Netapp Mutistore note

Netapp Mutistore

APPLICATION AND VOLUME LAYOUT

NetApp storage controllers have the ability to further logically partition the available storage into containers called flexible volumes or FlexVol volumes. These FlexVol volumes are carved out of the available aggregates. For isolation and security purposes, these FlexVol volumes can be allocated to virtual storage controllers called vFiler® units. These vFiler units, available by licensing MultiStore®, allow specific datasets to be housed within their own IP spaces. The applications provisioned in this environment are provisioned into vFiler units. Figure 14 details the organization of the deployed applications and their respective volumes.

Figure 14) Base FlexPod unit: Application and volume layout.

Multistore and Vfiler basics

http://reyansh-netapp.blogspot.hk/2013/08/multistore-and-vfiler-basics.html

What is Vfiler:

Vfiler: A lightweight Instance of Data ONTAP Multi protocol server and all the system resource are shared b/w Vfiler units.

Storage units in the vfilers are Flexvols and Qtrees

Network Units are IP Address ,VLAN,VIFs,aliases and IPspaces

Vfiler units are not hypervisors –vfiler resource cannot be accessed and discovered by any other vfiler units

Multi store configuration:

Maximum vfiler can be created =64+vfiler0

Vfiler configurations is stored in separate volume/qtrees

Additional storage and n/w resource can be moved, added or deleted

NFS, CIFS, iSCSI, HTTP, NDMP, FTP, FTPS, SSH and SFTP protocols are supported

¡  Protocols can be enabled / disabled per vFiler

¡  Destroying a vFiler does not destroy data

A best practice is to use FlexVols, not qtrees as a base resource

Destroying a vFiler does not destroy the data – volume/qtree resources are moved to vFiler0

Secure  multi-tenancy capability with NetApp, Cisco, and Vmware.

Key Points:

•        Cisco, NetApp, and VMware have built the industry’s first, end to end secure multi-tenancy solution.

•        Multi-tenancy, which securely separates different applications and data sets on the same infrastructure, is particularly important for HIPAA and other applications that are subject to strict compliance and security regulations.

•        A shared infrastructure requires strict isolation between the different tenants that are resident within the infrastructure. The tenants can be different clients, business units, departments or security zones. Previously, customers with a shared cloud infrastructure were able to achieve “pockets” of isolation within the virtual server layer, the network layer, and storage, but never completely end-to-end. Without end-to-end isolation, customers had to spend both money and additional resources to address the issue of isolation and compliance (as it is mandated by some governments), creating inefficiencies across the data center.

•        The pre-tested and validated Secure Multi-Tenancy Design Architecture is for customers who have deployed the Cisco Unfied Computing System, Cisco Nexus 7000, 5000 and 1000V Series Switches; NetApp FAS storage with MultiStore software, which creates logical partitions within a storage system; and VMware’s vSphere virtualization software with vShield, another tool that creates secure, logical partitions in virtual systems, and provides details about implementing and configuring the architecture, as well as best practices for building and managing these solutions.

•        With this capability, IT can enable different functional departments or business applications to share server, networking, and storage infrastructure in a secure fashion. The same is true for service providers who can now provide secure server, network, and storage partitions across shared hardware. Shared hardware means greater utilization and efficiency along with equipment, operations, and utilities cost savings.

Transition: Another important capability is infrastructure management.

How to Create Virtual Filer (Vfiler OnTap)

http://reyansh-netapp.blogspot.hk/2013/05/how-to-create-virtual-filer-vfiler-ontap.html

What to consider for a vFiler unit participation in an IPspace

There are some guidelines to remember when assigning an IPspace to a vFiler unit.

• An IPspace can contain multiple vFiler units, however, a vFiler unit can belong only to one IPspace.
• Each vFiler unit in an IPspace must have an IP address that is unique within that IPspace, but a vFiler unit in one IPspace can have the same IP address as a vFiler unit in a different IPspace.
• Ensure that you assign an IPspace correctly because once you assign an IPspace to a vFiler unit, you cannot change the assignment without destroying the vFiler unit.
• Each vFiler unit must have one IP address on the interface that leads to the default gateway of the assigned IPspace. This requirement ensures that the vFiler unit is reachable from within the IPspace.

http://community.netapp.com/t5/VMware-Solutions-Discussions/Multistore-and-VIFs/td-p/37453/page/3