FAS500f or AFF-A250 controller running in Single-Path HA with no external shelf

Applies to

• AFF-A250, AFF-C250, ASA-A250, ASA-C250
• FAS500f

Issue

When setting up a new AFF A250, AFF C250, ASA A250, ASA C250 or FAS500f storage system with no external disk shelves, the user may notice that the system is operating in Single-Path HA mode when checked in sysconfig -a or storage show disk -p from the nodeshell:

Example:

NetApp Release 9.8P1: Wed Jan 20 20:14:09 EST 2021
    System ID: xxxxxxxxxxx (xxxxxxxxxxx); partner ID: xxxxxxxxxx (xxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
    System Serial Number: xxxxxxxxxxxx(xxxxxxxxxxx)
    System Rev: A3
    System Storage Configuration: Single-Path HA
    System ACP Connectivity: Inband Active
    SAS2/SAS3 Mixed Stack Support: none
    All-Flash Optimized: true
    Capacity Optimized: false
    All SAN Array: false
    Backplane Part Number: 111-04891+A0
    Backplane Serial Number: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
    slot 0: System Board 2.1 GHz (System Board XXVIII A3)
                Model Name:         FAS500f
                Part Number:        111-04585
                Revision:           A3
                Serial Number:      xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
                BIOS version:       17.1
                Loader version:     6.5.1
                Processors:         12
                Processor ID:       0x50654
                Microcode Version:  0x2006906
                Processor type:     Intel(R) Xeon(R) D-2164IT CPU @ 2.10GHz
                Memory Size:        65408 MB
                Memory Attributes:  Node Interleaving
                                    Hoisting
                                    Rank Interleaving
                                    Chipkill ECC
                NVMEM Size:         8188 MB of Main Memory Used
                Controller:         B
                PCIE Switch 0:      id 0 705 1.00
                PCIE Switch 1:      id 1 705 2.00
                TPM FW Version:     5.63.3353.0
    Service Processor           Status: Online
        Firmware Version:   15.1P1
        Mgmt MAC Address:   xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
        Ethernet Link:      up, 1Gbps
        Using DHCP:         no
    IPv4 configuration:
        IP Address:         x.x.x.x
        Netmask:            x.x.x.x
        Gateway:            x.x.x.x
    IPv6 configuration:         Disabled
    slot 0: Virtual NVMe Host Adapter 0n
        0    : NETAPP   X4020S173A15TNQF NA51 14651.0GB 4160B/sect (xxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
        1    : NETAPP   X4020S173A15TNQF NA51 14651.0GB 4160B/sect (xxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
        2    : NETAPP   X4020S173A15TNQF NA51 14651.0GB 4160B/sect (xxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
<SNIP>
        21   : NETAPP   X4020S173A15TNQF NA51 14651.0GB 4160B/sect (xxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
        22   : NETAPP   X4020S173A15TNQF NA51 14651.0GB 4160B/sect (xxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
        23   : NETAPP   X4020S173A15TNQF NA51 14651.0GB 4160B/sect (xxxxxxxxxxxxxx)
        Shelf 0: NS224NSM8E  Firmware rev. NSM8E A: 0101  NSM8E B: 0101
<SNIP>  
    slot 1: 100G Ethernet Controller CX6-Mezz
        e1a MAC Address:    xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (auto-unknown-fd-down)
        e1b MAC Address:    xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (auto-unknown-fd-down)
        
        Device Type:        CX6 PSID(NAP0000000013)
        Firmware Version:   20.28.1002
        Part Number:        111-04588   
        Hardware Revision:  A0
        Serial Number:      xxxxxxxxxxxxxx