Netapp FAS3100 series - hardware changes! I'm impressed

So, in preparation for taking our newly acquired FAS3140 into production, we have purchased two new 4 port nics, one to go in each controller of the active/active configuration.

Whilst the Netapp is not yet in production, I thought I would attempt this task, as if it was so as to gain a better understanding of the process in case I need to do it later when it is actually serving production data. Well the task was surprisingly easy and completed without any downtime to the unit! To say I am impressed is an understatement! With Netapp you really get what you pay for.

So first things first, to complete this exercise you need space at the back of the rack behind the FAS3140 controllers as you will (in turn) be removing each of the controllers through the back of the cabinet.

When I surveyed our site I found a jumble of network cables passing the back of the FAS3140 going upto our Esx hosts at the top of the rack!

This was not suprising as we have not been careful with this space in the past as access here has not been required! I had on my list of jobs some setting changes to each Esx host, that would require me to reboot each Esx host, so I thought I would do that first and sort out each hosts network cables during the reboot exercise. These changes will be covered in another blog article!

So space behind the rack is now not a problem, so we can continue with the hardware change!

First, a little bit of useful knowledge to ease the task! The expansion cards on each FAS3100 series controller are labelled from the top 1 to 4 at the bottom. When adding expansion nic cards as in this article, we can use this information and know the names of the new network ports before we add the card! So as we are adding a 4 port nic to the bottom expansion port (4) our ports will be called e4a, e4b, e4c and e4d. As we were currently using a vif on each controller on ports e0a and e0b we could make the network changes prior to the hardware change and then get it picked up automatically later!

So we edit the /etc/rc file on the first controller changing any vif references from e0a and e0b to e4a, e4b, e4c and e4d. Then save this file. NOTE: changes to this file are read only at boot so it is safe to make these changes whilst the system is running.

We now need to takeover the first controller, so that the second controller assumes its identity and serves its data. You can either do this on the telnet session of the second controller or as I did by using the Netapp systems manager GUI downloadable from the Netapp website.

Once this is done you will now be serving all data from the second controller, it is as if the first controller does not exist!

We are now in a position to install the new card on the first controller. So first we have to remove the controller.

To do this locate it in the rack and remove all the network cables to it, along with the interconnect to the shelves. NOTE: DO NOT REMOVE THE POWER TO THE UNIT OR CABLES FROM THE OTHER CONTROLLER!

It is useful to attach the removed cables to the cable management tray to aid in locating the correct cables when re-cabling later. Then remove the cable management tray and move it out of the way of the controller.

Next you need to locate the cam handle screw on the back of the unit. This is fairly near the top and slightly left of centre. Undo this screw and you should feel the handle drop down partway. Grab hold of this handle and pull it down the rest of the way. Now hold the handle and pull the controller out of the rack. NOTE: the controller will stop partway and you will need to release the holding tab on the left hand side.

Complete the removal of the unit being careful not to let the furthest edge from you drop as it clears the chassis!

Now open up the right rear side to gain access to the expansion slots. As explained earlier you should now see 4 slots labelled from the top 1 to bottom 4.

I inserted my card into slot 4 and then put the side back on.

Next slide the controller back into the chassis taking care not to trap any cables in the process. Finally push the cam handle back firmly and tighten the cam handle screw up.

Recable the controller and reaffix the Cable management tray. NOTE: as I went from 2 ports on the old vif to 4 ports on the new vif I had to move the 2 network cables from the old ports to the ports on the new card and then cable an additional 2 to the other 2 ports on the new card.

Finally as the original vif was configured as a portgroup on the switches it was necessary to adjust this so that it went from containing 2 to 4 ports.

Then it was a case of going back to the systems manager GUI and instigating a giveback. This basically tells the system that the error on the first controller is fixed and that it is ready to serve data again. This process takes a few seconds as it effectively reboots the first controller - thereby reading the /etc/rc file we changed earlier.

Once this has completed, we confirm that the vif is indeed configured as expected and that everything is functioning correctly.

Once we are happy we are ready to perform the steps again, this time on the second controller, with the first once assuming control of the whole unit!

So that's all there is to it, hardware changes can be made with the filer staying up and continuously serving data. The upgrade is also very quick and easy. I am very impressed with this bit of kit!