Admin Components
When the storage system comes from the factory it already has ONTAP
installed
The operating system image is installed on CompactFlash boot media
System configuration information is stored on hard disk
An aggregate and volume needs to exist to store this system
configuration
Vol0 – The Node Root Volume
Aggr0 and Vol0 exists on every node in the cluster
System information including the Replicated Database and log files are
stored on Vol0
The system information is replicated between nodes over the cluster
network
No user data is stored on Vol0, it is used for system information only
The Replicated DataBase (RDB)
The RDB includes five units:
‒ The Management Gateway
‒ The Volume Location Database
‒ The Virtual Interface Manager
‒ Blocks Configuration and Operations Management
‒ Configuration Replication Service
The Replicated DataBase (RDB)
One node in the cluster will be elected the replication master for each
of the RDB units.
The same node will typically be the master for all units, but this can
change if there are any node failover events.
The Management Gateway (Mgmt)
The Management Gateway provides the management CLI
The cluster is managed as a whole, there is one command line
interface that you use to manage all nodes - you do not need to
configure nodes individually
You can use the GUI or the CLI to manage the cluster by connecting to
the cluster management IP address
When you make any changes, those changes are replicated throughout
all the nodes in the cluster
The Volume Location DataBase (VLDB)
The Volume Location Database lists which aggregate contains each
volume, and which node contains each aggregate
A client may connect to a different node than the one which hosts the
volume. The VLDB allows all the nodes in the cluster to keep track of
where volumes are located
Administrators can move a volume to a different aggregate. When this
happens the VLDB is updated
The VLDB is cached in memory on each node to optimize performance
The Virtual Interface Manager (VIFMGR)
IP addresses live on a logical interface (LIF)
The Virtual Interface Manager lists which physical interface the logical
interfaces are currently on
The logical interface can move to a different physical interface if there
is a failover
Blocks Configuration and Operations Management
(BCOM)
BCOM stores information for SAN protocols
This includes information on LUNS and iGroups (LUN Masking)
Configuration Replication Service (CRS)
The Configuration Replication Service is used by MetroCluster to
replicate configuration and operational data to the remote secondary
cluster
Data SVMs
Data Storage Virtual Machines serve data to clients
No Data SVMs exist by default
You must have at least one Data SVM for clients to access data
You can create multiple Data SVMs
Each Data SVM appears as a separate storage system to clients
You could create multiple Data SVMs to create separate secure logical
storage systems for different departments and/or client protocols, eg:
DeptA iSCSI SVM
DeptA NFS SVM
DeptB NFS SVM
The Administrative SVM
The Administrative SVM is also known as the Cluster Management
Server, it provides management access to the system
The Admin SVM is created during system setup
The Admin SVM does not host user volumes, it is purely for
management access
The Admin SVM owns the Cluster Management LIF
The Cluster Management LIF can fail over to another physical port
throughout the cluster
Node SVMs
Node SVMs are also used purely for management access
Node SVMs are also created during system setup
The Node SVM owns the Node Management LIF for that node
The Node Management LIF can failover to another physical port on the
same node
Just like the Cluster Management LIF, a Node Management LIF can be
used to manage the entire cluster, not just that individual node
