Ensuring compliance with NetApp ONTAP:

NetApp IT ensures compliance and robust data protection by leveraging powerful ONTAP technologies, including SnapMirror and SnapLock, alongside a standardized data management and backup approach. These solutions help meet stringent regulatory requirements like SOX and ensure operational resiliency and support for critical business applications.

NetApp IT employs SnapMirror and SnapLock technologies to ensure data integrity, protection, and regulatory compliance. Critical application data categorized under SOX compliance is replicated from primary storage to designated SOX-compliant clusters using SnapMirror, ensuring retention periods of up to seven years or more, as required by audit standards. SnapLock further enforces immutability, preventing accidental or intentional deletion of critical data. 

During annual SOX audits, NetApp IT uses these tools to restore historical data from specific time frames, such as January 2021, verifying that systems and databases meet compliance standards. Beyond audits, SnapMirror also provides seamless replication for rapid recovery in everyday scenarios, such as accidental data deletion or server failures during patching.

NetApp IT has standardized SnapMirror relationships on XDP (Extended Data Protection) to enhance compliance and simplify operations. This approach ensures: 

• Improved interoperability with previous ONTAP versions.
• Enhanced flexibility with storage efficiency configurations

NetApp IT protects its diverse data environment by aligning backup destinations with the CloudOne Data Protection Standards: 

•  CloudOne IaaS and DevOps Data: SVM DR relationships protect on-prem ONTAP volumes without requiring application-consistent backups.
•  Production Data: Depending on the workload, data is backed up to designated clusters for both local and disaster recovery copies.
• Sub-Production Data: Local snapshots are used for efficient recovery.

NetApp IT tailors protection policies for SOX and non-SOX data:

• SOX Data: SnapVault relationships on SOX-compliant archive clusters retain all snapshots required for audit and regulatory compliance.
•    Non-SOX Data: SnapVault relationships on backup clusters ensure retention with standardized policies.

Snapshot Copy Locking, or Tamperproof Snapshots (TPS), ensures data immutability across the ONTAP environment, protecting snapshots from accidental or malicious deletion. This safeguards NetApp IT’s data from ransomware attacks while ensuring compliance with retention policies.

NetApp IT uses standardized SnapMirror policies like DPDefault to migrate primary and backup volumes between clusters, retaining snapshots and minimizing data transfer during cutovers. Collaborating with application teams ensures export policies are refined for new volumes, aligning with compliance and operational goals.

In addition to compliance, SnapMirror and snapshots enable rapid recovery during disruptions. Whether it’s accidental file deletion or a server failure, these technologies ensure critical applications and systems continue operating seamlessly, providing uninterrupted customer service.

By combining SnapMirror and SnapLock with standardized policies and practices, NetApp IT maintains compliance with regulations like SOX, protects critical data, and supports seamless recovery for operational resiliency. This comprehensive approach ensures NetApp IT’s infrastructure can meet the demands of audits, everyday challenges, and critical business needs while delivering unmatched reliability and performance.