NetApp adds new MAC address OUI range to shipping systems
Applies to
- All FAS systems
- All Flash FAS (AFF) systems
- SAN
Answer
NetApp has added new MAC address Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI) blocks.
- NetApp hardware is now being manufactured with network interface cards (NICs) with assigned MAC from a new address block.
- ONTAP uses the MAC of the network interface to calculate worldwide node names (WWNN) and worldwide port names (WWPN) when provisioning new Fibre Channel SAN logical interfaces (LIFs).
- Minimum ONTAP versions are required for storage controllers using the new MAC address block for SAN environments.
- Environments without SAN configurations will not be impacted by the MAC OUI change. However, NetApp encourages updating to the latest recommended release with any given release family to take advantage of additional bug fixes that may be available.
ONTAP Releases
The following ONTAP releases enable the new OUI block:
- ONTAP 9.1P17 and all subsequent 9.1 patch releases
- ONTAP 9.3P12 and all subsequent 9.3 patch releases
- ONTAP 9.4P6 and all subsequent 9.4 patch releases
- ONTAP 9.5P1 and all subsequent 9.5 patch releases
- ONTAP 9.6 and all subsequent patch releases
Cluster Mixing Rules
There is no restriction on mixing storage controller nodes with the existing MAC address OUI and the new MAC address OUI within a cluster.
Rules for mixing storage controllers types within a cluster remain the same.
WWNN/WWPN Calculation Details
When the Fibre Channel service is initially licensed and enabled on your storage system, the FC target and initiator adapters are assigned WWPNs, which persist through head upgrades and replacements.
- The assignment information is stored in the system's root volume. Data ONTAP uses the on-board port MACs to generate Fibre Channel World Wide Names (WWNs) for data LIFs when using the FCP or FC-NVMe protocol and has an integrity check to verify the on-board MAC is allocated from a known NetApp OUI.
- Storage controllers with MAC addresses from the new pool running versions of ONTAP prior to those listed in the above section will not be able to provision SAN LIFs.
- Storage controllers with MAC addresses from the new pool that are reverted to versions of ONTAP prior to those listed in the above section and joined to existing ONTAP clusters will continue to function normally until such time as the final storage controller from the old MAC address pool is removed.
- At this time SAN LIFs will no longer be created normally.
Error messages output is similar to the following:
Netapp-cluster1::> vserver fcp create -status-admin up -vserver SAN_vserver1
Error: command failed: Unable to assign a unique WWNN for SAN_vserver1
Netapp-cluster1::> network interface create -vserver SAN_vserver1 -lif fcp1 -role data -data-protocol fcp -home-node node1 -home-port 0a
Info: Unable to generate a WWN, No more MAC address available to generate WWN.
NetApp Assigned OUI
MAC address blocks are assigned and tracked by the IEEE organization.
Owners of individual blocks can be found here:https://regauth.standards.ieee.org/standards-ra-web/pub/view.html#registries
| Assignment | Assignment Type | Company Name | Company Address |
| 00-A0-B8 (hex) 00A0B8 | MA-L | NetApp | 1395 Crossman Ave Sunnyvale, CA 94089 US |
| D0-39-EA (hex) D039EA | MA-L | NetApp | 1395 Crossman Ave Sunnyvale, CA 94089 US |
| 00-80-E5 (hex) 0080E5 | MA-L | NetApp | 1395 Crossman Ave Sunnyvale, CA 94089 US |
| 00-A0-98 (hex) 00A098 | MA-L | NetApp | 1395 Crossman Ave Sunnyvale, CA 94089 US |
- Block 00-A0-B8 is used on NetApp E-Series hardware.
- Block 00-80-E5 is used on NetApp E-Series hardware.
- Block D0-39-EA is the newly added OUI block for ONTAP and E-Series hardware.
- Block 00-A0-98 is the original OUI block for ONTAP and E-Series hardware.
Additional Information
- Unable to generate a WWN, No more MAC address available to generate WWN
- This tag is seen on replacement controllers with the new MAC address block: