Reduce IT complexity and improve cyber resilience with automated ONTAP updates

It's no secret that IT departments are already stretched thin trying to keep a handle on all the different tools and resources in their organization’s distributed technology stack. Staying on top of the latest updates in their storage environment is just one small line item on every IT manager’s lengthy list of responsibilities. But when a missing firmware update or security patch can create a cybersecurity nightmare scenario, suddenly storage updates move further up the list.

Wouldn’t it be nice if some of the responsibilities like storage software updates were taken care of automatically? If your smartphone can update itself on its own, why not your storage?

Well, great news for NetApp customers: We have automatic updates covered. With the streamlined NetApp^® ONTAP^® update process that’s built into the NetApp BlueXP™ unified control plane, you don’t have to worry about missing a critical update or incurring downtime. Think of how much time you could save with automatic updates. What could you do with up to 90% of your time back?

One of the nice things about having been a data storage provider for over 30 years is that we have decades’ worth of user data to tell us where potential issues might occur in our customers’ environments. We have found that most security issues can be resolved by updating the storage operating system (ONTAP) or by loading a new firmware version. This update process has been manual and time-consuming—until now.

The integration of ONTAP System Manager and NetApp Active IQ^® Digital Advisor lets you update your ONTAP software and your hardware firmware in a single workflow if a problem is detected or an update is needed. Just like your smartphone, your storage ecosystem updates itself if it detects that a new version is available, or if there’s an issue that can be resolved with an update.

This automated workflow operates in four discrete phases:

1. Update candidates and/or vulnerabilities are identified.
2. Recommended target versions are provided.
3. Automatic prechecks are performed to confirm that things will go smoothly.
4. Updates are executed and installed.

With automated ONTAP updates for your environment, you no longer need to download and to save images, which reduces complexity and saves you time. That time savings not only gives your IT team a huge break, but it also helps you achieve an immediate positive impact on your ROI.

With cyberthreats becoming exponentially more sophisticated and more potent, you can’t afford to leave yourself open because of a missed update. BlueXP uses AIOps-driven, actionable insights to help you detect risks that might affect your storage. By using telemetry from your systems and from our global customer base, NetApp can help you find and address security gaps and identify software and firmware configuration issues so that they can be mitigated quickly. You also get a detailed breakdown of the impact level and the affected systems, with links to NetApp Knowledge Base articles for more information as well as guidance on the necessary automatic or manual remediation.

The anti-ransomware features of NetApp solutions are unique in the marketplace. The built-in capabilities deliver industry-leading resilience that you can depend on. By using active telemetry and the latest ransomware threat information from industry databases, we take advantage of proactive AI/ML capabilities that help your storage learn about possible attacks and protect your systems with automatic updates to reduce your vulnerability. We’re so confident in our ability to help you thwart ransomware attacks, we even offer a Ransomware Recovery Guarantee.

All these incredible features are built into the ONTAP portfolio—you just have to turn on your telemetry (NetApp AutoSupport^® service). As long as you’re sending your telemetry data back to us, we can help you streamline those updates and secure your systems against even the most sophisticated cyberthreats. Watch a video that showcases the power of sending your NetApp AutoSupport telemetry. And check out these instructions on how to turn it on.

No ransomware detection or recovery system can completely guarantee safety from a ransomware attack. While it’s possible an attack might go undetected, NetApp technology acts as an important additional layer of defense.