A customer has an AFF MetroCluster IP configuration and needs to tier cold data to the public cloud. Which NetApp replication option must the…

In a MetroCluster configuration, high availability must be maintained for all data, including cold data tiered to a public cloud. FabricPool is the NetApp technology used for tiering. To ensure the capacity tier (the cloud object store) is not a single point of failure, a FabricPool mirror must be configured. This feature creates two independent, synchronized copies of the tiered data in two separate object store buckets. Each site in the MetroCluster configuration is associated with one of these buckets, ensuring that if a site switchover occurs, the surviving site can still access the cold data from its corresponding cloud tier.

B. BlueXP copy and sync: This is a file-level data synchronization and migration service, not the block-level, automated tiering mechanism required for inactive data within an ONTAP aggregate.

C. BlueXP replication: This service simplifies the management of SnapMirror relationships for disaster recovery between ONTAP systems, which is distinct from tiering cold data to an object store.

D. SyncMirror: This is a local data protection feature that creates a synchronous, mirrored copy of an aggregate on a separate set of disks within the same cluster, not for replicating data to a cloud capacity tier.

1. NetApp Technical Report 4743, "FabricPool with MetroCluster Configurations":

Section: "FabricPool Mirroring", Page 5.

Content: "FabricPool mirroring is required for MetroCluster configurations. FabricPool mirroring provides a mirrored copy of the tiered data in a second object store. This configuration prevents the object store from being a single point of failure. In a MetroCluster configuration, each node has its own object store configuration. The object stores are mirrored so that if a switchover occurs, the data is still available."

2. NetApp ONTAP Documentation, "Data protection and disaster recovery":

Section: "What FabricPool mirroring is"

Content: "FabricPool mirroring is required when you use FabricPool on MetroCluster configurations. FabricPool mirroring creates two copies of the tiered data in two separate object stores. This configuration prevents the object store from being a single point of failure." This section explicitly states the requirement for FabricPool mirroring in a MetroCluster environment to maintain high availability for the capacity tier.

3. NetApp ONTAP Documentation, "Manage data tiering":

Section: "Considerations for using FabricPool with MetroCluster configurations"

Content: "You must use FabricPool mirroring when you attach a cloud tier to an aggregate in a MetroCluster configuration... Each site in the MetroCluster configuration requires its own object store. The two object stores are mirrors of each other." This reinforces that mirroring is not optional but a mandatory requirement for this specific configuration.