NetApp StorageGRID Notes (April 2023)

It's been a while (a good 3 years) since I did much StorageGRID, so I thought I'd take a few notes down.

  • StorageGRID Recommended Release: A reasonably risk-averse policy is to wait one to three months to upgrade to the next major release (X.X.0) and always stay up to date with hotfixes (X.X.X.hotfix).
  • StorageGRID Release Model
    • As a best practice, qualify releases in your test environment prior to rollout in your production environments.
  • Q: How to I find out about the latest StorageGRID hotfixes?
  • Key NetApp StorageGRID links:
    • StorageGRID Resources
    • StorageGRID 11.6 Documentation
      • Includes these sections of specific interest to me:
        • SG6000 appliances
        • Expand your grid
          • Important: When you're adding new nodes to the GRID be sure to check the settings on the old nodes (i.e. defaults - like for RAID type - may not have been used)
          • GRID expansion is quick but removal very very slow!
          • You can add Storage Nodes to more than one site in a single expansion procedure.
          • In general, when you select the ADC Service setting for a new node, you should select Automatic.
          • 2+1 Erasure Coding: Using only 3 Storage Nodes is not recommended. An actual production grid should use a minimum of k+m+1 Storage Nodes for redundancy, which equals 4.
          • If you cannot add the recommended number of Storage Nodes for the erasure-coding scheme you are using, you might need to run the EC rebalance procedure to allow additional erasure-coded objects to be stored.
            • EC rebalancing is a StorageGRID procedure that might be required after a Storage Node expansion. The procedure is run as a command-line script from the primary Admin Node
            • When the EC rebalance procedure is running, the performance of ILM operations and S3 and Swift client operations are likely to be impacted. For this reason, you should only perform this procedure in limited cases.
            • See: Requirements for EC Re-balancing
          • Gather required materials:
            • Recovery Package (contains passwords.txt to access grid nodes on the CLI)
            • Provisioning passphrase
          • Add grid nodes to existing site or add new site:
            • Prereqs: You have Root access or Maintenance permission, all existing nodes are up, and no maintenance procedures are in progress.
            • Update subnets for Grid Network as required.
            • Deploy new grid nodes (Appliance):
              • To install the StorageGRID software on an appliance node, you use the StorageGRID Appliance Installer, which is included on the appliance.
              • Example: Configure hardware (SG6000)
              • Version 3.6 of the StorageGRID Appliance Installer is compatible with version 11.6 of StorageGRID. (If the versions are not compatible, you must upgrade the StorageGRID Appliance Installer firmware.)
            • Perform expansion
          • Configuration steps after expansion
    • kb.netapp.com - StorageGRID
  • StorageGRID hardware models in NetApp Hardware Universe (13-Apr-2023):
    • Models: SG5612, SG5660, SG5712, SG5712X, SG5760, SG5760X, SG6060, SG6060X, SGF6024
    • Services Appliance: SG100, SG1000
  • Also, if you have access to Lab on Demand (NetApp) there are some labs:
    • Enterprise Object Storage in the Data Fabric with StorageGRID
    • Lab for StorageGRID 11.6
    • Protecting ONTAP NAS with Rubrik and StorageGRID
    • Cloud Tiering with FabricPool for Cost-Efficient Storage
    • NetApp Data Backup and Recovery with Commvault v3.0
    • Protecting Your Data in the Hybrid Cloud
    • Getting Started with BlueXP Backup and Recovery
PS Recommend running the diagnostics before and after the expansions:
Support > Tools > Diagnostics

APPENDIX A: Other Links
  • Rack and Stack
  • Cable
  • Power On (SG6000-CN first in the documentation, then E2860)
    • SG6000-CN any warning LED? (if so troubleshoot)
    • E2860s at status 99? (if not then troubleshoot)
    • StorageGRID Appliance Installer (SGAi):
      • https://169.254.0.1:8443 (or .2)
    • SGAi: Advanced > Upgrade Firmware (is it correct? i.e. 3.6 for StorageGRID 11.6)
    • SGAi: Configure Networking > Link Configuration
    • SGAi: Configure Networking > IP Configuration
    • SGAi: Configure Networking > Ping and MTU Test
    • SGAi: Configure Networking > Port Connectivity Test
    • SGAi: Advanced Tab to Configure SANtricity (don't need to connect to E-series)
      • Configure Hardware > Storage Controller Network Connection
        • or E-Series Mgmt Port > Advanced > System Manager > Set Admin Password
        • IMPORTANT: Cancel the Wizard (Do not set up E-series in SANtricity!)
      • Hardware Alerts
      • AutoSupport: Support > Support Center
    • SGAi: Configure Hardware > BMC Configuration
      • Change root p/w
      • Set IP
    • Then deploy as a Storage Node using the SGA.
  • To get updated license file go to:
APPENDIX C: Default IPs for E-Series without DHCP

Not sure if this is useful information but adding here for completeness.
  • 192.168.128.101 / 102 A ports
  • 192.168.129.101 / 102 B ports
Note: This might be old information as original posted here back in 2016: My E-Series and EF-Series Notes & Learnings

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