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What are the best practices for Physical Relocation of filers?

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data-ontap-7
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Applies to

  • Data ONTAP 8.2.5 and earlier
  • Data ONTAP operating in 7-Mode

Answer

  • Best Practice for Physical Relocation of filers.
  • Steps to be followed for physical relocation of filers.
  • How to move filers from one physical location to another location
  • What are the proper procedures to follow when moving NetApp appliances from one location to another?

Powering down filers

  • Before moving, dismount all clients, disable Network File System (NFS) and terminate Common Internet File System protocol (CIFS).
  • Then take volume snapshot - a consistent file system copy.
  • Reboot the filer before moving it and ensure that a reboot Autosupport was sent. This will help in troubleshooting boot time problems at the destination.
  • Halt the filer
  • Allow power down to reach ambient temperature
  • First power down the filer.
  • Then power down the shelves.
  • Power up and down in phases: Power off first move first and power off last move last.

Packing, moving and unpacking

  • Are the filers in cabinets or racks?
    If racks do not stack any shelves on top of each other, it will compress the shelf/drive canister.
  • All equipment should be moved on shock absorbent material, i.e. no head or filers moved on a wooden dolly, put foam underneath.
  • Has the new datacenter/location been verified for RH, power and HVAC?
    Powering up large number of filers will be a good test.
  • The rc files will have to be changed to reflect the new sub-net if there is any change.
  • Have a minimum of 3 people available for the movement and unpacking of the filers.
  • In case carts are being used for movement of filers please ensure that the carts have rubber wheels.
  • It is recommended that the crates that were used for shipping the filers to the site be used for repacking of the filer for movement.
  • Ensure sufficient buffer packing is available inside the crate after packing the filer into it.
  • Thermocol of any kind should not be used in the vicinity of the filers.
  • Screws for the filer head and disk shelves should be checked before packing the filer cabinets into crates. This is to check for loose parts that could move during the shifting.
  • It is recommended to use tall power lifts to move the packed filers across levels.

Power on at new site

  • Ensure the filer and shelves are connected as it was before
  • Check to make sure that the screws and cables are tight
  • Power on the shelves first
  • Power on the filer
  • The filer will hang trying to resolve DNS names if DNS is not corrected in advance to show new IP ranges if there is a change.
  • Setup a separate verification of name/IP resolution in the new site before the move.
  • Before moving the filer to a new network, ensure that:
    • Clients can ping each other (client <-> client ping)
    • Name resolve is working fine with nslookup, tracert and
    • Gateway is working fine by pinging the client from outside (client<-outside world ping).
  • Allow power up to reach ambient temperature
  • Check everything is up and running before moving into production.

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