NetApp has announced the end of availability (EOA) for the entire SolidFire product line. The announcement was effective the first week of October, with the last SolidFire shipment on October 31, 2023.
The announcement covers all SolidFire hardware models and includes the ElementOS software-defined product, eSDS. For the SolidFire appliances, the last support date will be October of 2028. The EOA and support for eSDS is effective immediately.
As customers continue the dramatic shift to the cloud, NetApp made the decision to focus more strategically on hybrid multicloud (HMC). For example, NetApp announced BlueXP at NetApp Insight, which is a rebranding of NetApp Cloud Manager but with many new features. BlueXP can function as a single-view control plane for on premises, cloud and HMC environments. The SolidFire product line is not well-positioned to be an integral part of NetApp's HMC strategy going forward.
Next steps
For those existing SolidFire customers, the one-year notice provides significant time to make hardware additions to their existing SolidFire environment(s) prior to the EOA date.
With hardware support through most of 2028, there's no need for immediate action but it is important to understand your options.
You have several options:
- Purchase additional SolidFire Nodes as needed, prior to the EOA in October of 2023. With hardware support through most of 2028, you'll have six additional years of useful life for the assets. NetApp will continue to provide software updates through October 2023. After this date, updates will only be released to address bugs and security issues. H610S node firmware/BIOS updates will continue to be issued through October 2028. It's important to note that NetApp will continue interoperability certifications through October 2026.
- Consider new primary storage platforms. SolidFire has SnapMirror compatibility with AFF and FAS. This provides an easy mechanism to move data from ElementOS to ONTAP. You could also SnapMirror from an on-premises SolidFire cluster to Cloud Volumes ONTAP. NetApp just announced the availability of ONTAP 9.12.1RC1. This version includes many enhancements around security and compliance, advanced data services, and support for NVMeoF and NVMe/TCP. Host-based migration tools (i.e. Storage vMotion) are another option for moving data off of your SolidFire clusters.
- Leverage a Storage-as-a-Service consumption model. For customers wanting to move from on-premises to the cloud, Storage-as-a-Service can be a great bridge to the cloud with the benefit of an OpEx financial model. NetApp Keystone is also available for FlexPod converged infrastructure. FlexPod brings the best of Cisco server (UCS X-Series), Cisco networking and NetApp storage into a fully integrated solution. You can find more information about Keystone here. We have a STaaS workshop to help you dig through the myriad of STaaS offerings available. You can access the workshop info here.
WWT is here to help
Our partnerships with the leading technology manufacturers allow our team to provide expert advice and guidance on navigating the EOA announcement and determining the best approach moving forward.
By leveraging our Advanced Technology Center (ATC), organizations can also test and compare solutions to ensure complete confidence before purchasing.
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