E-Series FAQ June'14 v13

8/10/2019 E-Series FAQ June'14 v13

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FAQ

E-Series Launch FAQ E2700, E5500 and SANtricity 11.10

Mark Henderson, NetApp

Early June 2014 Edition

Note that this is a living document. As I see or hear of questions or goodanswers from the Field I add them to this FAQ. So far it has been updatedweekly. The latest version is always on the Field Portal.

Abstract

The E-Series launch is part of the NetApp portfolio of storage offerings. The E-Series line

features performance efficient application- driven storage for both high-end requirements as

well as SMB markets. With leading density and environmental efficiency, the E-Series

systems are able to meet SLAs at an operating point not achievable by most storage systems.

The new E2700 is targeted at the SMB market, and the updated E5500 is targeted for

performance environments.



2 E-Series FAQ NetApp and NetApp Partner Use Only

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Latest News ................................................................................................................................................. 6

What has changed with E-Series in general? .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ......... 6

What are the dates for this E-Series Launch? ............................................................................................ 6

Platform Positioning, Where to Sell .......................................................................................................... 6

When should I sell E-Series? ..................................................................................................................... 6

I’ve been selling FAS everywhere, where is E-Series a good fit? .............................................................. 6

Any other ways to think about Selling E-Series? ............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .... 7

E-Series Positioning ................................................................................................................................... 7

The E-Series branded business has undergone a successful re-positioning and is now available for thefield to go out and sell. What is the net new that we should all be aware of? ............................................ 7

“Portfolio sale” is a term that we’re starting to hear a lot more of. Help us understand it better. ............. .. 7

Let’s talk about Flash. We’ve been a leader in this space since the launch of our Flash Cache solution in2009. A lot of new players have entered this market in recent times. What distinguishes us from other

vendors? ..................................................................................................................................................... 8 This launch is a big accomplishment for the E & EF Series team given that it is the first time it hasundergone a full platform and OS refresh. What kind of response are you hearing from the f ield? ........... 8

Sales Process ............................................................................................................................................. 8

What sales tools are available? .................................................................................................................. 8

Are there any process exceptions? ...................... .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .. 8

How do I get evaluation, customer proof of concept, loaner or other gear? (Apr ’14) ................................ 8

Partner Enablement .................................................................................................................................... 8

Are NetApp Partners fully enabled? ....................... .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. 8

Resources ................................................................................................................................................... 9

What resources are available? ................................................................................................................... 9

Training ....................................................................................................................................................... 9

What training is available on E-Series? ...................................................................................................... 9

E-Series ....................................................................................................................................................... 9

What software features do we charge for? ................................................................................................. 9

What sales tools are available? ................................................................................................................ 10

How do I do a Proof of Concept (POC)? .................................................................................................. 10

What is the E-Series operating system / management software? ............................................................ 10 Can the system be upgraded to SANtricity 11.10 while on line? ............. .............. .............. .............. ....... 10

The E-Series is block only storage? ......................................................................................................... 10

E-Series can be connected directly to Servers / Hosts? .......................................................................... 10

Does the E-Series support high availability? ............................................................................................ 10

Do you need two systems for E-Series High Availability? ........................................................................ 10

Can any disk in the 60-drive shelf enclosure be serviced directly, online, without impacting other drives inthe system? .............................................................................................................................................. 10




My customer has racks. What are the rack mounting rails lengths for the 4U/60-drive (DE6600) shelves? .................................................................................................................................................................. 11

Can you mix and match E-Series, controllers, disk shelves, interfaces and disks? ................................. 11

Can you intermix different drive types in the same shelf at same time? (Jan ‘14) ................................... 11

E-Series has lots of flexibility, what are the ordering restrictions? (Jan ’14) ............................................ 11

Can you run Dynamic Disk Pools and RAID at the same time? .............. .............. .............. .............. ....... 12 Is SSD Cache (Intelligent Cache Tiering) for RAID or Dynamic Disk Pools? ............ ............... .............. .. 13

Why don’t you need two SSDs for SSD Cache? ...................................................................................... 13

Does the E-Series support SSDs beyond SSD Cache? Can it be a flash hybrid array? .............. ............ 13

How much SSD Cache will the system support? Are there tools to tell you how much is needed? ........ 13

How many SSDs do the various E-Series systems support? ............. .............. .............. .............. ............ 13

Can you manage multiple E-Series systems with SANtricity? .............. .............. ............... .............. ......... 13

What is “Turbo”? ....................................................................................................................................... 13

Does the E-Series support VMware? ....................................................................................................... 14

Does the E-Series support Oracle? .......................................................................................................... 14

Does the E-Series support Microsoft? ...................................................................................................... 14 Does the E-Series scale? (Mar ’14) ............ .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ............... ......... 14

Is the E-Series NEBS-3 rated? (Jan ’14) .................................................................................................. 14

Is E-Series FIPS-140 certified? (Mar ’14) ................................................................................................. 14

Where can I find various certification documents? ................................................................................... 14

Where can I find operating and non-operating temperatures, altitude, relativity humidity, acoustical noisespecifications? (May ’14) .......................................................................................................................... 14

Where can I find compliance, safety, emissions and immunity specifications? (May ’14) ........................ 14

Are the drives installed in the systems? ................... .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. ......... 15

What kind of drives does E-Series use? ............ .............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .. 15

Is the E-Series supported by ON Command? .......................................................................................... 15

I hear that with Dynamic Disk Pools E-Series is super easy to set up. Can you outline how easy? ....... 15

What power voltage does E-Series use, 110v or 220v? Are they efficient supplies?............................. 15

Is E-Series EPA ENERGY STAR Certified ? (May ’14) .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ....... 15

DC supplies are not on the price list. Can we get them via PVR? (May ’14) ............ ............... .............. .. 15

Where can I get Power cord / plug information? (May ’14) ...................................................................... 16

How do I upgrade or change Host Interface? (Jan ’14) ............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ....... 16

Can we increase the controller cache size through PVR? (Jan ’14) ........................................................ 16

What Host Interfaces are supported? (Mar ’14) ....................................................................................... 16

Does the E-Series support FCoE? ........................................................................................................... 16

Can upgrade E-Series Controllers while leaving the data in place? (Jan ’14) ............. .............. .............. 17

What processors does the E-Series use? ................................................................................................ 17

Is E-Series covered by NetApp AutoSupport (ASUP) (Mar ’14) .............. .............. .............. .............. ....... 17

Is E-Series documentation available on line? (Mar ’14) ........................................................................... 17

How do I find E-Series Technical Reports (TRs)? (Apr ’14) ..................................................................... 17

I’m looking at ASUP data, what is a E5594, did we release a 94 drive shelf? (May ’14) ......................... 18

What are the details on the NetApp 3040 40U rack? (Mar ’14) ............ .............. ............... .............. ......... 18

How does an E-Series lose power without losing data? (Mar ’14) ........................................................... 18




Are E-Series passwords secure? (Mar ’14) .............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. ......... 19

Dynamic Disk Pools ................................................................................................................................. 19

What is DDP? ........................................................................................................................................... 19

What enhancements to DDP are coming with SANtricity v11.10? ........................................................... 20

Are there estimated rebuild times for DDPs? (Mar ’14) ............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ....... 20

OK so how long does it take to rebuild critical segments? (Mar ’14) .............. .............. .............. .............. 20

What’s the maximum number of drives in a Disk Pool? ........................................................................... 20

How many drives can fail in DDP? ........................................................................................................... 20

Can you convert your existing standard RAID volume groups to Dynamic Disk Pools without customerimpact? ..................................................................................................................................................... 20

Can DDP co-exist with customer’s current RAID environments? ............................................................. 20

Since the basic DDP structure is a Raid-6 ( 8+2), then why 11 drives minimum instead of 10 ? ............. 20

What is the max number of concurrent drive failures DDP can withstand without incurring data loss? ... 21

What is the max number of concurrent drive failures DDP can withstand without incurring data loss? ... 21

Can different drive speed and sizes be mixed within a DDP? If so, will the larger drives be truncated to

the smaller drive sizes like in traditional RAID? ............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ..... 21 What are the estimated initialization process completion times for DDP Volumes? eg. 12 drive DDPvolume using 3TB disk drives, with host IO and Data Assurance enabled? ............................................ 21

For a given Disk Pool, should I only use a single volume per Disk Pool? What are the pros/ cons onusing multiple volumes for a given DDP? ................................................................................................. 21

What is the preservation capacity in Dynamic Disk Pools? (Mar ’14) ...................................................... 21

SSD Cache (Intelligent Cache Tiering) ................................................................................................... 22

What is SSD Cache? ................................................................................................................................ 22

How can SSD Cache save money? ......................................................................................................... 22

What workload characteristics will benefit from using the SSD Cache? .................................................. 22

What are the primary reasons to use SSD Cache? .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ............ 22 Is SSD Cache a non-disruptive installation? What happens if a SSD drive assigned to SSD Cachefeature fails? ............................................................................................................................................. 22

Asynchronous Remote Volume Mirroring (ARVM) (Mar ’14) ................................................................ 22

What distances can E-Series ARVM support? ......................................................................................... 23

E5500 ......................................................................................................................................................... 23

E5500 Questions .................................................................................................................................................... 23

Just how fast is the E5500? ............ ............... .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ....... 23

What’s the fastest E5500 configuration? (May ’14) .................................................................................. 23

Is the E5500 the large system? ................................................................................................................ 24 How many drives does the E5500 scale to? ............................................................................................ 24

What are the specifications for the E5500 and SANtricity 11.0? .............................................................. 24

E2700 ......................................................................................................................................................... 24

E2700 Questions .................................................................................................................................................... 24

Is the E2700 the small system? .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. 24




How many drives does the E2700 scale to? ............................................................................................ 25

Is the E2700 qualified on V-Series? ......................................................................................................... 25

Is the E2700 available in standalone simplex configurations? (May ’14) ................................................. 25

Do I have to file a PVR for the E2700? .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ............... .............. .. 25

How do you connect with the E2700? ...................................................................................................... 25

How fast is the 12Gb/s SAS? (No this is not a trick question.) ............ .............. ............... .............. ......... 25 What are the specifications for the E2700 and SANtricity 11.0? .............................................................. 25

Pricing ....................................................................................................................................................... 27

E-Series Pricing Questions ............ .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ........ 27

What are we doing? ............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ..... 27

Why are we not including Add-On or Add parts? ..................................................................................... 27

Why are we doing this? ............................................................................................................................ 27

When will this happen? ............ .............. ............... .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. 27

What products are included in each of the pricing models after November 11th 2013? .......................... 28

What is the expected impact on pricing? .................................................................................................. 28 Will This Share Shift Revenue from FAS2xxx line? .............. .............. .............. .............. .............. ............ 29




Latest News

What has changed with E-Series in general?

Answer: E-Series is now available as a performance-efficient block storage system to complement FAS

in your accounts. The latest system, the E2700, is targeted at entry configurations and price points below

the FAS 2000 series. The E5500 is targeted at performance centric application-driven environments.Solution selling of E-Series is no longer a requirement.

What are the dates for this E-Series Launch?

Important Dates:

Partner Notification: Oct 28th

E-Series Launch: Nov. 19th

Quote Tool Availability: Dec 16th

Software Download: Jan 9th

Product Shipments: Jan 15th

Platform Positioning, Where to Sell

When should I sell E-Series?

I’ve been selling FAS everywhere, where is E-Series a good fit?

Answer: Application-driven environments are great fits for E-Series. One way to think about this is, where

FAS is a force fit, those opportunities are most likely a perfect fit for E-Series. When the data

management is handled by the storage, use FAS; when data management is handled by an application

look to E-Series. The E2700 can also address lower price points, opening up opportunities that were

previously just too small to address effectively with FAS. And the E5500 is ideal for high performanceworkloads, demanding application-driven environments needing performance efficient storage.

FAS E-Series

Where is DataManagement?

In theStorage

Outside ofthe storage

What kind ofworkloads?

SharedGeneral

ApplicationDriven

Type of

Environment?

Entry/Mid-Range& Enterprise

Entry/Mid-Range

& Performance

Unified orBlock?

Unified Block

Scale?Scale OutScale Up

Scale Up




Any other ways to think about Selling E-Series?

Answer: One way to think about E-Series is to recall those times that selling FAS / ONTAP was

exceptionally hard. This was probably because the customer in this situation did not value the deep data

protection or scheduling functionality that FAS / ONTAP had to offer. (That might have been a good E-

Series opportunity.) Or you needed to reach a price point below what you could get to with the FAS-

2200. (E-Series E2700 series systems can do that.) Or you had a customer performance target that you

could reach with FAS, but you would need a truck full of gear to get there. (That might have been anothergood E-Series opportunity.)

E-Series Positioning

We caught up with Joel Reich, SVP Array Products Group, to discuss the importance of the E-Seriesre-positioning, how it is paving the way for portfolio selling and the strategies that continue to drive ourcompetitiveness.

The E-Series branded business has undergone a successful re-positioning and is now availablefor the field to go out and sell. What is the net new that we should all be aware of?

Answer: This has been a very exciting year for the E-Series. We have an exceptionally talented team that

has come together to build a solid foundation for our branded business. This launch is one of our key

milestones.

Answer: The key takeaway around our re-positioning is that the E-Series is not meant for only big

bandwidth and big data environments. It is now positioned to play in the same workloads as our FAS and

cDOT offerings, such as virtualization. The distinction of whether you go for FAS or E-Series depends on

where the data management layer sits. If a customer is looking for advanced data management that sits

in the storage layer, we’re talking about FAS. But when the customer is looking for enterprise-class

reliability and simplicity with the data management sitting outside the storage layer, the answer is E-

Series.

Does this mean that the E-Series and FAS could potentially compete?

Answer: Absolutely not. The re-positioning of the E-Series has armed us with the strategy to gain share of

wallet especially in the SAN space. We can now address specific requirements with solutions that are

designed to play a specific role and ensure the best customer outcomes. Going by the success we’ve had

at <one of the major Silicon Valley companies>, <major sports network> and that large software company

based out of Redmond, Washington, we know this strategy is working. At the end of the day, we are not

competing amongst ourselves, but in fact are taking market share away from our competitors. (Customer

names are for internal use only. Do not share outside NetApp) There are internal emails with the

customer names.

“Portfolio sale” is a term that we’re starting to hear a lot more of. Help us understand it better.

Answer: A portfolio sale is essentially our strategy to sell two or more products to the same customer. It

is our competitive play against EMC where we block their VNX solution by bringing in both cDOT and the

E-Series. By leading with cDOT from a functionality point of view and placing the E-series underneath forprice performance, we put VNX on the defensive. Again, it goes back to increasing share of wallet and

gaining market share.




Let’s talk about Flash. We’ve been a leader in this space since the launch of our Flash Cachesolution in 2009. A lot of new players have entered this market in recent times. What distinguishesus from other vendors?

Answer: Assume you are a Fortune 100 company looking for a flash solution for your Tier 1 application.

The performance bar for the actual product is clearly set very high. But in such environments, the bar you

would set for service and support is actually even higher. The reason why the E-Series

has and continues to be the customer choice for flash is because our technology isproven, we have the required expertise and come with enterprise-class support. Some

points to consider:

Answer: - A lot of our EF Series wins come in the database acceleration space and we

have a better track record than anyone else when it comes to Oracle deployment given

our field and solutions engineering expertise.

Answer: - We have shipped more flash in two quarters than Violin has in its entire history.

Answer: - As for EMC, just look at this picture. It refers to how our Israel team replaced

three of EMC’s Symmetrix refrigerator-sized boxes with just one of our EF540s. This is

clearly a case of a picture speaking a thousand words. I don’t have to say anything

more.

This launch is a big accomplishment for the E & EF Series team given that it is the first time it hasundergone a full platform and OS refresh. What kind of response are you hearing from the field?

Answer: This is the strongest that the E & EF Series product line has ever been in terms of feature

functionality and completeness.

Answer: The re-positioning has opened the door for the E-series to be pitched in combination with our

FAS offering and it is working. We’re hearing that with the broader positioning, our reps have started

seeing a lot more opportunity than ever before. We’re seeing an increase in sales pipeline and activity as

a result of this. There’s clearly a demand and our portfolio sale strategy is driving us in the right direction.

Sales Process

What sales tools are available?

Answer: The full set of NetApp sales tools will be available with the December 16th Quote Tool Release

along with System Performance Modeler, IMT, and Hardware Universe.

Are there any process exceptions?

Answer: Generally speaking, no. Configurations not on the IMT will require a PVR. If there are any

residual process exceptions, they will be documented on the products Field Portal page.

How do I get evaluation, customer proof of concept, loaner or other gear? (Apr ’14)

Answer: Use the regular NetApp process detailed on the Field Portal (under the Validation Programs in

the middle box) at: https://fieldportal.netapp.com/procedures.aspx#14305

Partner Enablement

Are NetApp Partners fully enabled?

Answer: Yes, Partners are fully enabled and the expectation is that they will help greatly with the ramp of

the E2700. Many NetApp Partners are familiar with the technology having sold it through other OEM

relationships.




Resources

What resources are available?

Answer: All the standard resources are available:

The Field Portal:

E5500: https://fieldportal.netapp.com/e5500.aspx


SANtricity: https://fieldportal.netapp.com/santricity.aspx



The Quote Tool https://fieldportal.netapp.com/ce-pe.aspx#87651

The Hardware Universe https://fieldportal.netapp.com/hwu.aspx#141095

The System Performance Modeler spm.netapp.com

NetApp.com http://www.netapp.com/us/products/storage-systems/

Partner Playbook GetSuccessful E-Series Channel Playbook

Solutions (E-Series versions of NCRA)

Proof of concept: "##$%&''()*+,$-.#/+01*#/$$02-3'4/+),/#)-15$.-6./3%0/%$789:9;<=

Plus for E-Series there are the E-Series Sales Specialists, a group of experts on E-Series, in the field to

help close deals.

The mailing list [email protected] is monitored by the E-Series community and a great place to

ask a question and get help.

Training

What training is available on E-Series?

You can find training in the NetApp University Learning Management System by visiting the learning map

applicable to your role.

E-Series

E-Series is now available as a performance-efficient block storage for application-driven workloads to

complement FAS in your accounts. The latest system, the E2700, is targeted at entry configurations andprice points below the FAS 2000 series. The E5500 is targeted at performance centric application-driven

environments.

What software features do we charge for?

Answer: The only software feature we charge for is SANtricity Encryption aka Full Disk Encryption (FDE).

All the other features, Snapshots, Intelligent Cache Tiering with SSD Cache, Mirroring, Volume Copy,

Dynamic Disk Pools, Thin Provisioning, etc now come with the system. Systems in the field, running prior




versions of SANtricity, will now be able to upgrade to SANtricity v11.10 to get all these premium features

free of charge.

What sales tools are available?

Answer: The full set of NetApp sales tools will be available with the December 16th Quote Tool Release.

How do I do a Proof of Concept (POC)?

Answer: E-Series POCs follow the standard NetApp process. All the information you need to know is

available on the Field Portal at: "##$%&''()*+,$-.#/+01*#/$$02-3'4/+),/#)-15$.-6./3%0/%$789:9;<=

What is the E-Series operating system / management software?

Answer: The E-Series uses SANtricity. This particular version is 11.10.

Can the system be upgraded to SANtricity 11.10 while on line?

Answer: Yes. Non-disruptively.

The E-Series is block only storage?

Answer: Yes the E-Series is a block only storage system; that is one of the reasons that it is so fast. If a

customer needs File-level access, either get file functionality from the servers / hosts, or use FAS.

E-Series can be connected directly to Servers / Hosts?

Answer: Yes the E-Series supports direct, high speed, low latency SAS connections. Note that these are

quad lane SAS connections, so for nominal speeds multiple by four (4). For the E5500 6Gb/s SAS that

means 24Gb/s per SAS port, for the E2700 12Gb/s SAS that means 48Gb/s per port.

Does the E-Series support high availability?

Answer: Yes the E-Series supports 99.999% availability. Actually the numbers are closer to six (6) nines

(99.9999%) than five nines. There is a NDA required document on the Field Portal that details E-Series

high-availability. This document also explains the mathematics. This presumes that the systems are

configured with dual controllers, appropriate data protection with RAID or DDP, and at least a four hour

service plan.

Do you need two systems for E-Series High Availability?

Answer: No, the E-Series is a single unit High Availabil ity design. With dual controllers, power supplies,

cooling, no single point of failure or service, the E-Series is a very robust design. If a customer wants to

protect against site failure, the E-Series also supports remote mirroring.

Can any disk in the 60-drive shelf enclosure be serviced directly, online, without impacting other

drives in the system?

Answer: Yes. No single point of service means that any of the serviceable parts can be serviced on line,

without de-staging of data, or any other dependencies. If you have a drive that needs to be replaced theprocess is pretty simple. There will be a service light on the front of the array. Take off the bezel - you

will be able to see the drawer and the particular drive service light -slide out the drawer (still on line), the

service light will be on next to the drive carrier ejector. Pull that drive (everything else is still on line),

replace it, close the drawer, put the bezel back on. All this while the system stays online. The process

takes about as long as it does to open the replacement drive box and unwrap the plastic from the

replacement drive. Probably about three minutes total.




My customer has racks. What are the rack mounting rails lengths for the 4U/60-drive (DE6600)shelves?

Answer: Short Rail is adjustable from 23.5” to 31” (59.7 – 78.7cm). The Long Rail is adjustable from

29.5” to 35.75” (74.9 – 90.8cm).

Can you mix and match E-Series, controllers, disk shelves, interfaces and disks?

Answer: Yes! E-Series system are extremely flexible. There are four models of controllers (E2600,

E2700, E5400, E5500) There are three disk shelf enclosures 2U/12-drive, 2U/24-drive, and 4U/60-drive

(DE1600, DE5600 and DE6600 respectively). There are four interfaces to pick from, SAS, iSCSI, FC and

IB. And, there are three types of disks, (SSD, SAS, and NL-SAS), in various capacities.

There are a few restrictions, (disk types come in two sizes and the 2U shelf enclosures are either 3.5” or

2.5”), but QuoteEdge will handle that.

Can you intermix different drive types in the same shelf at same time? (Jan ‘14)

Answer: Yes! The 4U-60 shelf will support 2.5” SSD, 2.5” SAS drives and 3.5” NL-SAS all at the same

time. The drive carriers are different for the two different form factors, but they have the same easy

“unlock-out” and “lock-in” handles on the top. Takes maybe 20 second to swap a drive. With the current

ordering rules you could end up with five(5) different drive types / capacities in a single 4U-60 drive shelf,all operating at the same time.

For the 2U-24 shelf it will support 2.5” form factors of both SSD and rotating SAS drives at the same time.

This means that you can mix and match drive types for different workloads, and add one or more SSD

drives for SSD Cache in a single shelf, all operating at the same time.

The 2U-12 shelf supports 3.5” form factor drives. The only drives NetApp offers are NL-SAS in that

particular form factor. So you can mix capacity but not types in the 2U-12. There is not a carrier from

NetApp that allows 2.5” drives (say SSD) to be placed into the 2U-12 shelf. (These carriers are different

than the 4U-60 drive shelf.)

E-Series has lots of flexibility, what are the ordering restrictions? (Jan ’14)

Answer: The tables below summarize the NetApp Branded E-Series HDD System Ordering restrictions.Note this is purely to streamline configurations, ordering and manufacturing operations. The systems will

handle intermix of single drives types and sizes (SSD Cache for example). The drive offerings are the

same across the entire E-Series line (E2600, E2700, E5400, E5500) and are based off the shelves

(DEx600), and not the controllers (Exx00). Every shelf (not system, but shelf) in an E-Series must start

with a required minimum HDD order as outlined in the tables below. For SSD only configurations use the

EF-Series. See SSD limits in this FAQ for more information on SSD restrictions. Remember for the

DE6600 (4U-60) that twenty (20) drives have to be installed across the front of each of the five drawers

for airflow, it doesn’t have to be the first required 20 HDD’s, just 20 drives in the front spots.

Note that these are the ordering rules. If they are restricting sales in some way, write up what you would

like to see changed and why, then submit the suggestion to eseries-info mailing list. While not every

request can be accommodated, there have been changes in the past in response to Field feedback as

the NetApp branded E-Series line is dialed in.

(space inserted to keep tables together on next page)




New E-Series system orders, single or multiple shelves “Point of Sale”

Shelf:

(SystemModels)

U-height

/# Drives

-Form factor

RequiredMinimum HDD

shelf order

(single type/sizeNOT SSD)

Increments (HDD or

SSD, single type/size)

(single drives available)

Maximumintermix types/

sizes per shelf

DE1600

(Exx12)2U/12-3.5” Min 6, up to 12 n/a (No SSDs) n/a

DE5600

(Exx24)2U/24-2.5” 6 1 – 18 2

DE6600(Exx60)

4U/60 inter-mix 2.5” & 3.5”

20(up to two types /

capacity) 1 - 40 5

“Add-on” when you customer has system, and you are adding a new shelf

Shelf U-height

/# Drives

-Form factor

Required HDDsystem order

(single type/size)

Increments(HDD or SSD,

single type/size)

Maximum intermixtypes/ sizes per shelf

DE1600 2U/12-3.5” 12 n/a n/a

DE5600 2U/12-2.5” 12 12 2

DE66004U/60 inter-

mix 2.5” & 3.5”20 10 5

Empty drive slots you want to populate, use “add parts catalog”

1) Single drives as needed for empty slots or spares, and drive packs of 10or 12 depending on shelf.

2) Make sure you get BOTH the right drive AND carriers for your shelf! Justa drive size / type is not sufficient as the carriers are different for each ofthe shelves and they are NOT interchangeable.

3) Make sure you are within the SSD limits for the shelf. (See details in FAQon the Field Portal, and yes it matters electrically on the DE6600.)

Can you run Dynamic Disk Pools and RAID at the same time?

Answer: Yes the E-Series will support Dynamic Disk Pools and RAID configurations at the same time.

The specific disks, however, are dedicated for either Dynamic Disk Pools or RAID.




Is SSD Cache (Intelligent Cache Tiering) for RAID or Dynamic Disk Pools?

Answer: Both. At the same time. SSD Cache is a system wide resource that can support volumes on

Dynamic Disk Pools or RAID at the same time.

Why don’t you need two SSDs for SSD Cache?

Answer: Because it is a cache, with only a copy of active data stored on it for faster access, the originaldata is still on the rotating source disks. The controllers divide up the SSDs that make up the SSD cache

and use that high speed storage to cache frequently used data, greatly reducing access times. All

automatically.

Does the E-Series support SSDs beyond SSD Cache? Can it be a flash hybrid array?

Answer: Yes, the E-Series supports both SSDs and rotating HDDs. If you have need of an all, and only,

SSD system, we recommend using the EF-Series.

How much SSD Cache will the system support? Are there tools to tell you how much is needed?

Answer: Up to 5TB, but that is a function of the total controller cache memory, see the Table 1 below.

Once SSD Cache is operating, performance statistics are available which will show if more SSD storage

used as SSD Cache would increase performance.

Per Controller

Cache Memory1 GB 2 GB 4 GB > 4 GB

Per System

Controller Cache2 GB 4 GB 8 GB > 8 GB

System Maximum

SSD Cache1 TB 2 TB 4 TB 5 TB

Table 1 Maximum SSD Cache based on Controller Cache Memory

How many SSDs do the various E-Series systems support?

Answer: This is a function of the drive slot limit and the fact that 60-drive shelf enclosure only supports 25

SSDs, (the other disks must be rotating).

• SSD in E2600 / E2700 in 24d/2U is 120 (24 drives x five DE5600s)

• SSD in E2600 / E2700 in 60d/4U is 75 (25 each x three DE6600s)

• SSD in E5400 / E5500 in 24d/2U is 120 (24 drives x five DE5600s)

• SSD in E5400 / E5500 in 60d/4U is 120 (25 each x six DE6600s)

Can you manage multiple E-Series systems with SANtricity?

Answer: Yes you can manage multiple E-Series systems with a single SANtricity manager.

What is “Turbo”?

Answer: OEM’s purchased, and still purchase, products with a speed limiter on the hardware. This

allowed the OEMs to charge different levels for the product to address different market segments. The

feature to turn the performance restrictions off are known as the “Turbo” feature. NetApp Direct (and

Partner) Branded E-Series offerings run at full speed all the time, and there is no speed limiter placed on

the hardware.




Does the E-Series support VMware?

Answer: Yes – VASA, VAAI, SRA/SRM, VDI, vSphere.

Does the E-Series support Oracle?

Answer: Yes – ASM, RACK, OEM.

Does the E-Series support Microsoft?

Answer: Yes – SCOM and VSS. VSS is what most backup applications use to do backups of Microsoft

apps such as Exchange and SQL server so that they get all the open files. This allows our storage to

work with ANY backup application that supports VSS. (And we don’t have to test each and every one of

them.)

Does the E-Series scale? (Mar ’14)

Answer: Absolutely! In very large configurations there is typically a parallel file system running across

multiple E-Series systems. The worlds largest supercomputer has over 105PB of E-Series storage on it.

The world’s largest database runs on E-Series as does the worlds largest data warehouse (SAP) in the

Guinness Book of World Records. (https://communities.netapp.com/community/netapp-blogs/netapp-

360/blog/2014/03/12/the-worlds-largest-data-warehouse)

Is the E-Series NEBS-3 rated? (Jan ’14)

Answer: The E2700 and E5500 are NEBS-3 compliant, (meaning it is designed to be NEBS-Level 3

rated), but not certified (we didn’t do the actual tests.) The E2600 and E5400 are NEBS-3 certified in the

2U shelves.

Is E-Series FIPS-140 certified? (Mar ’14)

Answer: No it is not. Drives are being looked at as part of the ongoing qualification efforts. If you run

into a FIPS opportunity please let [email protected] know the revenue opportunity, number of

systems, and if you are running into competitive issues (or loss) because of this. We can’t gauge how

important it is if nobody says anything.

Where can I find various certification documents?

Answer: Examples of certificates and documents available include Safety CB Certificates, BSMI

Declaration of Conformity (Taiwan), C-Tick Supplier Declaration of Conformity(Australia), European

Declaration of Conformity (CE), VCCI Registration (Japan), and others. This is a NetApp internal site

only. http://www2.eng.netapp.com/emc/esc.html

Where can I find operating and non-operating temperatures, altitude, relativity humidity,

acoustical noise specifications? (May ’14)

Answer: It’s all available here on this SharePoint. If you are a partner and can’t access this SharePoint

check with your local NetApp Field person. If you ARE that NetApp Field person, and don’t have access,

select the “I need access” button on the “no access” message.

http://sharepoint.corp.netapp.com/sites/APBU_IE/ReleasedDocsIllinois/215-07782_A0_Site_Preparation_Guide.pdf

Where can I find compliance, safety, emissions and immunity specifications? (May ’14)

Answer: It’s all available here on this SharePoint. If you are a partner and can’t access this SharePoint

check with your local NetApp Field person. If you ARE that NetApp Field person, and don’t have access,

select the “I need access” button on the “no access” message.

http://www2.eng.netapp.com/emc/esc.html




Are the drives installed in the systems?

Answer: For all 12-drive and 24-drive shelves, yes, the drives are installed. For 60-drive shelves that

would start getting rather heavy, (232lbs / 105kg), so the drives are shipped separately. (Because you

would just have to take the drives out to remove the shelf from the box and install the shelf anyway.)

What kind of drives does E-Series use?

Answer: SSD, SAS, NL-SAS, unlike FAS, E-Series does not support SATA drives.

Is the E-Series supported by ON Command?

Answer: At a basic level yes. For advanced management, use SANtricity.

I hear that with Dynamic Disk Pools E-Series is super easy to set up. Can you outline how easy?

Answer: Here are the steps:

Rack the system and power it up

Start SANtricity

Tell SANtricity to discover arrays on the network

SANtricity will find an “un-named array” and ask if you would like to name and manage it.

Say yes – call it “Dave”, or something more appropriate

The “Dave” array will then bring up a window for you and say “Hey I have some drives, would youlike to put them into a Dynamic Disk Pool?”

Say Yes – it then asks you how many volumes and how big would you like each of the volumes tobe.

Say, for example, 20 volumes at 100GB each. DONE (really it is that easy)

What power voltage does E-Series use, 110v or 220v? Are they efficient supplies?

Answer: Both. E-Series supplies 85%+ efficient. The power voltage type is dictated by the disk shelf

enclosures. The 2U shelves have auto-ranging power supplies 100-240v, and the 4U shelf is 200-240v.Details of maximum rated and operational environmental specifications (Watts, KVA, BTUs) are available

on the datasheets. See the next entry.

Is E-Series EPA ENERGY STAR Certified ? (May ’14)

Answer: YES!! All E-Series systems exceed EPA ENERGY STAR requirements, and have for years. The

current specifications call for 80% efficient supplies and E-Series supplies 85%+ efficient. The difference

is “compliant” verses “certified”. Because of the modular nature of E-Series there are a lot of tests that

must be completed to “certify” ranges which will literally cover some 6,336 different configurations. Once

that happens we will update the data sheets with the ENERGY STAR logo. See the NetApp ENERGY

STAR page for more information. http://www.netapp.com/us/company/our-story/sustainability/energy-

star/e-series.aspx There is also some good information on the Field Portal in the ENERGY STAR

binder .

DC supplies are not on the price list. Can we get them via PVR? (May ’14)

Answer: Yes. As of the May 12th release of the Quote Tool E-Series DC supplies are now offered for

NetApp branded as a “SPARE UPGRADE KIT”. This is an example of where saying something on dl-

[email protected] helped change the product offering. The intention is in the June QTR (future

so subject to change) is to offer DC power on the E2700 and E5500 as part of the product options verses

an after the fact spares kit.




Where can I get Power cord / plug information? (May ’14)

Answer: We think we have this information in Hardware Universe (HWU). If there is something missing

you can check out this quick and dirty informal E-Series Power Cords on the Field Portal. But, if you go

to the document on the field portal, please send an email to me, Mark Henderson and tell me what you

needed. That way we hopefully get the HWU populated with the information people need.

How do I upgrade or change Host Interface? (Jan ’14)

Answer: The depends on the platform. For the E2600, E2700 and E5400, HIC (Host Interface Cards) can

be ordered and upgraded in the field. For the E5500 the FRU is at the controller level so to change the

HIC you have to order new controllers. This is going to be disruptive operation because both controllers

must match at all times.

Can we increase the controller cache size through PVR? (Jan ’14)

Answer: No. The only controller cache sizes available are those listed on the data sheet. They are not

upgradeable in the field either. The E-Series architectures happens to be exceptionally efficient at

moving data through cache, so counter intuitively having a larger data cache doesn’t greatly change

things from an operational / performance standpoint. This is not the case for other architectures that rely

on cache. However we recognize from a competitive sales standpoint customers may think they need

more. If this is an issue for your account(s) please say something on [email protected] so that

we are made aware of market opportunity.

What Host Interfaces are supported? (Mar ’14)

Answer: The depends on the platform. (Note these are SYSTEM numbers. Because that’s what

customers buy!)

Does the E-Series support FCoE?

Answer: Directly no. However if you are connecting a FCoE router, and many switches have some level

of routing capability, you can run to the switch and then FCoE to the hosts. This will actually be the more

likely case because when using FCoE, there are typically a lot of hosts that need connected, so there will

be a network in the middle.




Can upgrade E-Series Controllers while leaving the data in place? (Jan ’14)

Answer: Yes you can! To see the details – and they are important details – check out this

knowledgebase entry: KB 1013820

What processors does the E-Series use?

Answer: WARNING, this is almost always a competitive trap! The reason this is a competitive trap isbecause the E-Series architecture doesn’t require super high speed processors to reach it’s performance

numbers, but many competitive systems do rely directly on their processor speed and their processors

are a lot faster, (and more expensive and power hungry) than our NetApp processors. What competitors

do is say things like “My competitive processor is much faster than your NetApp processor.” And if you

answer the question “How fast (or what is) the processor in the E-Series?” you are playing directly into

their hand! When asked this question the best thing to do is bring people back to external performance

aspects of the system. Most of the time this is performance, because the trap is set as “My CPU is faster

than your CPU.” But sometimes it will be environmental comparisons of “My CPU is greener than your

CPU.” In that case reference environmental information on the data sheet. E-Series excels at

performance efficiency, getting the most from each drive, watt or BTU.

Do NOT get caught in the “My competitor CPU is faster than your NetApp CPU.” trap!

Read the FAQ above to avoid falling into a competitive trap!

System Processor Clock Speed

E2600 LSI SAS 2116 ROC 800MHz

E2700 LSI SAS 3108 Dual Core ROC 1.2GHz

E5400 Intel Xeon EC3539 Quad-core 2.1GHz

E5500 Intel Xeon E5-2418L Quad-core 2.0 GHz

Do NOT get caught in the “My competitor CPU is faster than your NetApp CPU.” trap!

Read the FAQ above to avoid falling into a competitive trap!

Is E-Series covered by NetApp AutoSupport (ASUP) (Mar ’14)

Answer: Yes it is. For more details see the ASUP FAQ: http://live.netapp.com/docs/DOC-27687

Is E-Series documentation available on line? (Mar ’14)

>1%?*.& Yes it is. For more details see"##$&''%@$$-.#01*#/$$02-3',-2@3*1#/#)-1',-2?*A')1,*70"#3+B$.-,@2#CDE<9FF:G+/16@/6*E*15HI

How do I find E-Series Technical Reports (TRs)? (Apr ’14)

Answer: I made this handy-dandy search button, it will pull up all the TRs where ever they may be, and

it’s located on every E-Series Field Portal product page. E-Series Technical Reports (TRs)




I’m looking at ASUP data, what is a E5594, did we release a 94 drive shelf? (May ’14)

Answer: No we did not. ASUP (AutoSupport) reports the controller boards and the interfaces on those

boards. It just happens to have four digits and looks like a model number. Remember the “E” for an E-

Series model number. (ie “E5560”) Use the following handy-dandy decoder table to see what ASUP is

reporting:

&

!1,$$ 1,-$ & ,'-() /0

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What are the details on the NetApp 3040 40U rack? (Mar ’14)

Answer: Here you go!. It includes two (2) PDUs. The power connectors on the PDUs are C13. It does

NOT include a UPS. The holes in the rails are round, unthreaded holes. The part number is X-M102061-R6) The PDUs will support up to 72 AMPS. The rack will support 10 controller based systems electrically,

however NetApp has only certified a 5 controller + 5 expansion with UL.

How does an E-Series lose power without losing data? (Mar ’14)

Answer: Cache data is destaged to onboard flash. The details: If a storage array controller loses input

power unexpectedly, there may be data in cache memory that should be preserved so that it can be




written to the disk drives when power is restored. Persistent cache backup retains the contents of cache

memory indefinitely in non-volatile memory such as a flash drive.

By comparison, battery-backed cache memory only retains the contents of cache memory for a few days,until the batteries are drained.

Persistent cache backup requires a backup power source within the controller enclosure, such asbatteries. The backup power source is referred to as the controller UPS, and is used to provide powerto components within the controller enclosure sufficient to allow data to be written to a cache backupdevice such as a flash drive resident in the controller canister. When input power is lost, each controllerautomatically copies any dirty data in its cache to its backup device. When input power is restored, eachcontroller automatically restores any dirty data stored on its backup device to the data cache. The datais subsequently written to the disk drives, just as if the data had been preserved in battery-backed cache

Are E-Series passwords secure? (Mar ’14)

Answer: Yes they are. The storage array does not give a user direct access to the Dacstore database

region on each disk. So in order to gain access to the region of the disk that contains the password you

would need to dump the contents of the disk and know which specific region on the disk has the

password data. This would take something like physical access to a disk from the storage array. Keep in

mind that password is only for management activities and does not govern access to user data. In order

to gain access to manage the array a person would need to gain access to the customer’s network that

the storage array is attached to.

If the customer is very security conscience then they would be using a feature like full disk encryption(FDE) to safe guard their user data. If that is the case then the password would essentially be encryptedby the drive since all data on the drives will be encrypted using AES 256 encryption once the drives aresecured. NOTE: FDE security keys are encrypted on the storage array and on the management station.

So for an attacker to exploit the password on the array they would need to pull a drive out of an array,

decrypt it if it is secured, find the password on the disk, gain access to the customer’s network and then

manage the array. Assuming physical access cannot be gained but network access can, an attacker

would likely try to brute force guess the management password. For that the attacker would need access

to our symbol SDK or management software which requires a registered login to download from theNetApp support site. Assuming they somehow get that, the array will temporarily prevent management

access if too many failed password attempts are made which will slow down brute force guess attacks.

The array will also log each failed password attempt in the MEL and will generate an alert when

management is temporarily locked out due to too many failed passwords. So such attacks should not go

unnoticed by the end customer.

Dynamic Disk Pools

What is DDP?

Answer: Dynamic Disk Pools (DDP) is an alternative to standard RAID groups. It simplifies protection by

removing the complexity of configuring RAID groups and allocating hot spares. Utilization is improved by

dynamically spreading data, parity, and spare capacity across all drives in a pool, reducing performance

bottlenecks due to hot-spots. Additionally, should a drive failure occur, DDP enables return to optimal

state significantly faster than RAID6, while reducing the performance impact during the reconstruction of

a failed drive. DDP also offers greater protection from multiple drive failures by prioritizing the

reconstruction of the most critical segments. Seven patents have been submitted for this technology.

Note that there are additional DDP questions in the general E-Series section.




What enhancements to DDP are coming with SANtricity v11.10?

Answer: There will be several enhancements, including the ability to shrink DDP pool capacity, an

increase in the number of pools supported on a system (now 20) and support for SSDs in a Disk Pool.

Are there estimated rebuild times for DDPs? (Mar ’14)

Answer: Rebuild times vary widely, depending on factors such as host workload (block size, quantity),drive type (SAS verses NL-SAS drives) and priority settings (lowest to highest) for the reconstruction

operations. In general, NetApp’s testing has found shorter rebuild times with DDP verses standard

RAID6. Note that once the critical segments are reconstructed the system can experience additional

drive loss without data loss.

OK so how long does it take to rebuild critical segments? (Mar ’14)

Answer: Sorry but the answer is “depends”. (I hate that answer myself.) What it depends on is the type

of drives, what capacity they are, how much of the pool is allocated and (the hardest to quantify), the I/O

load from the host. However the minimum time (zero load from the host) can be estimated from this

handy ESTIMATOR on the Field Portal.

"##$%&''()*+,$-.#/+01*#/$$02-3'P-.*'D-?1+-/,D-20/%$7B,-2@3*1#CDE99W=::G2-1#*1#CDE:9<MQ<

Please note the only thing that this guarantees is that the critical segment time will not be LESS than the

ESTIMATE, in the real world, where people actually use our storage systems, the time will be longer.

(But still a LOT less than a full RAID rebuild.) Be sure to use real drives.

What’s the maximum number of drives in a Disk Pool?

Answer: Disk Pools support the maximum number of drives allowed by the storage system (eg, 192 for

the E2700, 384 for the E5500).

How many drives can fail in DDP?

Answer: Similar to RAID6, DDP can survive 2 simultaneous drive failures in a pool. A 3rd drive failure, in

the same pool, could result in data loss (similar to RAID6). However, with the prioritized reconstruction

and faster rebuild times offered by DDP, the system will normally return from critical degraded mode (2nddrive failure) much faster (minutes verses days) than with standard RAID6, thereby reducing your

exposure to data loss.

Can you convert your existing standard RAID volume groups to Dynamic Disk Pools withoutcustomer impact?

Answer: In-place migration (“non-disruptive”) from standard RAID volume groups to Dynamic Disk Pools

is not possible. However, using volume copy, it is possible to migrate customer data from a standard

RAID volume to a Dynamic Disk Pool. However, as a best practice, this is not recommended. It is

recommended to leave existing, live customer data deployed in a standard RAID volume group, unless

there is a compelling need/use case to complete the migration. For new capacity, DDP is recommended

if it fits the customers use case and workload profile.

Can DDP co-exist with customer’s current RAID environments?

Answer: Yes, DDP is an optional configuration that may be used alongside existing RAID configurations.

This allows users to select the best RAID level for the workload.

Since the basic DDP structure is a Raid-6 ( 8+2), then why 11 drives minimum instead of 10 ?

Answer: To provide enough spare capacity to accommodate drive failures.




What is the max number of concurrent drive failures DDP can withstand without incurring dataloss?

Answer: Only two (2) concurrently, but the time to regenerate and rebalance critical data is minutes

versus days. In a two-drive failure, the critical segments (those with two drive failures involved) are

rebuilt first. At that point in time the system can absorb another drive loss. The other segments with a

single failure are then rebuilt. Once that completes we can again take another two drive failure. And

technically, if the failures occur with enough time between them and there is enough spare space anypool can suffer cascaded failures until only 8 drives remain. Not a likely scenario but a possibility.

What is the max number of concurrent drive failures DDP can withstand without incurring dataloss?

Answer: Two (2). Same as RAID6.

Can different drive speed and sizes be mixed within a DDP? If so, will the larger drives betruncated to the smaller drive sizes like in traditional RAID?

Answer: If larger drives are forced into a pool made up of smaller drives, the “extra” space on the larger

drive will be lost, just as in traditional RAID. If drives of a slower spindle speeds are forced into a Disk

Pool, the default will be the lowest spindle speed.

What are the estimated initialization process completion times for DDP Volumes? eg. 12 drive

DDP volume using 3TB disk drives, with host IO and Data Assurance enabled?

Answer: Several factors effect initialization times, particularly the type of host IO (block size, quantity)

workload. An exact estimate is not possible, but in general, with minimal host IO, it should take around

30 hours for the volume described with Data Assurance enabled.

For a given Disk Pool, should I only use a single volume per Disk Pool? What are the pros/ cons

on using multiple volumes for a given DDP?

Answer: In general, for maximum sequential bandwidth, it is recommended to configure a single volume

per Disk Pool. For random I/O workloads, larger pools offer more spindles to work on I/O, along with

providing easy configuration and no stranded islands of storage. Please refer to Technical Report 4077:

SANtricity 10.83 Dynamic Disk Pools Overview

What is the preservation capacity in Dynamic Disk Pools? (Mar ’14)

The perseveration capacity is the reserved space for the regeneration due to drive failures. Think of it as

the “hot spare” capacity, without losing the performance of an idle spare dive head. The appropriate

preservation capacity for a disk pool is largely dependent on the service model. If a failed drive will be

replaced within a few hours, then two drives would be a good preservation capacity for a 60-drive pool, or

even for a much larger pool. At the other extreme, if the array is going into a Martian probe, and will

never be serviced, then the maximum preservation capacity (10 drives) would be a good choice, and

maybe some un-configured capacity as well.

The defaults are determined with no knowledge of the service model, and are a good fit for cases where

maintenance cycles are several months apart. So for those deployments that are not at the south pole,(or in submarines), you could reduce the default reservation capacity.

Pool size in drives 11 12-31 32-63 64-127 128-191 192-255 256-384

Default Reservation Capacity

(in drives)

1 2 3 4 6 7 8




SSD Cache (Intelligent Cache Tiering)

What is SSD Cache?

Answer: SANtricity SSD Cache is a read cache that accelerates reads by placing a copy of frequently

read data on high performance, low latency SSDs. The SSD Cache can start with one SSD, and then

grow up to 5TB in capacity.

Note that there are additional SSD Cache questions in the general E-Series section.

How can SSD Cache save money?

Answer: By leveraging the superior performance of SSDs, the overall cost per IOPs per TB can be

dramatically reduced. The vast majority of the workload capacity is placed on the least expensive media

HDD, while only the most frequently read data, requiring the highest IOP performance, is placed on the

SSDs.

What workload characteristics will benefit from using the SSD Cache?

Answer: Workloads that are:

• Performance that is limited by HDD IOPs

• Environments with a high percentage of reads relative to writes

• A large number of reads are repeat reads to the same, or adjacent, areas of disk

• The size of the data set repeatedly accessed is smaller than the SSD cache capacity

• Typically, these applications include: certain databases, email server, and web servers

What are the primary reasons to use SSD Cache?

Answer: The reasons are as follows: Improved application response time. The cost of a dedicated, all

SSD array for RAID volumes is prohibitive. Ease-of-implementation. Hot data gets automatically

promoted to SSD Cache.

Is SSD Cache a non-disruptive installation?What happens if a SSD drive assigned to SSD Cache feature fails?

Answer: Yes, SSD Cache is a non-disruptive installation. If an SSD fails, there is no data loss or

downtime, since the SSD Cache is a read-only copy of the data set already on the hard disk drives. Oncea new SSD drive is applied, the hot data will begin to migrate automatically back into the cache.

Asynchronous Remote Volume Mirroring (ARVM) (Mar ’14)

The E-Series line supports ARVM to replicate data from one system to another, over large distances,

without impacting the local response time by separating local response from the time it takes to transmit

data over distance. (Yes the speed of light will slow things down.) This separation means that the remote

system must lag the local system. Said differently if the local system is abducted by aliens, (or some




more likely occurrence), some data will be lost because it is not yet on the remote system. In the case of

E-Series ARVM the minimum lag time is 10 minutes, and in most applications the lag time will be longer,

however the trade off against local processing speed and communications costs usually makes ARVM a

good choice for site level data protection.

What distances can E-Series ARVM support?

Answer: It’s actually measured in time and limited to 120ms. That typically works out to 12,000km, which

means from any landmass you can get to any other landmass on the planet.

E5500

The E5500 is the flagship E-Series storage for performance demanding application-driven environments.If requirements call for high throughput, hybrid array, or large scale, consider the E5500. The E-Series is

very performance efficient, which is a great complement to the storage efficiency of FAS.

E5500 Questions

Just how fast is the E5500?

Answer: Very. Fast. ! Maximums are: Bandwidth 12GB/s sustained from disk, (~120 7.2k HDD disks,

less with 10k SAS drives). IOPS 400,000 sustained from disk, (~24 SSDs). Burst rates out of controller

cache are over double the IOP numbers.

What’s the fastest E5500 configuration? (May ’14)

Configurations with a maximum of two expansion shelves will be the fastest configuration. The reason forthat is with two expansion shelves they are both connected directly into the controllers in the controllershelf. For systems with more than two expansion shelves they additional shelves are connected seriallyand those shelf connections actually limit the overall bandwidth of the system. E5500 controllersperformance tops out just over 120 drives, so your maximum speed would be with a couple of DE6600expansion shelves and the controllers in a E5560. It’s kind of counterintuitive, but that’s how it works.

That’s for bandwidth – if you need IOPS use a hybrid array with SSDs or go with the EF550 all flash

array.




Is the E5500 the large system?

Answer: The E5500 is targeted at the performance centric workloads. All E-Series controllers (E2600,

E2700, E5400, E5500) can go into any of the three disk shelves 2U/12-drive (DE1600), 2U/24-drive

(DE5600), or 4U/60-drive (DE6600). So think performance levels across the E-Series family and not

physical size.

How many drives does the E5500 scale to?

Answer: The E5500 (and E5400) support up to 384 drives. The actual scaling limit is 16 shelves, or the

number of drive SLOTS, which ever comes first. So you can’t have shelves with more drive slots than

the limit or the drive addressing doesn’t work. This can result in less than the maximum drive slot count

for some shelf configurations. The 60-drive shelf can only scale to 360 drives as an example, (60 drives /

shelf x 6 shelves) but you can mix and match shelves to get to the maximum.

What are the specifications for the E5500 and SANtricity 11.0?

Answer: See the table below.

E2700

The E2700 is the new entry system featuring 12G SAS host connections, and amazing ease of use and

operations using Dynamic Disk Pools. No longer do you have to be a storage RAID expert, with Dynamic

Disk Pools you basically just use your storage, it takes care of management. Perfect for the IT warrior

who has way too much to worry about as well as the reseller wanting to ensure a successful deployment.

E2700 Questions

Is the E2700 the small system?

Answer: The E2700 is an entry system targeted at the SMB market and workloads. All E-Series

controllers (E2600, E2700, E5400, E5500) can go into any of the three disk shelves 2U/12-drive

(DE1600), 2U/24-drive (DE5600), or 4U/60-drive (DE6600). So think performance levels and not physical

size.

E5500 Array Snapshots MirrorsDrives 384 Snapshots/Volume 128 Legacy Mirrors/Array 1282

Partitions 512 Snapshots/Array 2048 Mirrors/Array 128

Volumes 2048 Snapshot Volumes/Snapshot 4 Mirrors/Volume 1

Disk Pools/Array 20 Snapshot Volumes/Array 2048 Mirrors/Async Mirror Group 64

Thin Volumes/Array 2048 Snapshot Groups/Array 1024 Async Mirror Groups/Array 4

SSD Cache Capacity/Array 5TB Snapshots/Snapshot Group 32

Volumes/Consistency Group 64 Snapshot Groups/Volume 4

Consistency Groups/Array32

Shelves (system & expansion)16

Table 2 E5500 SANtricity maximums




How many drives does the E2700 scale to?

Answer: The E2700 (and E2600) support up to 192 drives. The actual scaling limit is 16 shelves, or the

number of drive SLOTS, which ever comes first. So you can’t have shelves with more drive slots than

the limit or the drive addressing doesn’t work. This can result in less than the maximum drive slot count

for some shelf configurations. The 60-drive shelf can only scale to180 drives as an example, 60 drives /

shelf * 3 shelves) but you can mix and match shelves to get to the maximum drive count.

Is the E2700 qualified on V-Series?

Answer: The E2700 qualification is targeted for May 2014. Check with the V-Series IMT or Product

Management for the latest details.

Is the E2700 available in standalone simplex configurations? (May ’14)

Answer: Yes for small, very price sensitive applications, and then only on the 2U DE1600 (12-drive) and

DE5600 (24-drive) shelves. Note that on any system of size, the drives make up the majority of the price,

so going to standalone-simplex will not change your customer’s price significantly except in very small

configurations.

Do I have to file a PVR for the E2700?

Answer: Generally speaking no. The E2700 has been priced at a velocity pricing with the idea being that

systems can be sold quickly without excessive paperwork or approvals. Of course if the configuration is

not on the IMT, then just like a normal exception process, a PVR would be required.

How do you connect with the E2700?

Answer: The E2700 supports 12Gb/s SAS, 10Gb/s iSCSI and 16Gb/s Fibre Channel

How fast is the 12Gb/s SAS? (No this is not a trick question.)

Answer: All E-Series SAS is quad-lane SAS. Meaning that for nominal data rates you need to multiple

the rate by four (4x). That makes the 12Gb/s SAS more like 48Gb/s. Additionally, SAS is a very storage

efficient protocol without network overhead, and it is direct attached so there is no network latency. This

results in very high transfer and low latency rates. Of course there are a limited number of hosts you canconnect to this way verses using a network protocol where you can fan out through a switch to many

more. But for small numbers of hosts, consider SAS.

What are the specifications for the E2700 and SANtricity 11.0?

Answer: See the table below.

E2700 Array Snapshots Mirrors

Drives 192 Legacy Snapshots/Volume NA Legacy Mirrors/Array 162

Partitions 128 Legacy Snapshots/Array NA Mirrors/Array 32

Volumes 512 Snapshots/Volume 128 Mirrors/Volume 1

Disk Pools/Array 20 Snapshots/Array 512 Mirrors/Async Mirror Group 32

Thin Volumes/Array 512 Snapshot Volumes/Snapshot 4 Async Mirror Groups/Array 4

SSD Cache Capacity/Array 5TB Snapshot Volumes/Array 256

Volumes/Consistency Group 32 Snapshot Groups/Array 256

Consistency Groups/Array 16 Snapshots/Snapshot Group 32

Shelves (system & expansion) 16 Snapshot Groups/Volume 4







Pricing

With the December Quote Tool release, there are three (3) major changes:

1. Simplification of the selling motion by including all the Premium feature keys with the

base unit – with the exception for Encryption which we need to keep separate in order to

be able to comply with country restrictions.

2. The E-Series entry products (E2600 and E2700) will move to a Velocity pricing model,

with lower list prices, and limited discounting in order to streamline the sales process

3. For E-Series IMT approved configurations, the E2700 and E5500 will not require a PVR.

For non-IMT listed configurations, a PVR will be required, just as it is today.

E-Series Pricing Questions

What are we doing?

Answer: We are transitioning our entry E-Series platforms at point of sale to Velocity Pricing from the

Value Pricing model. Velocity pricing will reduce the list price and bring our discounting into a more

moderate range to support the entry storage market expectations. Going forward all of our E-Series entry

products will be priced based on the Velocity model.

This change does not affect Add-On or Add parts.

Why are we not including Add-On or Add parts?

Answer: Historically we have seen limited demand for entry Add-On purchases and Add parts. Customers

tend to buy the bulk of their purchases at the original point of sale. In addition, with the modularity of the

E-Series product line, and the use of common parts across multiple platforms and market segments we

determined it would be most efficient & cost effective to continue to offer a consolidated list of parts

across all of the E-Series platforms.

Why are we doing this?

Answer: Over the past few years E-Series has been focused on Mid-Range platforms and the Value

pricing model aligned with the target market and workloads. As we expand our portfolio to bring focus to

the entry market a new pricing model is needed to compete with entry market competition. Based on

market feedback the discounts being applied to the entry system list prices have risen significantly and

we have received market feedback that indicates our pricing does not align with industry practices. A high

discount negatively impacts how our customers perceive the E-Series brand and makes our products

appear to be over priced relative to the competition. The pricing model change is designed to improve the

competitiveness of our pricing and to accelerate the initial sales process by reducing the levels of

approval required to meet market value requirements.

When will this happen?

Answer: The implementation of this new pricing is expected to be implemented for all new entry

quotations starting November 11th 2013.




What products are included in each of the pricing models after November 11th 2013?

Answer:

What is the expected impact on pricing?

Answer: The E-Series products have been priced to effectively compete with HP MSA, IBM V3700, and

VNX(e) 3000/5100 products at MSRP. These products historically offer lower list prices and lower

discounts to arrive at market value. The movement of the E-Series entry products to the Velocity model

from the Value model is not intended to change the net pricing but rather to accelerate the sales cycle by

properly showing the value of the E-Series products relative to the competition and by reducing the

approval levels required to achieve market pricing.

Below are some examples for illustrative purposes only that demonstrate the different pricing models.

1

E-Series Pricing Models

L i s t P r i c e

Discount Level

1NetApp Confidential and Proprietary -Limited Use

Velocity

Pricing Model

E2600

E-Entry

Value

Pricing Model

E5400

E5500E-Mid Range

EF-Series

Low

Low

Mid

Mid



Will This Share Shift Revenue from FAS2xxx line?

Answer: The E-Series entry platforms are targeted at a separate set of competitors and workload versus

the FAS2xxx product lines. As such we do not expect Share shift between the two product lines.

NetApp provides no representations or warranties regarding the accuracy, reliability, or serviceability of anyinformation or recommendations provided in this publication, or with respect to any results that may be

obtained by the use of the information or observance of any recommendations provided herein. Theinformation in this document is distributed AS IS, and the use of this information or the implementation ofany recommendations or techniques herein is a customer’s responsibility and depends on the customer’s

ability to evaluate and integrate them into the customer’s operational environment. This document andthe information contained herein may be used solely in connection with the NetApp products discussedin this document.

Refer to the Interoperability Matrix Tool (IMT) on the NetApp Support site to validate that the exact productand feature versions described in this document are supported for your specific environment. The NetApp

IMT defines the product components and versions that can be used to construct configurations that aresupported by NetApp. Specific results depend on each customer's installation in accordance with publishedspecifications.

Value Velocity

Product

Discount Categories L,M,N D,K

List $41 $22Discount 60% 15%

Net Price $16 $19

Support

Discount Category T S

List Price $12 $7

Discount 30% 5%

Net Price $9 $6

Total Deal Net Price $25 $25

Deal Discount 53% 13%

Table 3 Pricing Model examples

Documents

E-Series FAQ June'14 v13