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FAQ - ONTAP System Manager

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Applies to

  • ONTAP System Manager

Frequently Asked Questions

System Manager Documentation
Where can I find the latest documentation for System Manager?
  • System Manager documentation is contained within the ONTAP documentation.
  • Some areas might have separate sections for System Manager versus the CLI.
Release Features
What features were released with System Manager 9.15.1?
What features were released with System Manager 9.14.1?
What features were released with System Manager 9.13.1?
What features were released with System Manager 9.12.1?
What features were released with System Manager 9.11.1?
What features were released with System Manager 9.10.1?
  • The following features were part of the ONTAP 9.10.1 release.
    • Simplified licensing with NetApp License Files (NLFs)
    • Update firmware automatically using System Manager
    • Review risk mitigation recommendations and acknowledge the risks reported by Active IQ using System Manager
    • Configure how EMS event notifications are sent to administrator using System Manager
    • Manage security certificates using System Manager
    • Display of capacity units in System Manager has changed.
    • View historical use of capacity and predict future capacity needs using System Manager
    • Back up data to NetApp StorageGRID® using the NetApp Cloud Backup Service
    • Usability enhancements
  • For more information, see the ONTAP 9.10.1 Release Notes.
What features were released with System Manager 9.9.1?
  • The following features were part of the ONTAP 9.9.1 release.
    • Manual assignment of local tier with System Manager
    • Fast directories delete with System Manager
    • Ansible Playbooks support with System Manager
    • Hardware Visualization support in System Manager
    • Active IQ Integration in System Manager
    • Cloud Agent support with System Manager
    • Cloud Manager integration in System Manager
    • Enhancements to workflow when provisioning data protection (DP) in System Manager
    • Enhanced network port management in System Manager
    • System management enhancements in System Manager
    • Enhanced display in System Manager of information about NetApp Snapshot™ copies
    • Enhanced display in System Manager about capacity and location information for storage tiers
    • Display in System Manager of EMS emergency alerts and other errors and warnings
  • For more information, see the ONTAP 9.9.1 Release Notes.
General Questions
Is System Manager the same as ONTAP?
  • No, System Manager is not ONTAP.
  • ONTAP is the underlying data management software that provides RESTful APIs that System Manager uses to display and manage ONTAP storage clusters.
Can I toggle to the classic version of System Manager iN ONTAP 9.8 and later?
  • The classic (or the legacy) UI is not available in ONTAP 9.8 and later.
    • Check out this blog for details.
Capacity
On the Capacity dashboard, do the percentages indicate logical or physical usage?
  • System Manager for ONTAP 9.11.1 displays both logical and physical space

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What units are being displayed for capacity values in System Manager?
  • The values for Data Free, Used, and Saved are calculated in GiB/TiB units.
  • System Manager changed the display labels from TB/GB to GiB/TiB.
Provisioning
How is thick provisioning or thin provisioning selected when creating a volume?
  • Based on Active IQ data, most of our customers deployed thin provisioning to SSD (for NetApp AFF) and thick provisioning to Hard Disk Drives (for FAS).
  • Therefore, we have chosen these as the defaults for volume creation, and they can be modified after the volume is created.
Where have aggregates gone?
  • The term aggregate is a NetApp specific term.
  • Starting with System Manager for ONTAP 9.8, the term aggregate has been changed to local tier, which is a more standard industry term.
Why does System Manager use the term local tiers, but the CLI uses aggregates?
  • System Manager and the CLI use different terms.
  • This was kept the same in the CLI and REST API to maintain backwards compatibility with any scripts or applications our customers had.
  • Changing the term in SM had no impact on customer created scripts or applications.
Can you specify to what tier (aggregate) a volume should be provisioned?
  • When provisioning a volume, select the storage virtual machine (SVM), the Performance Service Level (PSL), and capacity to meet the application requirements.
    • ONTAP 9.9.1 will intelligently provision volumes on the most appropriate tier (aggregate) based on historic and current performance and capacity.
  • As of System Manager 9.9.1, one can pick a local tier manually.
    • This is done by selecting more options, selecting the custom PSL, and checking the manual placement button.
    • Then you can select the local tier the volume is created on.
    • You can always move the volume to a specific tier after the volume is created.
  • For information about volume placement, see the ONTAP System Manager documentation.

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Can you edit local tier settings such as RAID group size and type?
  • 9.11.1 enables the editing of RAID type and RAID group size.
  • For information about editing local tier, see the ONTAP documentation.
Why is there a default quality-of-service (QoS) policy?
  • There is a default QoS policy to help customers better control bully workloads.
  • You can also create a custom QoS policy without restrictions.
Performance Service Levels
Does NetApp Active IQ Unified Manager recognize a QoS policy that is enabled by System Manager?
  • Any QoS policies assigned to the volumes are recognized by ONTAP regardless of whether you use System Manager or Unified Manager.
    • However, to fully utilize Unified Manager’s monitoring capabilities, you need to assign a PSL.
  • UM has its own database to track which adaptive quality of service (AQoS) policies have been assigned to the volumes to monitor and send alerts for nonconforming events.
  • Assigning a new PSL to a volume overrides the existing assigned QoS policy after it is approved by the user
Can service level limits be modified? Are there throughput thresholds as well?
  • Yes, service level limits can be modified, and there are throughput thresholds.
  • One way to modify service levels is to modify the PSL in the Create New Volume or Create New LUN workflows in the System Manager UI.
    • Click More Options, then click Custom under Performance Service Levels. Then click New
Do all the service levels have set limits? Are none unlimited?
  • Yes, however, there is a limit to how high you can set them.
Can you only specify Value for FAS2720, or can you specify Performance?
  • The differences between Value and Performance are not only the guaranteed and peak IOPS/TB targets, but also the latency thresholds associated with the type of disk media.
  • Value is defined with a latency threshold of 17ms (for HDD) and Performance is defined with a latency threshold of 2ms (for SSD or a hybrid).
  • You can always define your own PSL latency threshold by customizing a new policy. Consult your field contact for additional details.
What determines the performance levels?
  • PSLs are defined with different guaranteed IOPS/TB and peak IOPS/TB targets, along with a latency threshold.
  • You can also specify the absolute minimum delivered IOPS/TB target in the policy definition.
When will PSLs align completely between System Manager and Unified Manager?
  • System Manager can recognize the AQoS policy assigned to a volume by Unified Manager.
  • There is no current plan to have System Manager share the same capability that UM currently uses to monitor the conforming status and provide PSL recommendation.
Can you opt out of performance levels?
  • Yes, you can turn off the policy-based storage management in Unified Manager by clicking Settings, then General, and then Feature settings.
  • In System Manager for ONTAP 9.9.1, you can select None in the PSL selection.
Networking, SAN & NAS
Are cluster/storage switches managed through the System Manager UI?
  • Cluster switches are not managed with the System Manager UI.
  • However, they are visualized in System Manager.
What is the difference between System Manager for AFF and ASA?
  • In the All SAN Array (ASA) version of System Manager, there are no NAS/CIFS-related workflows, and you can determine if it is an ASA system by clicking Cluster, then Overview.
  • Also, you won’t be able to create volumes for the ASA version, because volumes are created during LUN provisioning.
Can I create NAS users and groups with System Manager?
  • Yes, users and groups can be created with System Manager 9.10.1 and later.
  • For more information about managing host-specific users and groups, see the System Manager documentation.
Is there a way to create an export policy without first creating a volume?
  • In ONTAP 9.9.1 and later, you can create an export policy by editing the settings of the NAS SVM.
  • For information about managing access using export policies, see the System Manager documentation.
Have junction paths been removed?
  • No, they are still used, but the visualization of them has been removed.
  • You can choose to show or hide the mount path in the volume list.

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Can you edit the mount path of an export?
  • Modification of the mount path can be done by editing the volume or selecting Edit Mount Path

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Can I create FlexGroup volumes with System Manager?
  • Yes, you can create FlexGroup volumes by selecting Distribute Volume Data Across the Cluster.
  • With System Manager for ONTAP 9.15.1 by selecting Custom service Level and selecting Manual placement, gives the option to choose the aggregates to distribute the constituent volumes.

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Security
What protocols can be used to upload ONTAP and firmware?
  • You can upload ONTAP and firmware updates through the System Manager interface and use the following secure or insecure protocols:
    • http://
    • https://
    • ftp://
    • ftps://
What is the default encryption behavior of the newly created volumes?
  • If a key manager has been configured, all new volumes created will be encrypted with a priority for NetApp Volume Encryption (NVE) over NetApp Aggregate Encryption (NAE).
  • This is not a function of System Manager but of ONTAP
Does System Manager for ONTAP 9.9.1 allow for tenant-based administration?
  • System Manager only allows for cluster administration.
  • Tenants can use the CLI to manage their storage VMs.
Does System Manager have RBAC controls?
  • System Manager has admin or read-only capabilities only and we will investigate including RBAC control in future releases.
Hardware
What are the supported platforms to util.ize the Hardware Visualization feature?
  • Each version of ONTAP since 9.8 has added new platforms, switches, and shelves to the hardware visualization feature.
  • For information about which models are supported for hardware visualization in what versions of ONTAP, see hardware visualization in the ONTAP documentation.
How do I view the Advanced Drive Partitioning (ADP) partitions?
  • With System Manager for ONTAP 9.11.1 and earlier, you are not able to view the partitions.
  • When the local tier (aggregate) is created, it is created using NetApp’s best practices.
  • If you need to determine how the tier is partitioned, it can still be accessed by using the CLI command disk partition show
How do I do a manual takeover and giveback?
  • On the cluster Overview page, click the three dots next to the node and then select Shutdown.
  • Certain functions will display only when they are possible or needed.
  • For example, giveback is only available when the HA pair is misconfigured and requires a giveback.

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Data Protection
Is there a report for protected and unprotected volumes?
  • Yes, you can view the protection status from the Volumes menu and download the list by using the Download button

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Has the ability to make snapshot copies for consistency groups been added?
  • Yes, in ONTAP 9.10.1 and later you can create a consistency group and take Snapshot copies.
  • For information about consistency groups, see the ONTAP documentation.
Can I use custom and legacy DP policies with System Manager?
  • In ONTAP 9.11.1, System Manager can display and use custom and legacy DP policies.
  • For information about creating custom SnapMirror policies with System Manager, see the ONTAP documentation.

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Rest API
Is there a way for System Manager to export the commands used by System Manager to Rest API?
  • There is a REST API logger in the System Manager UI which shows the API calls that were made.
  • It can be accessed by clicking on the <> button on the top right of the UI.
Updating ONTAP or Firmware
How will existing customers upgrade to these changes?
  • If you would like to see an ONTAP upgrade in action, check out this blog.
Are firmware updates possible from System Manager for ONTAP 9.9.1 and also for a dark site?
  • Yes, you can download the firmware file and use it to upgrade on all nodes at once using System Manager.
  • This function is available for dark sites as well. To find more details, check out this blog.
Who should I contact to share feedback?

Additional Information

 

NetApp provides no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy or reliability or serviceability of any information or recommendations provided in this publication or with respect to any results that may be obtained by the use of the information or observance of any recommendations provided herein. The information in this document is distributed AS IS and the use of this information or the implementation of any recommendations or techniques herein is a customer's responsibility and depends on the customer's ability to evaluate and integrate them into the customer's operational environment. This document and the information contained herein may be used solely in connection with the NetApp products discussed in this document.