Upgrade Data ONTAP for N62XX, N79XX systems to avoid Firmware issues that might cause a system outage when a motherboard, SAS PCI Card, or NVRAM8 is replaced

Summary

IBM recommends updating Data ONTAP to the latest released versions 8.0.5 and 8.1.2P4. IBM strongly encourages customers to migrate to the 8.1 or 8.2 code line from 7.3. For customers who are unable to migrate at this time, IBM recommends updating Data ONTAP to version 7.3.7P2, to be followed with a migration to the 8.1 code line as soon as commercially reasonable .

The above mentioned releases have proven to be highly reliable and contain new IOM3, IOM6, and disk firmware that resolves several issues, eliminating unscheduled system outages during motherboard, SAS PCI card, or NVRAM8 replacement. The IOM3, IOM6, and disk firmware will be automatically updated with the Data ONTAP update.

For customers who are unable to migrate to the recommended versions; the table indicates the minimum version required to fix each firmware bug. The Disk and SAS firmware updates can be independently non-disruptively installed if the minimum Data ONTAP version is already met.

Problem Description

IBM has identified bugs that could cause a complete system outage of both sides of an HA pair when the motherboard, NVRAM8, or SAS PCI cards are replaced on systems running earlier versions of Data ONTAP, IOM3/6 Shelf Firmware, and Disk Firmware on specific models of disks.

N62XX motherboard or N79XX NVRAM card Replacement:
If these components are replaced in a system running Data ONTAP revisions prior to those specified in the table, a system outage might be required to replace these parts due to:

• • Master-slave system-ID bug 509898; or
  • The system having 500 or more disks assigned to it, bug 537799

• • IOM Shelf module bugs: 647231 for IOM3 and 647235 for IOM6
  • SAS disk bug 643008:  Specific to “SSM”, “ASM” or “BSM” model disks only

Proactively perform a Data ONTAP update combined with the IOM Shelf and Disk firmware updates to current versions to avoid encountering issues when replacing parts. An alternate workaround is to non-disruptively update the IOM3, IOM6, and Disk firmware if the system meets the minimum Data ONTAP requirements identified in the table below.

Solution

The output of the sysconfig –a command indicates the Data ONTAP version and the IOM3, IOM6, and Drive firmware revisions.

The Table below lists the bugs and associated parts with the minimum Data ONTAP version to eliminate the issue. 

Note: If either of the disk models, X302_SMOOS01TSSM or X310_SMOOS01TSSM, are installed on your system, the Disk firmware cannot be updated using disk firmware installation and you must install the minimum Data ONTAP version identified in the table.