Deploying NFS on NetApp Storage via Equinix Metal

This guide explains how to make use of NetApp Cloud Adjacent Storage using the NFS protocol on Equinix Metal. It assumes that the initial setup and configuration of the storage appliance have already been completed. This guide covers the necessary steps to serve data with NFS, as well as basic tasks such as adding additional volumes and managing export policies.

For newcomers to NetApp, we recommend starting with the article Getting Started: Initial Setup of NetApp Storage on Equinix Metal.

NFS Prerequisites

To successfully serve data with NFS from the NetApp Storage, you will need:

• A VLAN for NFS traffic in Equinix Metal. If you need to add another VLAN to the NetApp Storage cluster, you can find the detailed instructions on how to add it in the Metal Console and the NetApp interface in the getting started guide.
• An NFS client that will be using the storage. In this guide, we are using an Ubuntu Linux server. If you have not deployed a server in Equinix Metal before, follow the guide to Deploying Your First Server.
• An SVM with NFS enabled on the NetApp cluster. Before you configure the SVM, ensure you have completed the steps in the getting started guide, including adding the VLAN to the NetApp Storage cluster in Equinix Metal and in the NetApp Interface.

Creating a SVM for NFS

The NetApp cluster is administered with a web based tool called ONTAP System Manager.

To access ONTAP System Manager, enter the IP address of the cluster in a web browser. During the handover process, you will have recieved the credentials and IP addresss of the cluster and each node.

Note: There is also a more advanced command line management option. For more information, see Using the ONTAP command-line interface.

You will be greeted with the dashboard:

From the left navigation pane, expand Storage, and then click Storage VMs. Click the blue +Add button in the Storage VMs pane.

Enter a name for the SVM, in this case NFS-svm. Click the box next to Enable NFS, then click the box next to Allow NFS client access.

To ensure proper access control, you need to add at least one export policy rule to your NetApp NFS storage or you won't be able to mount the storage.

In this example, we are adding an export policy rule for a specific Linux host that will mount the NFS volume.

NOTE: Export policies are crucial for controlling access to the storage. You must add at least one rule to create the SVM, but rules can be modified, deleted or added at any time. For more information, see Add an export policy rule in the NetApp documentation.

Then enter the IP addresses to be used for NFS on the NetApp nodes. You will need one IP and subnet mask for each node. As you enter these IP addresses, you will be able to select the broadcast domain that contains the data ports you have configured.

Broadcast domains are set of network ports in the same IP space that also is in the same Layer 2 space. There are broadcast domains created by default when the system is created. For more on broadcast domains, please see Broadcast domain overview from the NetApp documentation.

Optionally, you may configure an administrative account for the SVM. The SVM admin account is an administrative account scoped to the SVM only. SVM administrators can only manage the resources on their own SVM.

For more information, please see Cluster and SVM administrators from the NetApp ONTAP documentation.

When you've finished the configuration, click Save.

NetApp provides a complete configuration guide for setting up an NFS SVM.

Adding Storage Volumes

To add a storage volume, click Storage in the left navigation pane, then Overview. From this screen, you can create various types of storage containers. In this case, click Add Volumes under File Shares, since we are using NAS.

Enter a name for the volume and the size of the volume.

Click the More Options to customize the volume.

Under Storage and Optimization, select the capacity of the volume you are creating.

You can also set a Performance Service Level. This is a quality of service implementation from NetApp.

The options are:

• Extreme Performance
• Performance
• Value
• Extreme for Database Logs
• Extreme for Database Shared Data
• Extreme for Database Data

You may also create your own Performance Service Levels. For more information, see Performance Service Levels from the ONTAP Documentation.

From the Access Permissions section, you can create a new export policy or use an existing one. In this case, we will create a new Export Policy and enter a single IP of the host we will connect from.

For more on Export Policies, see Add an export policy rule from the NetApp documentation.

In the Protection section, Enable Snapshot Copies (Local) is selected. You may modify the SnapShot schedule; for more information on how to do this see Edit a snapshot schedule. Consider enabling SnapMirror if you have another NetApp Storage system in a different Equinix Metal Metro.

Click Save, and the volume will be created. See Add a volume from the NetApp documentation for more details.

Managing Export Policies

Managing export policies is an important part of managing NFS volumes. While you can create an export policy when creating a volume, there will often be times you need to modify the export policy for the volume. For example, if you want to have additional hosts connect to a volume, the hosts would need to be added to the export policy before you can mount the storage.

To edit an Export Policy, use the left navigation pane to expand Storage, then select Volumes.

Mouse over the volume you would like to manage the Export Policy for. When you mouse over the volume, you will see three dots.

Click the three dots and select Edit Export Policy.

You will then be able to edit the export policy, or create a new policy.

To add a rule, click +Add.

From here, you may add a rule. See Add an export policy rule from the NetApp documentation for more details.

Click save when you have finished adding rules.

Connecting Equinix Metal Clients to the NetApp NFS Volume

Before you can connect your Metal server to the NetApp Storage using the NFS protocol, there are several things that must be configured:

• The Equinix Metal client must be connected to the same Equinix Metal VLAN the NetApp NFS interfaces are on. In this case, it is VLAN 1004.
• The client must have an interface with an IP address in the NFS VLAN's IP range.
• An NetApp export policy must be configured that will grant the client access.

To connect an Equinix Metal client, you will need the following information from the NetApp cluster:

• The name of the volume you would like to connect the client to
• The NFS access IP address and mount point

To find the NFS access IP address and mount path, navigate to Volumes under Storage in the left navigation pane. Click the arrow to expand information about the volume you would like to connect to.

You can now mount the NFS share from the client you are using.

In this case, mount the NFS share from an Ubuntu Linux server with the following commands:

sudo mkdir /opt/nasvol1
sudo mount 192.168.4.11:/nasvol1 /opt/nasvol1

The mount command has executed without error, and you can see where the drive has been mounted:

If the mount command fails immediately, the most common reason is the Export Policy has not been set up correctly. In this case, this is the error you will see:

In this case, verify the export policy and try the mount again.

You can also verify the connection by navigating to Hosts in the left navigation pane, expanding the menu, and clicking on NFS Clients.

Follow this process to connect additional Equinix Metal clients to the NetApp storage.

Conclusion

By following this guide, you have successfully set up NetApp Cloud Adjacent Storage using NFS on Equinix Metal, configured the necessary export policies, and connected your Equinix Metal clients to the storage. For more advanced configurations and additional resources, refer to the NetApp documentation linked above or check out one of our other storage guides.

Useful Links

Equinix Resources

Equinix Learning Center

NetApp Storage on Equinix Metal Solutions Page

Equinix Storage Appliances Docs

Equinix Community

External Resources

Here are additional resources from the NetApp documentation that were consulted during the creation of this guide.

Performance Service Levels

Broadcast domain overview

Edit a snapshot schedule

Cluster and SVM administrators

Enable NAS storage for Linux servers using NFS

TR-4067: NFS in NetApp ONTAP Best practice and implementation guide

Add an export policy rule

Add a volume