NetApp ONTAP Update: What’s New in ONTAP 9.3 with Jeff Baxter

Jeff Baxter, Chief Evangelist for ONTAP, presented the latest updates in ONTAP version 9.3. The update is designed to optimize and simplify data management with features such as adaptive QoS, 40% faster performance on AFF HA pairs, improved efficiency, and stronger compliance tools. The updates reflect NetApp’s ongoing commitment to enhancing the software aspect of ONTAP, focusing on making it suitable for modern, scale-out infrastructures and providing predictable upgrade cycles for users.

During the presentation, Baxter highlighted NetApp’s strategy of a six-month cadence for software releases, ensuring regular updates, and keeping functionality predictable and reliable for both partners and customers. He detailed the significant software optimizations that have led to substantial performance improvements, exemplified by the 40% performance boost on certain workloads using the same hardware. Another focal point was the update to adaptive QoS, a feature that now allows for real-time adjustment of workload performance based on IOPS per terabyte, enabling consistent performance as workloads scale.

Moreover, Baxter emphasized the role of ONTAP in the data fabric architecture, crucial for linking multiple clouds and modernizing traditional data centers. ONTAP’s flexibility allows it to operate across a variety of environments, including in the cloud as a software-defined solution. Security enhancements in version 9.3, such as enhanced encryption and compliance tools, were also presented as key improvements, empowering users to better protect their data and comply with regulatory requirements. The updated ONTAP facilitates adaptive, simplified provisioning and greater storage efficiency by incorporating advanced deduplication processes.