TECH::Clustered Data ONTAP 8.3.1 is now in general availability (GA)!

Looking for cDOT 8.3.2? Check it out here:

https://whyistheinternetbroken.wordpress.com/2015/11/19/clustered-data-ontap-832/

cDOT 8.3.2 is the first release that offers Copy-Free Transition!

UPDATE: Back in June, clustered Data ONTAP (cDOT) 8.3.1 became available as a release candidate (RC). (I cover what a release candidate is in my “What’s the latest 8.3 release?” blog.)

Now, it’s available in General Availability! That means, have at it!

NOTE: Be sure to get the latest patch release of 8.3.1, which is currently:

http://mysupport.netapp.com/NOW/download/software/ontap/8.3.1P2/

I also cover the latest All Flash FAS promotional updates in “NetApp is kicking some flash!”

Despite having the designation of being a “minor version,” this release brings new features to clustered Data ONTAP, which is why it’s getting RC designation. If you’re running clustered Data ONTAP (especially for NAS environments), this is the version to be on, hands down.

Each section includes links to documentation. Some of the docs might not be updated until 8.3.1 goes to General Availability (GA), so keep checking back!

New features

The 8.3.1 release brings a number of new features that will greatly improve performance, transition to clustered Data ONTAP and overall cluster resiliency.

Improved inline data compression

Data compression in clustered Data ONTAP allows for greater storage efficiency by compressing data within a FlexVol on primary, secondary and archive storage.

Some of the improvements include:

• Support for all workload environments
• Optimization for All Flash FAS (AFF) systems (where compression is enabled by default)
• Adaptive compression
• Improved read performance
• Sub-file clone support on compressed volumes

For more information regarding compression in 8.3.1, see the product documentation.

SnapVault support for inline adaptive data compression

In cDOT 8.3.1, you can leverage the new inline adaptive data compression! (Provided both source and destination support it)

For more information on this, see TR-4183.

Foreign LUN Import Improvements

cDOT 8.3.1 brings two major improvements to Foreign LUN Import (FLI), which greatly enhances the transition story:

• Support for ONLINE FLI!
• FLI Throttling

This includes the ability to import LUNs from 7-Mode to a cDOT cluster, making transition *that* much easier!

For more information regarding Foreign LUN import in 8.3.1, see the product documentation.

Also, check out the new FLI TR-4442!

2-Node MetroCluster (MCC)

Prior to clustered Data ONTAP 8.3.1, MetroCluster was only supported on 4 nodes. cDOT 8.3.1 introduces support for MCC configurations of 2 nodes, with a single node cluster at each site.

For more information on MetroCluster in cDOT, see TR-4375.

Security Audit Log Forwarding

cDOT 8.3.1 now allows forwarding the command-history logs to a remote server. This allows for flexibility and security management for storage administrators.

For more information on events in cDOT, see TR-4303.

Support for cluster peering (SnapMirror) in non-Default IP Spaces

I cover what IP Spaces and Broadcast Domains in cDOT are in my DataCenterDude blog post. This new feature in cDOT 8.3.1 allows SnapMirror relationships to use independent IP spaces for SnapMirror. The full-mesh network requirement seen in previous versions of cDOT is now only required at the IP Space level.

For more information on networking in cDOT, see TR-4182.

NAS Improvements

In cDOT 8.3.1, NAS has vastly improved. In fact, it is the recommended clustered Data ONTAP version for all NAS environments. These include:

• Ability to modify credential cache timeouts
• New options including cifs.nfs_root_ignore_acl, nfs.ntacl_display_permissive_perms
• SMBv3 Encryption Support
• Better export policy rule cache handling
• Better netgroup cache handling
• Support for Windows NFS (previously not supported in any 8.3.x release)

For more information on NAS improvements in 8.3.1, see TR-4067 and {need CIFS/SMB TR}

And last, but certainly not least…

Storage Virtual Machine Disaster Recovery!

That’s right! The analog to vfiler DR is now available in cDOT 8.3.1. You can replicate entire SVM configurations and data to remote sites and failover when disaster strikes. For more information on SVM DR, see my blog post SVM DR in cDOT!

Supported platforms

The following shows supported platforms for 8.3.1.

• FAS2xx0: FAS2220, FAS2240
• FAS/V 3xx0: FAS/V 32×0 all models except 3210
• FAS/V 6xx0: FAS/V 62×0 all models
• FAS 80xx: 8080, 8060, 8040, 8020
• FAS 25xx: 2554, 2552, 2520

Systems that are NOT supported with AFF in 8.3.1:

• FAS/V 3xx0: 31×0 all models, 3210
• FAS/V 6xx0: 6040, 6080
• IBM n-Series