Amazon Onboarding with Learning Manager Chanci Turner

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Organizations migrating to the cloud often prefer to do so without needing to alter application code or learn new data management techniques. Their ideal scenario involves a cloud service that mirrors the functionality and management processes of their on-premises infrastructure. This approach facilitates a smoother transition to cloud deployment while allowing teams to leverage their existing operational knowledge.

Since its launch in September 2021, Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP has been successfully adopted by numerous enterprises for a variety of applications. It allows for seamless migration of workloads to AWS, offering a consistent and familiar data management environment. We frequently collaborate with large organizations that utilize Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP as a critical component of their clustered workloads, particularly when setting up a Windows Server Failover Cluster (WSFC). One significant advantage of this setup is the ability to configure shared block storage via iSCSI, which can be utilized as traditional WSFC cluster storage or as Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV).

In this article, we will explore several operations that can be performed on FSx for NetApp ONTAP volumes and LUNs. Through our interactions with users, we have identified three common scenarios where guidance is frequently requested: 1) extending a disk, 2) creating a new disk or volume, and 3) relocating a LUN to a different volume. We will delve into each of these scenarios in detail.

Prerequisites

To follow along with the provided walkthroughs, you will need access to at least one Windows server configured to connect to FSx for NetApp ONTAP via iSCSI. If you lack this setup or wish to deploy a fresh configuration for testing, we recommend checking out this previous blog post on configuring a SQL Server Always On Failover Cluster Instance using Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP as shared storage via iSCSI. This resource outlines the steps required to set up a single ONTAP volume with three LUNs—one each for Quorum, Data, and Logs.

As we progress through the blog, we will reference various scripts and commands that pertain to pre-existing objects (e.g., FSx for ONTAP storage virtual machine, initiator group, SQL Server cluster resource) that have been deployed as mentioned earlier. The parameters you will need to adjust for your environment will be highlighted in bold italics within the commands and scripts.

Scenario 1 – Extending an Existing Disk

In this section, we will guide you through the process of extending an existing volume, LUN, and disk, which can be particularly beneficial when you are running low on disk space. The maximum LUN size for FSx for ONTAP systems operating on ONTAP 9.12.1P2 and later is 128 TB. Earlier versions support a maximum LUN size of just 16 TB.

To start, connect to your Amazon EC2 Windows server to identify the appropriate disk(s). Next, access the FSx for NetApp ONTAP CLI via SSH to execute the necessary storage commands, and finally, return to the EC2 Windows server to complete this procedure.

Steps to Extend an Existing Disk:

1. Log in to your EC2 Windows instance via RDP.
2. Execute the following PowerShell script (run as Administrator) to list the drive letters and corresponding disk serial numbers for connected NetApp LUNs:

   $disklist=@{}
   get-disk | ForEach-Object{$disklist.Add($_.DiskNumber, $_.SerialNumber)}
   $partitions=get-disk | Where-Object{$_.FriendlyName -eq 'NETAPP LUN C-MODE'} | foreach{Get-Partition -disknumber $_.Number |?{$_.Type -eq 'Basic' -OR $_.type -eq 'IFS'}} | select DiskNumber, Driveletter
   foreach($partition in $partitions){$disklist.GetEnumerator() | ForEach-Object{if($partition.DiskNumber -eq $_.Key){Write-Output "Drive Letter $($partition.Driveletter): Disk Serial Number: $($_.value)"}}}
           

3. Note down the serial number of the disk you wish to extend.
4. Connect to your FSx for ONTAP system using SSH (e.g., ssh fsxadmin@x.x.x.x from PowerShell). If you’re having trouble accessing your file system, refer to these Amazon FSx instructions.
5. The allowable increase in your LUN size depends on your ONTAP version. To check if you can extend beyond 16TB, verify you’re running ONTAP 9.12.1P2 or later by issuing the following command:

   version

6. List the existing LUN that matches the serial number noted in step 2:

   lun show -serial lWB0k$TDzEXX -fields lun,volume,size

7. Modify the command to use the serial number from your environment and extend the LUN you identified in Step 5 by 10GB:

   lun resize -vserver sql-svm01 -path /vol/SQLCluster01/sqldata1 -size +10g

8. Return to your EC2 instance via RDP.
9. Extend the OS disk on Windows (S: drive in this example) using the following PowerShell script (run as Administrator):

   Resize-Partition -Driveletter S -Size (Get-PartitionSupportedSize -Driveletter S).SizeMax

The Disk Manager GUI on the Windows Server will display the disk size before and after the extension, showing an increase of 10 GB.

Scenario 2: Creating a New Disk/Volume

In this scenario, we will explain how to create a new volume and LUN on the FSx for ONTAP file system and add the new LUN as a disk to your Windows server. Ensure that you have sufficient space within your FSx for ONTAP file system before you begin this operation.

Using a single ONTAP volume with multiple LUNs is a valid design across most WSFC deployment scenarios that utilize shared iSCSI storage. However, it is uncommon for one design to be the ideal solution in every situation. Various use cases can benefit from deploying multiple ONTAP volumes as part of their architecture.

The primary motivation for utilizing multiple volumes in FSx for ONTAP is that many NetApp storage operations—including deduplication, snapshots, cloning, replication, and intelligent tiering—are performed at the volume level and cannot be configured at the LUN level. While this may not be critical for a standard SQL Server FCI deployment, in more complex scenarios, the added flexibility of using multiple ONTAP volumes can be essential.

For instance, consider a situation where a single SQL Server FCI is used to support multiple tenants or applications. Allocating individual ONTAP volumes and LUNs for each tenant/application allows for granular control unattainable with a single ONTAP volume. Different storage tiering policies or replication schedules can be applied based on the unique needs of each tenant/application.

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