To perform a Foreign LUN Import (FLI) from a third-party array, the NetApp ONTAP cluster must be able to discover and read data from the source LUNs. This requires the ONTAP system to act as a Fibre Channel (FC) initiator. Therefore, at least one FC port on each controller in the HA pair must be converted from its default target personality to an initiator personality. This allows the cluster to connect to the foreign array without disrupting existing LUN services on other target ports.

Furthermore, for the new NetApp initiator ports to communicate with the third-party array's target ports, connectivity must be established through the FC SAN fabric. This is accomplished by creating zones on the FC switches that explicitly permit traffic between the WWPNs of the NetApp initiator ports and the WWPNs of the foreign array's target ports.

A. Reboot the third-party array to prepare for the LUN import.

This is incorrect. FLI is designed as an online migration method that does not require an outage or reboot of the source storage array.

B. Convert all FC ports on each controller to an FC initiator port.

This is incorrect because the scenario states the cluster is already serving other LUNs. Converting all ports to initiator mode would halt all existing host-to-LUN traffic.

1. NetApp ONTAP 9 Documentation

SAN Administration Guide

"Prerequisites for importing LUNs": This section explicitly states the requirements for FLI.

"You must have at least one FC initiator port on each node in the cluster that will own the imported LUNs. You can use the storage port modify command to change an FC port from a target to an initiator." (Supports option D)

"You must configure zoning on the FC switches to enable the ONTAP initiator ports to connect to the target ports on the foreign storage array." (Supports option C)

2. NetApp Technical Report TR-4398

"LUN Migration Using Foreign LUN Import": This document details the FLI process.

Section 3.1

"ONTAP Configuration": "The first step is to configure one or more FC ports on the ONTAP cluster as initiators. These ports are used to connect to the foreign array." This reinforces the need to convert ports to initiator mode.

Section 3.2

"Fabric Configuration": "The fabric must be zoned to allow the ONTAP initiator ports to see the foreign array target ports." This confirms the zoning requirement.