NetApp V-Series [EOL] Reviews

The main features of this solution are the reduction of readings (thanks to flashcache), the grouping of environments within the hardware (creation of Vservers and namespaces); and the versatility that this solution gives us to be able to move environments within it.

Certain of our clients carry out a lot of readings, and thanks to the flashcache these readings do not penalize on the backend. With this, we are able to contribute more IOPS with fewer disks.

According to my experience, for certain HPC environments, we encounter certain Memory/CPU limitations when we have a large number of IOPS. This is why, in order to support such loads, several cabs are required in parallel, complicating the configuration and administration.

Another handicap is the management of the LACP that, when we are talking about environments with less than 20 calculation nodes, may not balance correctly despite setting the RR option.

This solution has been installed for two years, we have not had any incidents associated at the moment.

No, thanks to the high availability of all components, the solution is very stable.

No. We have done expansion, although theoretically we can expand up to eight nodes for SAN and up to 24 for NAS.

They present different types of support. For serious cases they can even request remote access to the cabin. The answer, if you have alerts by auto-support, is usually quite fast.

In performance cases, they will ask for perfstat and usually they are not very fast, but the answer generally brings you some clarity.

No, the solution was built from the beginning with NetApp.

In general, Data Ontap deployment requires technicians with an advanced NetApp profile. The solution is complex and introduces many concepts of virtualization in terms of storage and networks. The installation, in our case, was done by NetApp according to our premises.

The main advantage is the versatility of the solution, while being able to provide NAS and SAN solutions with the same hardware. In addition, it can act as a third-party disk virtualizer, and there is constant evolution of its software adapting to the new technologies. Economically, they are not especially expensive, so they represent a very good solution for projects that do not require a high end.

No, given our experience, we knew it was the best choice for the project's needs.

We are very happy with this solution as it brings us the scalability and stability of Data Ontap and the versatility of NetApp solutions in order to provide different types of services for our customers' requirements (NAS, CIFS, FC / FCoE).

Currently there are new trends in the NetApp world such as AFF and the new version of Data Ontap 9. I think they should be evaluated because they provide a number of very interesting advantages in terms of being able to attack the crude of all the backend discs from a single volume and better response times.

You have the ability to connect a third-party storage back end, EMC VMAX in our case, and have all NetApp functionalities available. NAS on EMC VMAX was not possible in the past. It is nice to be able to connect to other storage and use all the NetApp functions (Snapshot, SnapClone, SnapMirror).

It was also the start of virtualization and we used V-series for ESX (Dev and Prod). Now, we have everything on FAS (NAS and SAN).

It enables us to protect the investment. We had existing arrays (EMC VMAX) and we reuse the free disk space, and use NetApp functionalities.

Supported back end storage is restricted to some storage from major players (HPE, EMC, IBM), so there is room for improvement in supporting more storage solutions.

Five years.

We have had some performance issues. The V-series is connected back end to front end VMAX ports and you have to make sure the IOs are well balanced on each front end port. No issues on the V-series side.

No.

Seven out of 10. Be aware that for support you are also dependent on the technical support of the back end storage. Sometimes they are not very helpful in supporting a NetApp appliance in front of their storage.

No.

It is a bit more complex than a FAS, because there are special requirements. You need to read the implementation documentation.

Today (and this was not the case in the past), thanks to the NetApp FlexArray software, it's possible to connect FAS to third-party storage. I would advise to buying FAS and FlexArray licenses instead of V-series.

No.

FAS + FlexArray = old V-series.