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Hot-adding a stack of SAS disk shelves and bridges

You can hot-add a stack of SAS disk shelves and bridges to increase the capacity of the bridges.

Before you begin

The system must meet all of the requirements to hot-add a stack of SAS disk shelves and bridges.

Preparing to hot-add a stack of SAS disk shelves and bridges

About this task

  • Hot-adding a stack of SAS disk shelves and bridges is a nondisruptive procedure if all of the interoperability requirements are met.

  • Multipath HA is the only supported configuration for MetroCluster systems that are using bridges.

    Both controller modules must have access through the bridges to the disk shelves in each stack.

  • You should hot-add an equal number of disk shelves at each site.

  • If you will be using in-band management of the bridge rather than IP management, the steps for configuring the Ethernet port and IP settings can be skipped, as noted in the relevant steps.

Note
Starting with ONTAP 9.8, the storage bridge command is replaced with system bridge. The following steps show the storage bridge command but if you are running ONTAP 9.8 or later the system bridge command is preferred.
Attention
If you insert a SAS cable into the wrong port, when you remove the cable from a SAS port, you must wait at least 120 seconds before plugging the cable into a different SAS port. If you fail to do so, the system will not recognize that the cable has been moved to another port.
  1. Properly ground yourself.
  2. From the console of either controller module, check whether your system has disk autoassignment enabled: storage disk option show

    Result

    The Auto Assign column indicates whether disk autoassignment is enabled.

    Node        BKg. FW. Upd.  Auto Copy   Auto Assign  Auto Assign Policy
    ----------  -------------  ----------  -----------  ------------------
    node_A_1             on           on           on           default
    node_A_2             on           on           on           default
    2 entries were displayed.

  3. Disable the switch ports for the new stack.
  4. If configuring for in-band management, connect a cable from FibreBridge RS-232 serial port to the serial (COM) port on a personal computer.

    The serial connection will be used for initial configuration, and then in-band management via ONTAP and the FC ports can be used to monitor and manage the bridge.
  5. If configuring for IP management, configure the Ethernet management 1 port for each bridge by following the procedure in section 2.0 of the ATTO FibreBridge Installation and Operation Manual for your bridge model.

    In systems running ONTAP 9.5 or later, in-band management can be used to access the bridge via the FC ports rather than the Ethernet port.

    When running QuickNAV to configure an Ethernet management port, only the Ethernet management port that is connected by the Ethernet cable is configured. For example, if you also wanted to configure the Ethernet management 2 port, you would need to connect the Ethernet cable to port 2 and run QuickNAV.

  6. Configure the bridge.

    If you retrieved the configuration information from the old bridge, use the information to configure the new bridge.

    Be sure to make note of the user name and password that you designate.

    The ATTO FibreBridge Installation and Operation Manual for your bridge model has the most current information on available commands and how to use them.

    Note
    Do not configure time synchronization on ATTO FibreBridge 7600N or 7500N. The time synchronization for ATTO FibreBridge 7600N or 7500N is set to the cluster time after the bridge is discovered by ONTAP. It is also synchronized periodically once a day. The time zone used is GMT and is not changeable.
    1. If configuring for IP management, configure the IP settings of the bridge.

      To set the IP address without the QuickNAV utility, you need to have a serial connection to the FibreBridge.

      If using the CLI, you must run the following commands:set ipaddress mp1 ip-address set ipsubnetmask mp1 subnet-mask set ipgateway mp1 x.x.x.x set ipdhcp mp1 disabled set ethernetspeed mp1 1000

    2. Configure the bridge name.

      The bridges should each have a unique name within the MetroCluster configuration.

      Example bridge names for one stack group on each site:

      • bridge_A_1a

      • bridge_A_1b

      • bridge_B_1a

      • bridge_B_1b

      If using the CLI, you must run the following command:set bridgename bridgename

    3. If running ONTAP 9.4, enable SNMP on the bridge: set SNMP enabled

      If running ONTAP 9.5 or later, ONTAP will use in-band monitoring via the FC connection to the bridge, so you should leave SNMP disabled.

  7. Configure the bridge FC ports.
    1. Configure the data rate/speed of the bridge FC ports.

      The supported FC data rate depends on your model bridge.

      • The FibreBridge 7600 bridge supports up to 32, 16, or 8 Gbps.

      • The FibreBridge 6500 bridge supports up to 8, 4, or 2 Gbps.

      Note
      The FCDataRate speed you select is limited to the maximum speed supported by both the bridge and the switch to which the bridge port connects. Cabling distances must not exceed the limitations of the SFPs and other hardware.

      If using the CLI, you must run the following command: set FCDataRate port-number port-speed

    2. If you are configuring a FibreBridge 7500N or 6500N bridge, configure the connection mode that the port uses to ptp.
      Note
      The FCConnMode setting is not required when configuring a FibreBridge 7600N bridge.

      If using the CLI, you must run the following command: set FCConnMode port-number ptp

    3. If you are configuring a FibreBridge 7600N or 7500N bridge, you must configure or disable the FC2 port.

      • If you are using the second port, you must repeat the previous substeps for the FC2 port.

      • If you are not using the second port, then you must disable the port:

        FCPortDisable port-number
    4. If you are configuring a FibreBridge 7600N or 7500N bridge, disable the unused SAS ports: SASPortDisable sas-port
      Note
      SAS ports A through D are enabled by default. You must disable the SAS ports that are not being used. If only SAS port A is used, then SAS ports B, C, and D must be disabled.
  8. Secure access to the bridge and save the bridge's configuration.
    1. From the controller prompt check the status of the bridges: storage bridge show

      The output shows which bridge is not secured.

    2. Check the status of the unsecured bridge's ports: info
      The output shows the status of Ethernet ports MP1 and MP2.
    3. If Ethernet port MP1 is enabled, run the following command: set EthernetPort mp1 disabled
      Note
      If Ethernet port MP2 is also enabled, repeat the previous substep for port MP2.
    4. Save the bridge's configuration.
      You must run the following commands: SaveConfigurationFirmwareRestart
      You are prompted to restart the bridge.
  9. Update the FibreBridge firmware on each bridge.

    If the new bridge is the same type as the partner bridge upgrade to the same firmware as the partner bridge. If the new bridge is a different type to the partner bridge, upgrade to the latest firmware supported by the bridge and version of ONTAP. See the section Updating firmware on a FibreBridge bridge.

  10. Cable the disk shelves to the bridges:
    1. Daisy-chain the disk shelves in each stack.
    2. For each stack of disk shelves, cable IOM A of the first shelf to SAS port A on FibreBridge A, and then cable IOM B of the last shelf to SAS port A on FibreBridge B.

      Fabric-attached MetroCluster installation and configuration

    Result

    Each bridge has one path to its stack of disk shelves; bridge A connects to the A-side of the stack through the first shelf, and bridge B connects to the B-side of the stack through the last shelf.
    Note
    The bridge SAS port B is disabled.
  11. Verify that each bridge can detect all of the disk drives and disk shelves to which the bridge is connected.
    If you are using the...Then...
    ATTO ExpressNAV GUI

    1. In a supported web browser, enter the IP address of a bridge in the browser box.

      You are brought to the ATTO FibreBridge home page, which has a link.

    2. Click the link, and then enter your user name and the password that you designated when you configured the bridge.

      The ATTO FibreBridge status page appears with a menu to the left.

    3. Click Advanced in the menu.

    4. View the connected devices: sastargets

    5. Click Submit.

    Serial port connectionView the connected devices: sastargets

    The output shows the devices (disks and disk shelves) to which the bridge is connected. The output lines are sequentially numbered so that you can quickly count the devices.

    Note
    If the text response truncated appears at the beginning of the output, you can use Telnet to connect to the bridge, and then view all of the output by using the sastargets command.

    Example

    The following output shows that 10 disks are connected:
    Tgt VendorID ProductID        Type        SerialNumber
      0 LENOVO   X410_S15K6288A15 DISK        3QP1CLE300009940UHJV
      1 LENOVO   X410_S15K6288A15 DISK        3QP1ELF600009940V1BV
      2 LENOVO   X410_S15K6288A15 DISK        3QP1G3EW00009940U2M0
      3 LENOVO   X410_S15K6288A15 DISK        3QP1EWMP00009940U1X5
      4 LENOVO   X410_S15K6288A15 DISK        3QP1FZLE00009940G8YU
      5 LENOVO   X410_S15K6288A15 DISK        3QP1FZLF00009940TZKZ
      6 LENOVO   X410_S15K6288A15 DISK        3QP1CEB400009939MGXL
      7 LENOVO   X410_S15K6288A15 DISK        3QP1G7A900009939FNTT
      8 LENOVO   X410_S15K6288A15 DISK        3QP1FY0T00009940G8PA
      9 LENOVO   X410_S15K6288A15 DISK        3QP1FXW600009940VERQ
  12. Verify that the command output shows that the bridge is connected to all of the appropriate disks and disk shelves in the stack.
    If the output is...Then...
    CorrectRepeat Step 11 for each remaining bridge.
    Not correct

    1. Check for loose SAS cables or correct the SAS cabling by repeating Step 10.

    2. Repeat Step 11.

  13. If you are configuring a fabric-attached MetroCluster configuration, cable each bridge to the local FC switches, using the cabling shown in the table for your configuration, switch model, and FC-to-SAS bridge model:

    Note
    Brocade and Cisco switches use different port numbering, as shown in the following tables.

    • On Brocade switches, the first port is numbered 0.

    • On Cisco switches, the first port is numbered 1.

  14. If you are configuring a bridge-attached MetroCluster system, cable each bridge to the controller modules:
    1. Cable FC port 1 of the bridge to a 16 Gb or 8 Gb FC port on the controller module in cluster_A.
    2. Cable FC port 2 of the bridge to the same speed FC port of the controller module in cluster_A.
    3. Repeat these substeps on other subsequent bridges until all of the bridges have been cabled.
  15. If your system does not have disk autoassignment enabled, assign disk drive ownership.

    Disk and Aggregate Management Guide

    Note
    If you are splitting the ownership of a single stack of disk shelves among multiple controller modules, you must disable disk autoassignment on both nodes in the cluster (storage disk option modify -autoassign off *) before assigning disk ownership; otherwise, when you assign any single disk drive, the remaining disk drives might be automatically assigned to the same controller module and pool.
  16. Enable the switch ports for the new stack.
  17. Verify the operation of the MetroCluster configuration in ONTAP:
    1. Check whether the system is multipathed: node run -node node-name sysconfig -a
    2. Check for any health alerts on both clusters: system health alert show
    3. Confirm the MetroCluster configuration and that the operational mode is normal: metrocluster show
    4. Perform a MetroCluster check: metrocluster check run
    5. Display the results of the MetroCluster check:metrocluster check show
    6. Check for any health alerts on the switches (if present): storage switch show
  18. If applicable, repeat this procedure for the partner site.
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