Netapp

With the release of ONTAP 9.1 earlier this year it brought with it amongst many things NetApp Volume Encryption (NVE). This feature although offered $0 cost requires an additional license which needs to be generated by NetApp. On top of the NVE license NetApp also added a new license which is needed to enable the newly-integrated trusted platform modules (TPM). What is a TPM you may ask? By definition a TPM is, “A dedicated microcontroller designed to secure hardware by integrating cryptographic keys into devices”. When first reading about this I then wondered what platforms include the TPM module? Does every platform that support NVE have a TPM module? After a bit of digging I found that not every platform that supports NVE includes a TPM. The list below shows all platforms that currently have TPM modules integrated: ...

*2018-03-18: Updated for version 1.4.1 of my container image which includes bug fixes, Grafana 4.5.2 and NetApp Harvest 1.4 This post is based on the original “How To Setup NetApp Harvest Using Docker” blog post however it has been tweaked to reflect the use of Kubernetes and the NetApp Trident plugin. It is assumed both Kubernetes and NetApp Trident are already deployed so if you have questions on deploying these technologies see here. ...

As folks adopt DevOps principals they are using common applications to help them get there. One of those is Docker and usually in the same sentence Kubernetes is mentioned next. To review, Docker is essentially a wrapper for Linux containers (LXC), which similar to FreeBSD jails or Solaris Zones, provides a method for applications (and their dependencies) to be isolated in separate namespaces all while sharing the host system’s kernel. Docker containers are extremely portable as they just need the host server to have a LXC-compatible kernel and the Docker application installed. Kubernetes takes this concept to the next level by automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. It groups containers that make up an application into logical units for easy management and discovery. For a more detailed intro on what Kubernetes is check out the “Sources” section below. Now to the meat of the post, what is NetApp Trident and where does it fit in to the Docker/Kubernetes equation? Well according to NetApp Trident’s GitHub page, “Trident provides storage orchestration for Kubernetes, integrating with its Persistent Volume framework to act as an external provisioner for NetApp ONTAP, SolidFire, and E-Series systems. Additionally, through its REST interface, Trident can also provide storage orchestration for non-Kubernetes deployments.” In other words, Trident allows one to attach persistent storage from NetApp FAS, E-Series, or SolidFire system(s) to containers allowing applications such as databases to easily operate in a containerized environment. Below are the steps I compiled needed to not only stand up a small 3-node Kubernetes cluster but also to deploy the NetApp Trident plugin: ...

2017-07-13: Updated for version 1.3 of my container image which includes some updated dashboards 2017-05-21: Updated for version 1.2 of my container image which includes NetApp SDK 5.7 2016-11-15: Updated for version 1.1 of my container image which includes Grafana 3.1 and NetApp Harvest 1.3 2018-03-18: Updated for version 1.4.1 of my container image which includes bug fixes, Grafana 4.5.2 and NetApp Harvest 1.4 2020-01-18: Updated for version 1.6 of my container image which includes NetApp Harvest 1.6 (and is now hosted at hub.docker.com) This post is based on the original “How To Setup NetApp Harvest Using Docker” blog post however it has been tweaked to reflect the more simplistic deployment method which relies on a pre-built container image (vs building one from source). ...

One new feature in 8.2.2+ that hasn’t been given much press (thanks to Curtis @ NetApp U) is the ability to boot directly into the boot menu or maintenance mode from the loader prompt. This feature will mainly be helpful for field personnel who frequently setup up and build out NetApp Clustered Data ONTAP systems. See below for a list of commands that are required to boot a cDOT system into each respective area. ...

Before I dive into Grafana I wanted to make a quick note that last week marked my 1 year anniversary at NetApp. This year has honestly flown by and it is hard to believe as it feels like just yesterday I started this new adventure with various unknowns. It has been a year full of change along with many new experiences which I feel have made me stronger, both as an individual and professional. I am thankful for the opportunity at NetApp and for the ability to work with so many great customers that have turned to us to solve their most critical of IT issues. I look forward to the challenges that lay ahead and for many more years with this great team at NetApp. ...

As you may well know OnCommand Performance Manager 1.1RC1 was recently released which added the ability to send data to an external system such as Graphite. I have created the following tutorial which explains how to setup a CentOS server and install the Graphite application on it. If you run into any issues with the tutorial please let me know in the comment section below. Provision a CentOS 6+ VM with the “Base” package group installed ...

Today is hump day and with that comes some added motivation to update this blog with some new material! The following post discusses another common topic and that is the termination of CIFS sessions in cDOT. This task could be performed in 7-mode however the commands have since changed in cDOT. Refer to the following tutorial below to kill any unwanted CIFS for a specific Windows user: Display the current CIFS session(s) for the user and record the value(s) in the “Connection ID” column ...

After spending the last few weeks moving into my new place and having “fun” furnishing it, I am back on the road armed with more content! Within a few hours of being onsite today I got asked if it was possible to set NTFS permissions to files and/or folders within Clustered Data ONTAP (cDOT). This is another commonly asked question and the answer to it is yes, you can apply NTFS permissions to filesystem objects from within cDOT. Below I have included a summarized step by step tutorial on how to apply NTFS permissions to a given path (can be the root of a volume or a file or folder which resides within a cDOT volume): ...

With a snap of the fingers I have been at NetApp for almost 6 months already! I have been quite busy acclimating to life as a consultant as I have been in the field almost 100% of the time since May. While being busy has been nice, it has left me with little time to update this blog. Fortunately, I have finally discovered some late night motivation (caffeine) and will be publishing several articles in the coming days regarding topics which I commonly deal with in the field. ...