Clusters

About clusters

NetApp clusters are two storage systems, or nodes, in a partner relationship where each node can access the other's disk shelves as a secondary owner. Each partner maintains two Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loops (or loops): a primary loop for a path to its own disks, and a secondary path to its partner's disk. The primary loop, loop A, is created by connecting the A ports of one or more disk shelves to the node's disk adapter card, and the secondary loop, loop B, is created by connecting the B ports of one or more disk shelves to the node's disk adapter card.

If one of the clustered nodes fails, its partner can start an emulated storage system that takes over serving the failed partner's disk shelves, providing uninterrupted access to its partner's disks as well as its own disks. For more information on installing or managing clusters, see the Cluster Installation and Administration Guide.

Moving data outside of a cluster

You can move data outside a cluster without having to copy data using the vFiler migrate feature (for NFS only). You place a traditional volume into a vFiler unit and move the volume using the vfiler migrate command. For more information, see the MultiStore Management Guide.