A customer Is deploying a new 8-node NetApp ONTAP cluster for their SAN workloads using FCP, NVMe/FC, and NVMe/TCP. In this scenario, which statement…

While NetApp ONTAP allows both FCP and NVMe/FC protocols to operate concurrently over the same physical Fibre Channel port, they require separate, protocol-specific Logical Interfaces (LIFs) to be configured. An FCP LIF is created to handle FCP traffic, and a separate NVMe/FC LIF is created for NVMe/FC traffic. In this context, the term "ports" is best interpreted as these logical access points (LIFs) rather than the physical hardware ports. Therefore, FCP and NVMe/FC require different logical "ports" (LIFs) for operation, even if they share a physical port.

B. NVMe/TCP supports a maximum of two LIFs per node.

This is incorrect. ONTAP supports the configuration of up to four NVMe/TCP LIFs per node, allowing for greater bandwidth and path resiliency.

C. NVMe/FC and NVMe/TCP must be configured in separate SVMs.

This is incorrect. A single Storage Virtual Machine (SVM) can be configured with multiple SAN protocols, including both NVMe/FC and NVMe/TCP, simultaneously.

D. NVMe/TCP can only run at 32Gbps or faster.

This is incorrect. NetApp supports NVMe/TCP on standard Ethernet networks with speeds of 25GbE or greater, which includes 25GbE, 40GbE, 50GbE, and 100GbE.

1. Answer A & C: NetApp

ONTAP 9 SAN Configuration Guide

"Create an SVM for NVMe". This guide details the creation of LIFs for specific protocols. It states

"You can configure NVMe/FC and NVMe/TCP on the same SVM." The separate commands vserver fcp interface create and vserver nvme interface create demonstrate the need for distinct LIFs for each protocol. The guide also clarifies in "Configure FC and NVMe/FC on the same port" that while the physical port can be shared

the logical interfaces are distinct.

2. Answer B & D: NetApp Technical Report 4945

NVMe/TCP Deployment and Implementation Guide

Page 9

"Network requirements" states

"NetApp supports NVMe/TCP on standard Ethernet networks with speeds of 25GbE or greater." Page 11

"Create NVMe/TCP LIFs" states

"You can create up to four NVMe/TCP LIFs per node."

3. Answer A (Supporting): NetApp Technical Report 4684

NVMe over Fabrics at NetApp

Page 10

"NVMe/FC can coexist with FCP on the same physical port. The same SVM can be used for both FCP and NVMe/FC." This confirms physical port sharing is possible

reinforcing the interpretation that "ports" in the question refers to logical interfaces (LIFs).