Ever had a system where you were running 7.3.x and got a new disk shelf intended for a 8.x release and the disks show as broken? Read More
A quick command that I always forget to remember when you want to unown disks from a NetApp where nether filer owns the disks. This can happen when you move a shelf from one controller pair to another.
There’s quite a lot of information out there on backup tasks, my biggest frustration is that the wizard is not very standard on creating the backup tasks, it’s much easier if you know what you’re doing to create the tasks manually and leave the backup wizard outta the picture.
Here’s the common command line arguments that come with the new-backup cmdlet
new-backup -Clusteraware 'True|False' -lcr 'True|False' -VerifyOnDestVolumes 'src_storage_system_list:src_vol:dest_storage_system:dest_vol' -Verify 'True|False' -Server 'server_name' -StorageGroup 'storage_grp1, storage_grp2, ...' -ManagementGroup 'Standard|Weekly|Daily' -ActiveDatabaseOnly 'True|False' -PassiveDatabaseOnly 'True|False' -BackupTargetServer 'server name' -ActivationPreference 'ActivationPreferenceNum' -UpdateMirror 'True|False' -VerDestVolume 'True|False' -NoUTMRestore 'True|False' -NoTruncateLogs 'False' -Throttle 'throttle_val' -VerificationServer 'server_name' -UseMountPoint 'True|False' -CCRActiveNode Boolean 'True|False' -MountPointDir 'mountpoint_dir' -RetainBackups 'no_of_days_to_retain_backup' -RetainDays 'no_of_days_delete_backup' -Command 'True|False' -RunCommand 'win_path_and_script_name' -GenericNaming 'True|False' -BackupCopyRemoteCCRNode Boolean 'True|False' -RecoveryPoint 'win_path_and_script_name' -ReportProgress 'True|False' -ArchiveBackup 'True|False' -ArchiveBackupCopyRemoteCCRNode 'True|False' -ArchivedBackupRetention 'Hourly|Monthly|Daily|Weekly|Unlimited' -RetainUtmBackups 'no_of_log_backups_to_retain'
I’ve found this one to be useful to backup all members of a DAG, active databases are full backups, secondary/passive databases are copy based backups, no up to the minute backups:
new-backup –Server 'dagname' –ClusterAware –ManagementGroup 'Standard/Daily/Weekly' –RetainDays xx –NoUTMRestore –ActiveDatabaseOnly -UseMountPoint –MountPointDir 'C:\Program Files\NetApp\Snap Manager for Exchange\SnapMgrMountPoint' –RemoteAdditionalCopyBackup $True –RetainRemoteAdditionalCopyBackupDays xx
This one requires an individual task on every server in the DAG however this task will only run on one of the servers, the server that holds the cluster role. This allows for all databases to be backed up and still be able to backup your databases if your nodes fail. This command also allows you to add databases to your exchange environment and not have to modify your backup jobs.
I’ve always wondered where the autosupports were held on the NetApp, specifically to see if my autosupports are being processed on new client sites. I’m not sure about other releases but on 8.x releases (they’re most likely in the same location) they’re stored here:
\\{netapp}\etc$\log\autosupport
NetApp has released some commands in the 8.1.x code line release to check autosupport information.
netapp> autosupport autosupport destinations autosupport history autosupport manifest autosupport trigger
you get some outputs like this:
netapp> autosupport history show
Seq Attempt Last
Num Destination Status Count Update
----- ----------- -------------------- ------- --------------------
66
smtp ignore 1 2/6/2013 09:35:46
http sent-successful 1 2/6/2013 09:35:49
noteto ignore 1 2/6/2013 09:35:46
65
smtp collection-failed - 2/6/2013 09:34:51
http collection-failed - 2/6/2013 09:34:51
noteto collection-failed - 2/6/2013 09:34:51
Quick post, sometimes VMware doesn’t detect that you have SSD locally and you you need to force it to enable SSD. I’ll expand on this more and update this post with some screenshots later. Read More
Had some fun today with a new feature in OnTap 8.1.1, Flash Pools. You basically create an aggregate with two different disk types, SSD and SAS or SATA. In doing this you create another pool of flash just for that specific aggregate. Very cool feature that will bring NetApp a long way in the proving grounds of being able to do spindle effective VDI solutions and other read intensive operations. One thing that also benefits from Flash Pools is the ability to write data to them. The normal Flash Cache does not allow for writes and only serves up reads. Continue on to see an Iometer screenshot.
The configuration for this achievement was:
- NetApp FAS6210
- 1x Flash Pool with 10x SSD, 11x 600GB SAS
- One 10G iSCSI connection
- Cisco UCS C-class server
NetApp silently released their DS4486 shelf at the beginning of June. This shelf marks the first of the 4th generation shelves carrying a whopping 48 disks in a 4U chassis. This new shelf only supports 3TB disks, but with this type of density you’ll be able to pack quite a punch in a single rack.
Some additional information about the shelves:
- Supported on the following systems:
- FAS/V3240
- FAS/V3270
- FAS/V6000 Series
- FAS/V6200 Series
- Requires Data OnTap 8.1.1RC1 or higher
- No MetroCluster support
- Requires it’s own stack, meaning no mixing and matching DS4243 shelves, but this is the case with all the disk shelf models that are SAS.
- Recommended to have four (4) spare disks instead of two (2), this accommodates the evacuation of two disks that are needed to replace a drive.
- You replace 2 disks at once, not just one disk at a time.
- Maximum shelves per stack: 5
The DS4486 is currently available to order via your NetApp sales representative.
Disk Shelf Photo:
Disk Tray Photo:
Ran into an issue the other day on where we had to change the default http port on OnCommand Core 5.0 package from NetApp. Basically when changing the port the system prompts you to do a:
dfm service stop http dfm service start http
If you only do this then the images still point to the old http port. What actually needs to be run is:
dfm service stop dfm service start
to fully restart oncommand.
Just came across some interesting information that I didn’t realize before, but here’s some information on why disk shelves from NetApp are named the way they are.
DS{U}{# Disks}{SAS Speed}
For example, the DS4243:
DS – Disk Shelf, 4 – 4U, 24 – the number of disks, 3 – 3Gb/s SAS interface
and the DS2246
DS – Disk Shelf, 2 – 2U, 24 – the number of disks, 6 – 6Gb/s SAS interface
and the DS4486
DS – Disk Shelf, 4 – 4U, 48 – the number of disks, 6 – 6Gb/s SAS interface
Look forward to new and exciting blog posts as I take my adventures into specializing in NetApp. I’ll most likely be more active with tips and tricks that will be tailored around new experiences. Stay tuned!
Keep in mind that this is my personal blog. The views and opinions expressed on this site do not represent my employer.
