TR-4684: Implementing and Configuring Modern Sans with Nvme/FC
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Technical Report Implementing and configuring Modern SANs with NVMe/FC Michael Peppers, Martin George, NetApp June 2021 | TR-4684 | Version 6 Abstract NVM Express (NVMe) is a data storage protocol that delivers the fastest response times for business-critical enterprise applications. However, NVMe is more than a storage specification; the broader NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF) protocol encompasses the entire data path, from server to network to storage system. This technical report focuses on building modern SANs on NVMe over Fabrics, especially NVMe over Fibre Channel (NVMe/FC, also known as FC-NVMe). This report describes the industry-first NVMe/FC implementation in NetApp® ONTAP® data management software, includes guidelines for SAN design and implementation, and provides links to testing and qualification recommendations. TABLE OF CONTENTS NVMe in the modern data center ............................................................................................................... 5 NVMe and Fibre Channel Protocol naming .............................................................................................................5 Why NVMe is so fast ...............................................................................................................................................6 NVMe and modern SANs ............................................................................................................................ 8 NVMe use cases .....................................................................................................................................................8 NVMe as a storage attachment architecture ............................................................................................ 9 NetApp AFF A800 ...................................................................................................................................................9 NVMe over Fabrics .................................................................................................................................... 11 NVMe and data fabrics .......................................................................................................................................... 11 NVMe over Fibre Channel ........................................................................................................................ 13 NetApp NVMe/FC release announcement ............................................................................................................ 15 NVMe/FC features and limitations ........................................................................................................... 16 ONTAP 9.4 NVMe/FC target and native HA failover ............................................................................................. 16 ONTAP 9.5 NVMe/FC features: ANA .................................................................................................................... 17 ONTAP 9.6 NVMe-oF adds 512-byte blocks ......................................................................................................... 19 ONTAP 9.9.1 adds NVMe-oF remote I/O support ................................................................................................. 19 All SAN Array adds NVMe/FC support .................................................................................................................. 20 Multipathing recommendations .............................................................................................................................. 20 ONTAP feature support and coexistence .............................................................................................................. 20 Getting started with NVMe/FC ................................................................................................................. 22 Interoperability .......................................................................................................................................... 22 NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool ....................................................................................................................... 23 Best practices for NVMe/FC ..................................................................................................................... 24 Currently published best practices ......................................................................................................................... 24 Fabric and switch configuration and operational best practices............................................................................. 24 NVMe/FC best practices: Pathing .......................................................................................................................... 25 NVMe/FC setup and configuration ......................................................................................................................... 25 Detailed setup and configuration procedure references ........................................................................................ 26 Performance .............................................................................................................................................. 26 For more information ............................................................................................................................................. 29 Appendix A: Where does the NVMe standard come from? .................................................................. 30 Where to find the NVMe standards documents ..................................................................................................... 30 2 Implementing and configuring Modern SANs with NVMe/FC © 2021 NetApp, Inc. 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Appendix B: Using ONTAP System Manager to create ONTAP NVMe/FC objects ............................ 30 Appendix C: ONTAP NVMe/FC CLI commands—Initial setup and discovery .................................... 35 On the ONTAP Controller ...................................................................................................................................... 35 On the host ............................................................................................................................................................ 37 On the ONTAP Controller ...................................................................................................................................... 37 Appendix D: CLI—Display objects and run I/O ...................................................................................... 37 On the controller .................................................................................................................................................... 37 On the host ............................................................................................................................................................ 39 On the controller .................................................................................................................................................... 39 On the host ............................................................................................................................................................ 39 Appendix E: Troubleshooting ................................................................................................................. 40 Ipfc Verbose logging for NVMe/FC ........................................................................................................................ 40 Common nvme-cli errors and their workarounds ................................................................................................... 40 Files and command outputs required for debugging .............................................................................................. 41 Appendix F: NVMe/FC scalability and limits .......................................................................................... 41 Where to find additional information ...................................................................................................... 42 Host OS setup and configuration ........................................................................................................................... 42 Standards documents ............................................................................................................................................ 42 SUSE Enterprise Linux links .................................................................................................................................. 42 Brocade links ......................................................................................................................................................... 42 Videos, webcasts, and blogs ................................................................................................................................. 42 White papers, product announcements, and analysis ........................................................................................... 43 NetApp documentation, technical reports and other NVMe-related collateral ....................................................... 43 Version history .......................................................................................................................................... 44 Contact us ................................................................................................................................................