Chapter 21. Hardware and software upgrades 299
21.2.2 Upgrading to Data ONTAP 8.1
Before you upgrade to DOT 8.1 7-mode, inspect your system, including installed hardware
and software. Upgrade all software to the most current release.
Only migrations from 7.3.x to DOT 8.1 7-mode provide the possibility for a non-disruptive
upgrade (NDU). This upgrade path is the only path that can be reverted without data loss. All
other migration paths require a clean installation because the systems are installed from
scratch and existing data is erased. Therefore, all data must be backed up.
To organize your upgrade process, complete the following high-level steps:
1. Review your current system hardware and licenses.
2. Review all necessary documentation.
3. Generate an AutoSupport email.
4. Obtain the Data ONTAP upgrade image.
5. Install the software and download the new version to the CompactFlash card.
6. Reboot the system.
7. Verify the installation.
Before the storage controller NDU is performed, complete the following steps:
1. Validate the high-availability controller configuration.
2. Remove all failed disks to allow giveback operations to succeed.
3. Upgrade the disk and shelf firmware.
4. Verify that system loads are within the acceptable range. The load should be less than
50% on each system.
Table 21-1 shows supported NDU upgrade paths.
Table 21-1 Supported high-availability configuration upgrade paths
Evaluate free space for LUNs
Before you upgrade a storage system in a SAN environment, you must ensure that every
volume that contains LUNs has at least 1 MB of free space. This space is needed to
accommodate changes in the on-disk data structures that are used by the new version of
Data ONTAP.
System requirements
DOT8 requires you to use 64-bit hardware. Older 32-bit hardware is not supported. At the
time of this writing, the following systems and hardware are supported:
N series: N7900, N7700, N6070, N6060, N6040, N5600, N5300, N3040
Performance acceleration cards (PAM)
Source Release Upgrade Revert NDU
7.2.x 7-mode Yes Yes No
7.3.x 7-mode Yes Yes Yes
To Next Page
Loading...
Need help?
General