Before you begin

Product documentation

Product documentation is shipped with the filer and is available online at http://now.netapp.com. Read the Data ONTAP 6.4 Release Notes along with any other information that describes the latest details of this release, such as a Read Me First, or the description of this release at http://now.netapp.com. Included with the product documentation that comes with your filer is a list of all licenses that were purchased for the filer.

CD-ROM and diskettes shipped with the filer

The filer was shipped with a CD-ROM and system boot diskettes, for filers that use diskettes instead of CompactFlash^TM cards. Because the system software was installed at the factory, you don't need the CD-ROM or system boot diskettes to install or configure a new filer. However, Network Appliance recommends that you store the CD-ROM and system boot diskettes in a safe place so that you can use them to recover from any unlikely software problems in the future.

The following table describes the CD-ROM and system boot diskettes.

Media	Contents
Data ONTAP CD-ROM	The CD-ROM contains the system software and system boot software in two formats so that it can be read by both UNIX and PC workstations. It also includes product documentation. If you need to reinstall the system software for any reason, you need this CD-ROM. For full information about the contents of the CD-ROM, read the file named index.htm on the CD-ROM. Note Call Network Appliance Technical Support for instructions before reinstalling system software on the filer at +1 (888) 4-NETAPP.
System boot diskettes	If the filer fails to boot from hard disk, you must boot the filer from the system boot diskettes, unless the filer has a CompactFlash card. See the hardware guide for your filer for details about how to boot from media.
Custom MIB	Use the custom Management Information Base (MIB) with SNMP to get detailed information about filer operation. For further information, see the Network Management Guide.

Media

Contents

Data ONTAP CD-ROM

The CD-ROM contains the system software and system boot software in two formats so that it can be read by both UNIX and PC workstations. It also includes product documentation. If you need to reinstall the system software for any reason, you need this CD-ROM.

For full information about the contents of the CD-ROM, read the file named index.htm on the CD-ROM.

Note
Call Network Appliance Technical Support for instructions before reinstalling system software on the filer at +1 (888) 4-NETAPP.

System boot diskettes

If the filer fails to boot from hard disk, you must boot the filer from the system boot diskettes, unless the filer has a CompactFlash card. See the hardware guide for your filer for details about how to boot from media.

Custom MIB

Use the custom Management Information Base (MIB) with SNMP to get detailed information about filer operation. For further information, see the Network Management Guide.

Administrator privilege requirements

You must have administrator privileges for the computer that serves as the administration host.

If your filer has an NFS license, you must have the appropriate administrator privileges to access and administer the UNIX host.

If your filer has a CIFS license, you must have the appropriate administrator privileges to access and administer the Windows host and the Windows domain.

Use of DHCP with F800 series and F900 series filers for remote access

Enabling Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) to assign a static IP address to the onboard interface (e0) of an F800 series or F900 series filer during first-time setup enables you to use a Telnet client to access the filer and complete the first-time configuration remotely. Otherwise, you must attach a hard-wired serial console to the filer to complete the configuration.

When you use DHCP to assign an IP address to the onboard interface, the filer

Obtains the address from the DHCP server when the filer is turned on
Configures the onboard interface with the IP address
Becomes accessible to a Telnet client or the Setup Wizard
Caution
The DHCP server must return a static IP address for the interface. If the server returns a dynamic IP address, the filer displays an error message and continues to use the IP address permanently--which can result in an IP address conflict if the DHCP server assigns the IP address dynamically to other clients from time to time.

Installation of filer hardware

For current system configuration information, such as storage capacity, expansion slot assignments, and disk shelf, disk drive, and tape drive support, see the System Configuration Guide on the NOW site at http://now.netapp.com. You can install the filer hardware using the Easy Install Guide or the hardware guide for your filer.

Installation of clustered filers

If you are installing a filer cluster, cable the filers in the cluster according to the instructions in the hardware series cluster guide. Note that clustered filers require that much of the configuration information matches. See Verifying configuration for clustered filers for more information.

Information about SnapDrive system requirements and setup for your filer

If you plan to use SnapDrive^TM on your Windows 2000 host to manage virtual disks on your filer, see the SnapDrive^TM Installation and Administration Guide for information about SnapDrive system requirements and setup for your filer.

Information required to configure a new filer

During the setup process, you configure the new filer to run on the network. This requires a lot of information about the filer and your network, including licensed protocols, administration host name, network connections, DNS or NIS services, WINS, and SMTP server names, and so on.

See Appendix A, Configuration Worksheet, for a complete list of the required information, which you can use as a template to record your values.

Information about setting up LDAP authentication on your filer

For information about how to configure your filer to use LDAP authentication, see the Network Management Guide.

Information about setting up Kerberos V5 authentication for NFS on your filer

For information about how to configure your filer to use Kerberos V5 authentication for NFS, see the File Access Management Guide.