NetApp Data ONTAP Drivers for OpenStack Block Storage (Cinder)

NetApp drivers for clustered Data ONTAP and Data ONTAP operating in 7-Mode are now offered in a single, unified driver (in the Grizzly and prior releases, the drivers were written in two separate variants, namely, iSCSI and NFS drivers). The unified driver provides OpenStack with access to NetApp clustered Data ONTAP and Data ONTAP operating in 7-Mode controllers for provisioning and maintaining OpenStack block storage volumes.

 Where to Obtain the Drivers

NetApp’s contribution strategy involves adding all new capabilities directly into the upstream OpenStack Block Storage repositories, so all the features are available regardless of which distribution you choose when deploying OpenStack. Bug fixes are delivered into the appropriate branches that represent the different releases of OpenStack (e.g. trunk, stable/icehouse, stable/havana, etc).

On occasion, it may be necessary for NetApp to deliver capability to a previous release of OpenStack that can not be accepted in the upstream OpenStack repositories. In that case, we post the capability at the NetApp Github repository - accessible at https://github.com/NetApp/cinder. Be sure to choose the branch from this repository that matches the release version of OpenStack you are deploying with.

 Multiple Deployment Options

A variety of OpenStack block storage deployment options for NetApp Data ONTAP based systems are available in the Kilo OpenStack release and involve making deployment choices between the following:

  • Clustered Data ONTAP or Data ONTAP operating in 7-Mode
  • iSCSI, Fibre Channel, or NFS storage protocol

While there are multiple supported deployment options, since the Havana release there is a new, single NetApp unified driver that can be configured to achieve any of the desired deployments. In Grizzly and prior releases, there were multiple drivers segmented by storage family, protocol, and integration with additional NetApp management software. The previous drivers have all been deprecated since the Havana release; see the section called “Deprecated Drivers” for more information on the deprecated capabilities.

The following lists all of the individual options and subsequent sections are intended to offer guidance on which configuration options ought to be employed given varying use cases:



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