About filers

Filer main unit, or chassis

The hardware device that receives and sends data

About filer main unit components

Disk shelves

Containers that hold disks and associated hardware (such as power supplies, connectivity, and cabling) that are connected to the filer

About disk shelves

Data ONTAP

The software-based operating system on the filer

About Data ONTAP

Network file service

The filer enables users on client workstations (or hosts) to create, delete, modify, and access files or blocks stored on it. Client workstations are connected to the filer through TCP/IP, direct-attached, or fabric-attached network connections.

Multiprotocol file and block sharing

Clients can use the following protocols to access data on the filer:

• NFS (Network File System)--used by UNIX systems
• (PC)NFS (Personal Computer NFS)--used by PCs to access NFS
• CIFS (Common Internet File System)--used by Windows clients
• FTP (File Transfer Protocol)--used for file access and retrieval
• HTTP (HyperText Transmission Protocol)--used by the World Wide Web and corporate intranets
• WebDAV (Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning)-- used by HTTP clients for distributed web content authoring operations
• DAFS (Direct Access File System)--used by DAFS clients
• FCP (Fibre Channel Protocol)--used for block access in storage area networks
• iSCSI (Internet small computer system interface)--used for block access in storage area networks

Files written using one protocol are accessible to clients of any protocol, provided that filer licenses and permissions allow it. For example, an NFS client can access a file created by a CIFS client, and a CIFS client can access a file created by an NFS client. Blocks written using one protocol can also be accessed by clients using the other protocol.

Data protection

The filer protects disk data in the following ways:

Snapshot^TM same-volume backup enables you to manually or automatically create, schedule, and maintain multiple backups (or snapshots) of volume and qtree images using only a minimal amount of additional volume space at no performance cost.

SnapMirror® (license required) filer-to-filer snapshot mirroring enables you to mirror snapshots on one filer to a partner filer. Should the original filer be disabled, this ensures quick restoration of data from the point of the last snapshot.

SnapVault^TM (license required) multiple sources-to-central system snapshot backup backs up snapshots from qtrees on multiple volumes and filers to a single Network Appliance SnapVault secondary storage system. This system is specialized for quick backup and restore of its filer sources.

The SnapRestore® (license required) feature performs fast restoration of backed up data on request from snapshots on an entire volume.

Tape backup dump and restore commands enable you to back up filer or SnapVault snapshots to tape. Because the snapshot rather than the active file system is backed up to tape, the filer can continue its normal functions while the tape backup is still in operation.

Data protection (continued)

Vol copy (license required) fast block copy of data enables you to quickly copy blocks of stored filer data from one volume to another.

SyncMirror^TM (cluster configuration required) performs real-time mirroring of data to two separate filer volumes physically connected to the same filer head. In case of an unrecoverable disk error on one volume, the filer automatically switches access to the mirrored volume.

NDMP (Network Data Management Protocol) support enables third-party applications that use NDMP to manage tape backup operations of filer data. The NDMP copy command carries out NDMP-compliant backups and restores. Security login restricts access to NDMP operations.

The nvfail option provides protection against data corruption by nonvolatile RAM (NVRAM) failures.

Autosupport

Mail notifications about filer problems are automatically sent to Network Appliance Technical Support.