NetApp AFF A400 Max NS224 Shelves in ONTAP 9.7 / 9.8

 In ONTAP 9.7, the maximum number of NS224 shelves you can have with the AFF A400 is 2 (48 disks). This requires the X1148A NVMe storage card in slot 5. If you currently have one shelf, and need a second, it is straightforward and non-disruptive to install a new card in slot 5 (via TO/GB) and then add the new shelf.

In ONTAP 9.8, the maximum number of NS224 shelves you can have with the AFF A400 is 4 (96 disks). This requires Nexus 3232C or Nexus 9336C-FX2 switches. You must convert from direct attached to switch attached shelves - a non-disruptive process - then you can add shelf 3 & shelf 4.

If you've got one NS224 shelf and don't want to add 2 more shelves and the shelf switches to achieve some capacity requirement, consider having larger size NVMe SSD drives in the second shelf (thus not requiring the 3rd shelf.)

Remember, you can also add DS224C shelves to the A400. Up to 20 shelves or 480 disks if required. There is a max stack depth of 4 with the DS224C (NS224 has max stack depth of 1).

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