueXP workload factory has been renamed to NetApp Workload Factory.

From the instance screen in the Databases inventory, the options to fix, postpone, and dismiss a configuration issue are available for single or multiple instances for Microsoft SQL Server or for single or multiple databases for Oracle.

Workload Factory can analyze your EBS performance usage and then suggest the best and most cost-efficient FSx for ONTAP configuration so that you can save more by switching to FSx for ONTAP.

Explore savings for detected storage environments in the Workload Factory console

BlueXP has been renamed and redesigned to better reflect the role it has in managing your data infrastructure. As a result, BlueXP workload factory has been renamed to NetApp Workload Factory.

Ask Me, Workload Factory's AI assistant, is integrated with the Model Context Protocol (MCP). Using MCP, Ask Me securely interfaces with external environments and queries API tools to deliver responses tailored to your specific storage environment.

Workload Factory can analyze your EBS performance usage and then suggest the best and most cost-efficient FSx for ONTAP configuration so that you can save more by switching to FSx for ONTAP.

Explore savings for detected storage environments in the Workload Factory console

You can quickly navigate to an FSx for ONTAP file system resource screen by selecting the file system name, now a hyperlink, from the FSx for ONTAP inventory.

If you have cache relationships between FSx for ONTAP file system and another type of ONTAP storage (on-premises system, Cloud Volumes ONTAP, and FSx for ONTAP), you can discover and view them from the Workload Factory console. This allows you to better understand data flows, optimize cache utilization, and improve efficiency across distributed environments.

Discover and view cache relationships in the Workload Factory console

Workload factory now analyzes your FSx for ONTAP file systems for the following configuration:

Volume file capacity utilization threshold: checks whether the file capacity thresholds are set to 80% or lower. This helps you avoid running out of space on your file systems.

View the well-architected status of your FSx for ONTAP file systems

The NetApp Workload Factory notification service includes the notification for well-architected configuration issues on a weekly basis.

Notification types and messages in the Workload Factory setup and administration documentation

With this feature, you can configure privileged delete access for immutable files in your FSx for ONTAP file systems. This allows you to protect critical data from accidental or malicious deletion while still enabling authorized users to override the lock and delete these files as needed. Enabling privileged delete is available during volume creation or for existing volumes.

BlueXP has been renamed and redesigned to better reflect the role it has in managing your data infrastructure. As a result, BlueXP workload factory has been renamed to NetApp Workload Factory.

The VMware workloads planning center enables you to view and manage your VM inventory and migration plans from one place. You can upload and save multiple VM inventories from different environments, and start planning a migration to AWS EC2 or Amazon Elastic VMware service for any of them. You can also create and save AWS EC2 or EVS migration plans.

Explore the VMware workloads planning center

BlueXP Workload Factory for VMware now enables you to use the Amazon Elastic VMware Service migration advisor to rapidly migrate your on-premises VMware workloads to Amazon Elastic VMware Service. After you create a migration plan using the migration advisor, it is automatically saved in the list of migration plans in the planning center.

Create a deployment plan for Amazon EVS using the migration advisor

BlueXP has been renamed and redesigned to better reflect the role it has in managing your data infrastructure. As a result, BlueXP workload factory has been renamed to NetApp Workload Factory.

Using the Workload Factory API, you can now add a data source from a generic NFSv3, NFSv4, or SMB share to a NetApp Connector for Amazon Q Business. This enables you to include files that are stored on volumes hosted by filesystems other than Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP.

Create a NetApp Connector for Amazon Q Business

Add data sources to a connector

You can now configure advanced chat settings that are applicable to the chat model for the knowledge base such as the response length, temperature, reasoning settings, and more. Some of these settings, such as recency and modification time settings, advanced retrieval settings, and system prompt are available only using the Workload Factory API.

Create a GenAI knowledge base

If your chosen embedding, chat, or reranking model has inference settings, you can now select an inference type. This enables you to better tune the chatbot performance and resource requirements to your needs.

Create a GenAI knowledge base

The NetApp Workload Factory notification service includes the notification for well-architected issues for Storage.

Notifications for NetApp Workload Factory

BlueXP has been renamed and redesigned to better reflect the role it has in managing your data infrastructure. As a result, BlueXP workload factory has been renamed to NetApp Workload Factory.