A local ONTAP system has FabricPool configured to a public cloud. Storage use has grown exponentially due to end-of-year activities. After a few…

FabricPool automatically tiers cold data from a performance tier (SSD aggregate) to a cloud tier when the aggregate's used capacity reaches a specific threshold. By default, this tiering-fullness-threshold is 50%. If tiering has stopped, it is most likely because the aggregate's used space has fallen below this threshold after some data was tiered, or the threshold is set too high. The administrator should investigate and, if necessary, adjust the aggregate's tiering fullness threshold to a more appropriate value to resume tiering and manage the space on the performance tier effectively.

A. Configure tiering to a second cloud provider: This action addresses provider redundancy or capacity expansion, but it does not resolve an issue where the tiering process itself has stopped on the existing configuration.

B. Increase the tiering license: FabricPool licensing is based on the total capacity used in the cloud tier, not the rate of data transfer. A licensing issue would typically generate specific errors, and is not the primary trigger that controls the tiering process.

C. Increase the cooling period: Increasing the cooling period would make data eligible for tiering later, as it requires data to be inactive for a longer duration. This would hinder, not restart, the tiering process.

1. NetApp Technical Report 4598: FabricPool Best Practices, Page 10, Section: "Tiering policy".

"FabricPool begins tiering data from the performance tier to the cloud tier when the aggregate reaches its capacity threshold. By default, this threshold is 50%... You can change the default capacity threshold to a value from 0 to 98%." This confirms that aggregate fullness is the primary trigger for tiering and that it is an adjustable parameter.

2. ONTAP 9.12.1 Command Reference, storage aggregate modify command documentation.

The -tiering-fullness-threshold parameter is described as: "This parameter specifies the aggregate fullness percentage at which the system begins to tier cold data to the cloud tier. The default setting is 50%." This shows the specific command-line tool for adjusting the aggregate fullness setting.

3. NetApp Product Documentation: FabricPool configuration overview, Section: "How FabricPool works".

The documentation states, "When an aggregate that is attached to a cloud tier reaches a capacity of 50% (the default), ONTAP starts to tier cold data blocks to the cloud tier." This reinforces that the process is automatic and based on the aggregate's capacity.