Verifying your system configuration

Hardware required for clustering

The following tables list all the hardware, including any existing hardware, required to convert your filers into a cluster. See the NOW Web page at http://now.netapp.com for current configuration information.

Filer

The following table lists the minimum and maximum configuration for clustering your filers.

Required hardware	Minimum configuration per filer	Maximum configuration per filer
FC-AL adapters	4	Up to 8
Cluster interconnect adapters (each has two ports: an X port and a Y port)	2	2
Main memory	512 MB	1 GB
NVRAM	32 MB	32 MB

Disk shelves

The following table lists the minimum and maximum hardware configurations for your disk shelves.

Required hardware	Minimum configuration	Maximum configuration
LRC cards: FC7 FC8 FC9	4 4 4	Up to 48 Up to 24 Up to 12
Disk shelves: Fibre Channel StorageShelf FC7 only Fibre Channel StorageShelf FC8 only Fibre Channel StorageShelf FC9 only Mix of Fibre Channel StorageShelf FC7, Fibre Channel StorageShelf FC8, and Fibre Channel StorageShelf FC9 Caution Do not place 18-GB or 36-GB disks into 9-GB disk shelves.	2 2 2 2	Up to 24 Up to 12 Up to 6 The number of disk shelves for both filers must be no greater than the total storage capacity for the filers.

Required hardware

Minimum configuration

Maximum configuration

LRC cards:
FC7
FC8
FC9

4
4
4

Up to 48
Up to 24
Up to 12

Disk shelves:
Fibre Channel StorageShelf FC7 only
Fibre Channel StorageShelf FC8 only
Fibre Channel StorageShelf FC9 only
Mix of Fibre Channel StorageShelf FC7, Fibre Channel StorageShelf FC8, and Fibre Channel StorageShelf FC9

Caution
Do not place 18-GB or 36-GB disks into 9-GB disk shelves.

2
2
2
2

Up to 24
Up to 12
Up to 6
The number of disk shelves for both filers must be no greater than the total storage capacity for the filers.

Cables

The following table lists the minumum and maximum number of cables you need to convert your filers into a cluster.

Required hardware	Minimum	Maximum
4m cluster interconnect cables	2	2
1m filer-to-shelf cables: HSSDC to DB-9 cables	2	Up to 8
0.5m shelf-to-shelf (DB-9 to DB-9) cables	2	You need (n - l) number of cables, where n is the number of disk shelves and l is the number of loops.
Terminators for FC7 and FC8 only	2	Up to 4

Software requirements

You require the following software to convert your filer to a cluster:

Data ONTAP^TM 5.2.1 software or later for F700 series filers
Data ONTAP 5.3.2 software or later for support of Fibre Channel StorageShelf FC9
Data ONTAP 5.3 or later for Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) adapters
Note
The software is on a CD-ROM. You need network connectivity and access to a UNIX or PC system to download the software to the filers.

Filer, disk shelf, and disk firmware required for clustering

The following table lists the firmware levels required by your cluster.

Firmware type	Version
Filer	2.3_a2 for F700 series filers
Disk	NA05 for the 36-GB, 18-GB, and 9-GB disk drives NA26 for the 18-GB disk drives 2747 for the 36-GB disk drive FB59 for the 9-GB HH disk drive
Storage shelves	1.1 for Fibre Channel StorageShelf FC7 and FC8 3.1 for Fibre Channel StorageShelf FC9

Firmware type

Version

Filer

2.3_a2 for F700 series filers

Disk

NA05 for the 36-GB, 18-GB, and
9-GB disk drives
NA26 for the 18-GB disk drives
2747 for the 36-GB disk drive
FB59 for the 9-GB HH disk drive

Storage shelves

1.1 for Fibre Channel StorageShelf FC7 and FC8

3.1 for Fibre Channel StorageShelf FC9

If your disk is not listed in this table, contact your Customer Support representative for the current firmware version.

For detailed information

You must determine whether your system meets the minimum requirements, as described in the previous tables. To determine your system configuration and firmware levels, see the following sections: