What owns the file system while provisioning SAN?

In a Storage Area Network (SAN) configuration, the NetApp ONTAP system provisions storage as a Logical Unit Number (LUN). A LUN is a block-level device presented to a server, known as the host. The host's operating system sees this LUN as a raw, unformatted disk. It is the responsibility of the host to partition this disk, create a file system (such as NTFS, ext4, or VMFS) on it, and manage all subsequent file I/O. The ONTAP storage system is unaware of the file system structure within the LUN; it only manages the data at the block level.

A. LUN: A LUN is the raw block-level storage container. It does not own the file system; rather, the file system is created upon it by the host.

C. ONTAP software: In a SAN context, ONTAP manages the LUNs and volumes but has no visibility into or control over the host-level file system created on the LUN.

D. volume: A NetApp volume is a storage-side management container that holds LUNs. It operates below the LUN level and does not own the host's file system.

1. NetApp ONTAP Documentation Center. (2023). SAN administration overview. In ONTAP 9 Documentation. "In a SAN, a host application accesses storage on a LUN. The host operating system sees the LUN as a normal disk drive that it can partition and format."

2. NetApp Technical Report TR-4080. (2022). SAN Configuration Guide for NetApp ONTAP 9. Section 2.2, LUNs, p. 10. "A LUN is a logical representation of storage. The client OS sees a LUN as a raw disk that it can partition and format."

3. NetApp University. (2023). NCTA ONTAP Study Guide. Module 3: Connectivity. The guide contrasts SAN and NAS, explicitly stating that with SAN (block) protocols, the client (host) is responsible for file system management.