NetApp Interview Question

How to improve the Netapp storage performance?

There is no direct answer for this question but we shall do it in several way.
If volume/lun present in ATA/SATA harddisk aggregate, then the volume can be mig
rated to FC/SAS disk aggregate.
For NFS/CIFS instead of accessing from single interface, multi mode vif can be c
onfigured to get better bandwidth and fault tolerance.
Always advised to keep aggr/vol utilization below 90%.
Avoid doing multiple volume backup in single point of time.
Aggr/volume/lun reallocation can be done to re distribute the data to multiple dis
k for better striping performance.
Schedule scrubbing and deduplication scanning after business hours.
Avoid connecting different types of shelf in a same loop.
Avoid mixing up different speeds of disk and different types of disk in a same a
ggregate.
Always keep sufficient spare disk to replace incase of disk failure. Because rec
onstruction time will take more time and cause negative performance.
Keep the advised version of firmware/software which is recommended by netapp.
Better to have nearstore functionality to avoid backing up data from source file
r.
Unable to map lun to solaris server, but solaris server side no issue. How to re
solve the issue?
FROM STORAGE SIDE:
Verify iscsi/fcp license is added in storage
Verify iscsi/fcp session is logged in from server side
Verify luns are mapped to the corresponding igroup.
Verify whether correct host type is mentioned while creating igroup and lun
Verify whether correct iqn/wwpn number is added to igroup
Verify zoning is properly configured from switch side.
How to create the LUN for solaris server?
lun create s size t solaris /vol/vol1/lunname
How to create qtree and provide the security?
Qtree create /vol/vol1/qtreename
Qtree security /vol/vol1/qtree unix|ntfs|mixed
How to copy filer to filer?
ndmpcopy or snapmirror
How to resize the aggregate?
Aggr add agg(name) no.of.disk
How to increase the volume?
Traditional
Vol add vol(name) no.of.disk
Flexiable
Vol size vol(name) +60g
What is qtree?

Qtree are Logical partition of the volume

What is the default snap reserve in aggregate?
5%
What is snapshot?
Copy(read only) of active file system
What are the raid groups netapp supporting?, what is the difference between them
?
Raid_dp(double parity,diagonal parity) ,raid4(striping&dedicated parity)
What are the protocols you are using?
Say some protocols like NFS, CIFS, ISCSI and FC
What is the difference between iscsi and fcp?
Iscsi-sending block through(tcp,ip)
Fcp-send through fibre medium
What is the iscsi port number your are using?
860 and 3260
What is the difference between ndmp copy and vol copy?
Ndmp copy

network data management protocol(used for tape backup)

Vol copy

is used to transfer volume to same or another aggr

http://netapplines.blogspot.in/2012/05/comparison-of-vol-copy-ndmpcopy-and.html
What is the difference between ONTAP 7 & 8?
In ONTAP 7 the individual aggregate is limited to maximum of 16 TB. Where ONTAP
8 supports the new 64 bit aggregate and hence the size of the individual aggrega
te extends to 100 TB.
What are the steps need to perform to configure SnapMirror?
The SnapMirror configuration process consists of the following four steps:
a. Install the SnapMirror license on the source and destination systems: license
add <code>
b. On the source, specify the host name or IP address of the SnapMirror destinat
ion systems you wish to authorize to replicate this source system.
options snapmirror.access host=dst_hostname1,dst_hostname2
c. For each source volume or qtree to replicate, perform an initial baseline tra
nsfer. For volume SnapMirror,
restrict the destination volume first: vol restrict dst_vol
Then initialize the volume SnapMirror baseline, using the following syntax on th

e destination:
snapmirror initialize -S src_hostname:src_v
oldst_hostname:dst_vol
For a qtree SnapMirror baseline transfer, use the following syntax on the destin
ation:
snapmirror initialize

S src_hostname:/vol/src_vol/src_qtree

dst_hostname:/vol/dst_vol/dst_qtree
d. After the initial transfer completes, set the SnapMirror mode of replication
by creating the
/etc/snapmirror.conf file in the destination s root volume.
For reference:
http://netapplines.blogspot.in/2012/01/snapmirror-schedule-configuration.html
http://netapplines.blogspot.in/2011/11/snapmirror-primary-conf.html
http://netapplines.blogspot.in/2011/11/snapmirror-secondary-conf.html
While doing baseline transfer you re getting error message. What are the troublesh
ooting steps you ll do?
Check both the hosts are reachable by running ping command
Check whether the TCP port 10566 & 10000 are open
Check whether the snapmirror license are installed in both and destination
Explain the different types of replication modes.
The SnapMirror Async mode replicates Snapshot copies from a source volume or qtr
ee to a destination
volume or qtree. Incremental updates are based on a schedule or are performed ma
nually using the
snapmirror update command. Async mode works with both volume SnapMirror and qtre
e SnapMirror.
SnapMirror Sync mode replicates writes from a source volume to a destination vol
ume at the same time it is
written to the source volume. SnapMirror Sync is used in environments that have
zero tolerance for data loss.
SnapMirror Semi-Sync provides a middle-ground solution that keeps the source and
destination systems more
closely synchronized than Async mode, but with less impact on performance.
How do you configure multiple path in Snapmirror?
Add a connection name line in the snapmirror.conf file
/etc/snapmirror.conf

FAS1_conf = multi (FAS1-e0a,FAS2-e0a) (FAS1-e0b,FAS2-e0b)

Explain how De-Duplication works?
In the context of disk storage, deduplication refers to any algorithm that searc
hes for duplicate data objects (for example, blocks, chunks, files) and discards
those duplicates. When duplicate data is detected, it is not retained, but inst
ead a data pointer is modified so that the storage system references an exact copy
of the data object already stored on disk. This deduplication feature works wel
l with datasets that have lots of duplicated date (for example, full backups).
http://netapplines.blogspot.in/2012/04/deduplication.html
What is the command used to see amount of space saved using deduplication?
df s <volume name>
Command used to check progress and status of deduplication?
sis status
How do you setup Snapvault Snapshot schedule?
pri> snapvault snap sched vol1 sv_hourly 22@0-22
This schedule is for the home directories volume vol1
Creates hourly Snapshot copies, except 11:00 p.m.
Keeps nearly a full day of hourly copies
What is metadata?
Metadata is defined as data providing information about one or more aspects of t
he data,
1. Inode file
2. Used block bitmap file
3. Free block bitmap file
How do you shutdown filer through RLM?
telnet rlm ip address
RLM_Netapp> system power on
After creating LUN (iSCSI) & mapped the lun to particular igroup, the client not
able to access the LUN. What are the trouble shooting steps you take?
Check whether IQN number specified is correct
Check whether the created LUN is in restrict mode
Check the iscsi status
In CIFS how do you check who is using most?
Cifs top
How to check cifs performance statistics
cifs stat
What do you do if a customer reports a particular CIFS share is responding slow?
Check the r/w using "cifs stat" & "sysstat -x 1".

If disk & cpu utilization is more then problem is with filer side only.
CPU utilization will be high if more disk r/w time, i.e.,during tapeback up & al
so during scrub activities.
what is the degraded mode? You have parity for failed disks then why the filer g
oes to degraded mode?
If the spare disk is not added within 24hours,then filer will be shutdown auomat
ically to avoid further disk failures and data loss.
Did you ever do ontap upgrade? From which version to which version and for what
reason?
Yes i have done ontap upgrade from version 7.2.6.1 to 7.3.3 due to lot of bugs i
n old version.
How do you create a lun ?
lun create -s <lunsize> -t <host type> <lunpath>
Production Manager?
Production manager will do the planning,co-ordinating and controlling the proces
s.
Performance Manager?
Performance manager will analyses the performance trends of application.systems
and services.
How do you monitor the filers?
Using DFM(Data Fabric Manager) or also using SNMP you can monitor the filer.
What are the prerequisites for a cluster?
cluster interconnect cable should be connected.
shelf connect should be properly done for both the controllers
cluster license should be enabled on both the nodes
Interfaces should be properly configured for fail over
cluster should be enabled
What are the scenarios you have for a cluster failover?
If disk shelf power or shelf port is down, then failover will not happen. It can
not access the mail box disk. Mail box disk stores the cluster configuration dat
a.
What is the diff bet cf takeover and cf force takeover?
If partner shelf power is off (metrco cluster), the forcetakover will work else
normal takeover will work.
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