Required MetroCluster FC components and naming conventions

Supported software and hardware​

The hardware and software must be supported for the MetroCluster FC configuration.

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When using AFA systems, all controller modules in the MetroCluster configuration must be configured as AFA systems.

Hardware redundancy in the MetroCluster FC configuration​

Because of the hardware redundancy in the MetroCluster FC configuration, there are two of each component at each site. The sites are arbitrarily assigned the letters A and B and the individual components are arbitrarily assigned the numbers 1 and 2.

Requirement for two ONTAP clusters​

The fabric-attached MetroCluster FC configuration requires two ONTAP clusters, one at each MetroCluster site.

Naming must be unique within the MetroCluster configuration.

Example names:

• Site A: cluster_A

• Site B: cluster_B

Requirement for four FC switches​

The fabric-attached MetroCluster FC configuration requires four FC switches (supported Brocade or Cisco models).

The four switches form two switch storage fabrics that provide the ISL between each of the clusters in the MetroCluster FC configuration.

Naming must be unique within the MetroCluster configuration.

Requirement for four or eight controller modules​

The fabric-attached MetroCluster FC configuration require four or eight controller modules.

In a four or eight-node MetroCluster configuration, the controller modules at each site form one or two HA pairs. Each controller module has a DR partner at the other site.

The controller modules must meet the following requirements:

• Naming must be unique within the MetroCluster configuration.

• All controller modules in the MetroCluster configuration must be running the same version of ONTAP.

• All controller modules in a DR group must be of the same model.

  However, in configurations with two DR groups, each DR group can consist of different controller module models.

• All controller modules in a DR group must use the same FC-VI configuration.

  Some controller modules support two options for FC-VI connectivity:

  • Onboard FC-VI ports
  • An FC-VI card in slot 1

  A mix of one controller module using onboard FC-VI ports and another using an add-on FC-VI card is not supported. For example, if one node uses onboard FC-VI configuration, then all other nodes in the DR group must use onboard FC-VI configuration as well.

Example names:

• Site A: controller_A_1

• Site B: controller_B_1

Requirement for four cluster interconnect switches​

The fabric-attached MetroCluster FC configuration requires four cluster interconnect switches (if you are not using two-node switchless clusters).

These switches provide cluster communication among the controller modules in each cluster. The switches are not required if the controller modules at each site are configured as a two-node switchless cluster.

Requirement for FC-to-SAS bridges​

The fabric-attached MetroCluster FC configuration requires one pair of FC-to-SAS bridges for each stack group of SAS shelves:

• FibreBridge 7600N bridges support up to four SAS stacks.

• Each stack can use different models of IOM.

  Supported IOM modules depend on the version of ONTAP you are running.

• Naming must be unique within the MetroCluster configuration.

The suggested names used as examples in this guide identify the controller module and stack that the bridge connects to, as shown below.

Pool and drive requirements (minimum supported)​

Eight SAS disk shelves are recommended (four shelves at each site) to allow disk ownership on a per-shelf basis.

The MetroCluster configuration requires the minimum configuration at each site:

• Each node has at least one local pool and one remote pool at the site.

  For example, in a four-node MetroCluster configuration with two nodes at each site, four pools are required at each site.

• At least seven drives in each pool.

  In a four-node MetroCluster configuration with a single mirrored data aggregate per node, the minimum configuration requires 28 disks at the site.

In a minimum supported configuration, each pool has the following drive layout:

• Three root drives

• Three data drives

• One spare drive

In a minimum supported configuration, at least one shelf is needed per site.

MetroCluster configurations support RAID-DP.

Bridge naming conventions​