NS0-521 Implementation Engineer - SAN ONTAP Exam Questions and Answers

To protect an Oracle RAC Automatic Storage Management (ASM) instance and ensure automated restores, the recommended tool is theNetApp SnapCenter plugin. SnapCenter provides comprehensive backup, restore, and clone capabilities for Oracle databases, including those using ASM. It integrates tightly with Oracle RAC environments and automates the entire data protection process, ensuring that backups are consistent and restores are efficient and reliable.

For more details, refer to:

NetApp Documentation on SnapCenter for Oracle​ (NetApp)​.

NetApp TR-4964: Oracle Database Backup, Restore, and Clone​ (NetApp)​.

When the number of paths exceeds the recommended configuration for SAN deployment, it can cause performance issues. To address this problem, you can:

Use Selective LUN Mapping (SLM): SLM allows you to control which LIFs (Logical Interfaces) are used to access specific LUNs, thus reducing the number of paths and potentially improving performance by aligning with best practice configurations.

Reconfigure the fabric switch zoning: Adjusting the zoning on the fabric switches can help manage and optimize the number of paths, ensuring that there are not too many paths that could lead to inefficient I/O operations and performance degradation.

For more details, refer to:

NetApp SAN Host Configuration

NetApp Best Practices for SAN

To configure Foreign LUN Import (FLI) on a NetApp HA pair to migrate over FCP LUNs from a third-party array while serving other LUNs, the following actions are required:

Create zoning from the third-party array to the cluster: Proper zoning ensures that the NetApp cluster can communicate with the third-party storage array.

Convert a single FC port on each controller to an FC initiator port: This is necessary for the NetApp system to initiate the connection and access the LUNs on the third-party array.

For more information, refer to:

NetApp Documentation on Foreign LUN Import

For synchronous data replication between two sites with automatic failover in case of a site disaster for SAN workloads, the two NetApp features that provide these capabilities areSnapMirror SynchronousandMetroCluster IP.

SnapMirror Synchronous: This feature provides volume-granular, synchronous replication with zero RPO (Recovery Point Objective), ensuring that data is mirrored in real-time to a secondary site. This setup supports automatic failover, maintaining data availability even during site failures​

MetroCluster IP: This solution provides synchronous replication and combines high availability and disaster recovery capabilities. MetroCluster IP uses IP networking to extend the distance over which replication can occur and supports automatic failover and failback, making it suitable for critical SAN workloads

In NetApp ONTAP 9.13.1, one of the automatic features that can be used with iSCSI isLIF failover. This feature ensures that in the event of a network failure or a node issue, the Logical Interface (LIF) will automatically fail over to another available port, maintaining connectivity and minimizing disruption to iSCSI traffic.

For more information, refer to:

NetApp ONTAP 9.13.1 Features

For configuring LUNs to share with ESXi hosts for datastores in an SVM created for FCP traffic, the following steps are necessary after creating the LUN:

Create an igroup with the ESXi hosts' WWPNs: This step involves defining an initiator group that includes the WWPNs of the ESXi hosts that need access to the LUN.

Map the LUNs to the igroup: This step assigns the LUN to the created igroup, allowing the ESXi hosts to access the LUN.

For further details, refer to:

NetApp Documentation on LUN and igroup Configuration

When planning to upgrade the UCS Server BIOS and Cisco NX-OS system running on the switches in a NetApp AFF ASA cluster environment, theInteroperability Matrix Tool (IMT)is the recommended resource to check compatibility with the new versions. The IMT provides detailed compatibility information for various hardware and software components, ensuring that the planned upgrades will not cause any interoperability issues.

For further details, refer to:

NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool

To verify the cabling of a four-node NetApp ONTAP SAN cluster after installation, the recommended tool isActive IQ Config Advisor. This tool provides detailed checks for proper configuration, including cabling verification, and helps ensure that best practices are followed for optimal performance and reliability.

For further details, see:

NetApp Active IQ Config Advisor

When configuring NVMe/FC (NVMe over Fibre Channel), it is necessary to enable N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) on all fabric switches. NPIV allows multiple Fibre Channel initiators to share a single physical Fibre Channel port, which is crucial for NVMe/FC environments where efficient utilization of available ports is needed.

NPIV support enables the creation of virtual ports, which can significantly optimize the configuration and management of Fibre Channel fabrics, thus supporting NVMe/FC operations.

For further details, you can refer to:

NetApp Community - NVMe/FC Configuration​ (NetApp Community)​.

NetApp Documentation - NVMe Overview​ (NetApp)​.

For a two-node cluster serving iSCSI LUNs, it is recommended to createtwo iSCSI LIFs per node. This configuration provides redundancy and load balancing, ensuring that each node can handle failover scenarios effectively and maintain high availability for the iSCSI connections.

For more details, see:

NetApp Documentation on iSCSI LIF Configuration

To clone a LUN from a SnapMirror destination volume for testing purposes, the volume clone create command should be used. This command creates a FlexClone volume from the SnapMirror destination, making the LUN within it accessible for testing without disrupting the original volume.

For more details, refer to:

NetApp Documentation on Volume Clone Create

NetApp Community Discussion on LUN Cloning

To restore a LUN from a SnapMirror Synchronous destination, the following steps must be taken:

Release the relationship: This step is necessary to break the SnapMirror relationship, allowing the LUN to be restored independently.

Delete the relationship: After releasing the relationship, deleting it ensures that there are no residual dependencies or configurations that might interfere with the restore process.

For more information, refer to:

NetApp Documentation on SnapMirror Synchronous​ (NetApp)​​ (NetApp)​.

To configure a Snapshot copy of all LUNs simultaneously as a single unit in an application with multiple LUNs spread across several volumes, the command vserver consistency-group create should be used. This command creates a consistency group that allows for coordinated snapshot creation across multiple volumes, ensuring that the snapshots are consistent with each other.

For more information, you can refer to:

NetApp ONTAP Consistency Group Documentation

NetApp Community Discussions on Consistency Groups

To verify compatibility in an iSCSI storage environment before a NetApp ONTAP software upgrade, the following tools are recommended:

Interoperability Matrix Tool (IMT): This tool helps verify the compatibility of different components, including network switches, hosts, and storage systems, ensuring that the planned upgrade will be supported.

Active IQ OneCollect: This tool collects comprehensive configuration and performance data from the storage environment, which can be used to assess the current setup and identify any compatibility issues before the upgrade.

For further details, refer to:

NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool

Active IQ OneCollect Documentation

For a successful deployment of a switchless HA pair with two NetApp DS224C shelves in an already populated rack, it is crucial to verify:

Rack units: Ensure that there are enough rack units available to accommodate the new shelves and any associated equipment. Proper planning of space in the rack is essential for a neat and functional setup.

Power connections: Verify that there are sufficient and appropriately rated power connections available. Ensuring proper power distribution and redundancy is critical for the reliability and uptime of the storage system.

For more details, refer to:

NetApp Documentation on Rack Installation

NetApp Community Discussion on Power Connections

To move a WWPN from node1 to node2 in a NetApp ONTAP SAN environment where ALUA is used, you must take the Logical Interface (LIF) offline. Modifying LIFs involves changing their assignment between nodes, which requires them to be temporarily offline. This ensures that the path states are correctly updated without causing disruption to the SAN hosts.

For more details, see:

NetApp Community on Moving LIFs

NetApp Documentation on SAN LIFs