Highlights from the ONTAP 9.2 RC1 Release Notes & More

Caveat lector: This post is unofficial and details of ONTAP 9.2 are subject to change whilst it’s not yet GA.

Image: ONTAP 9.2 Logo
6 months after last years "Highlights from the ONTAP 9.1 RC1 Release Notes", comes another new and exciting ONTAP release.

The following post covers changes in 9.2 as in the 9.2RC1 release notes, with a bit of supplemental material on 3 highlights.

Highlights from the ONTAP 9.2 RC1 Release Notes

Changes in ONTAP 9.2
This release includes the following new and changed features:

File access protocol enhancements
- Name service configuration checker
- Support for specifying hostnames in LDAP and NIS configurations
- Enhanced support for SMB protocols

Hardware support updates
- Disk auto-assignment changes for AFF systems
- Additional platform support for the X1133A-R6 adapter

Manageability enhancements
- Aggregate-level Inline Data Deduplication enabled by default in AFF systems
- Support for capacity based license
- Support for minimum throughput value (QoS)
- Support for Cluster Expansion (in System Manager)
- Support for automatic switchless-cluster detection
- Unified Manager 7.2 integrates Performance Manager functionality
- Max aggregate size increase
- Support for verifying name mapping in a multiprotocol environment
- Support for encrypting volumes
- Support for root-data partitioning enhancements

MetroCluster configuration enhancements
- Support for Brocade G620 switches
- Support for ISL sharing
- Support for DS460C disk shelves
- Support for eight ISLs per fabric on Brocade G620 and Cisco 9396S switches

Networking and security protocol enhancements
- Enhanced support for digital security certificates
- Support for configuring maximum SSH login attempts

SAN enhancements
- Support for iSCSI Endpoint Isolation

Storage resource management enhancements
- Support for storage tiers by using FabricPool

Storage efficiency enhancements
- Storage efficiency visualization changes in the CLI

Highlight 1: Aggregate Inline Deduplication

ONTAP 9.2 Feature Support:
- AFF systems only (enabled by default)
- Inline only
- Adaptive compression
- Thin provisioned volumes
- FlexGroup
- MCC
- FabricPool (Flash tier only)

Minimal Performance Impact:
- Overall impact with all efficiency technologies (inline compression, inline dedupe and inline zero-block elimination) < 10%

Opportunistic in nature:
- Preference to maximize latency and throughput.

Check out Justin Parisi’s: ONTAP 9.2RC1 Available

Highlight 2: QoS now with Minimum Policies

QoS Min delivers:
- Dedicated IOPS Performance
- Enables Service Classes
- Applicable to Vols & LUNs
- Up to 12’000 objects/cluster
- One object per Policy Group
- AFF & SAN only (in 9.2)


Highlight 3: FabricPool

Saving the best for last ... FabricPool is arguably the most exciting new feature in ONTAP 9.2.

Image: FabricPool - Unique value add
Note: The Performance Tier needs to be on flash (i.e. SSD aggregates only). Check with NetApp for supported platforms.

FabricPool Features Support:
- Data Protection (Snapmirror and SnapVault)
- Storage Efficiencies (inline dedupe, inline compression, compaction*, aggregate inline dedupe*)
- Encryption (NVE and NSE)
*supported on performance tier

FabricPool use case #1: Make room for active workloads on Primary storage

Image: FabricPool use case 1: Putting snapshot data in the cloud.
FabricPool use case #2: Shrink your secondary storage footprint

Image: FabricPool use case 2: Expand the capacity of secondary cluster by automatically tiering data to the cloud.
FabricPool use case #3: Volume archive using “vol move” in primary cluster

Image: FabricPool use case 3: “Vol move” off Production HA-pair aggregate to Archive HA-pair aggregate and tier to the cloud.

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