The release date of the NetApp AFF A320 was 1 October 2018. The hardware is no longer available from the manufacturer (end of availability). An official EOSL date has not yet been set.

NetApp no longer supports the AFF A320 from ONTAP 9.15.1 onwards; the last installable version is ONTAP 9.14.1. Its full support ends on 31 January 2027. After that, NetApp will only supply patches for the platform in exceptional cases.

IT managers should nevertheless start thinking about the question today: migrate, or hand maintenance over to a third party provider?

Key facts at a glance

• ONTAP 9.14.1 is the last version for the AFF A320. Full support runs until 31 January 2027, limited support until 31 January 2029.
• The AFF A320 is on NetApp’s end of availability list and is no longer available as new equipment.
• No EOSL date has been made public yet.
• The biggest risks in continued operation are sourcing NetApp-specific NVMe SSDs for the NS224 shelves, the ageing NVDIMM battery and missing CVE patches for the BMC.
• If the system carries tier 1 data, migration urgently needs to be completed before full support ends. As a SnapMirror target, backup target or test system, the A320 can be run for at least eight years beyond EOSL under a maintenance contract with a third party provider, usually 40 to 50 percent cheaper than with the manufacturer.

Product lifecycle of the NetApp AFF A320

Table: The key milestones in the product lifecycle of the NetApp AFF A320

NetApp introduced the A320 in May 2019 together with ONTAP 9.6. The same software limit applies to the AFF A700s: NetApp dropped support for both systems as of ONTAP 9.15.1.

What separates EOL from EOSL on the NetApp AFF A320

At NetApp, EOL in practice means the end of sales. The A320 appears on NetApp’s end of availability list and can no longer be obtained as new equipment from NetApp or certified partners. Support contracts still continue, however: NetApp replaces defective parts and the Technical Assistance Center remains available. This applies until the official EOSL date, which has not yet been set for the NetApp AFF A320.

What will fall away with the EOSL of the AFF A320

• No more access to the Technical Assistance Center: fault diagnosis, log analysis and escalations have to be handled by your own IT team or by your chosen maintenance partner.
• No RMA handling: NetApp no longer replaces controller modules, power supplies, fans and NVMe SSDs, not even against payment.
• No guaranteed spare parts stocking: NetApp winds down the parts inventory for the model. Four-hour SLAs disappear along with it.
• No more firmware updates for BIOS, BMC, I/O modules and drives. This includes patches for newly reported CVEs.
• No processing of AutoSupport messages: the system keeps sending telemetry, but NetApp no longer raises tickets from it and no longer ships spare parts.

ONTAP: on the AFF A320, software support ends first

The highest version that can be installed on the AFF A320 is ONTAP 9.14.1. Newer releases exclude the platform. On the AFF A300 it is the other way round: there, the software stays in full support longer than the hardware.

Table: ONTAP versions and end of support. Source: NetApp

In the NetApp support cycle, each release receives three years of full support, followed by two years of limited and three years of self-service support. Under limited support, NetApp only supplies patches for severe security vulnerabilities, and at its own discretion. Under self-service there are no more updates, only documentation and knowledge base articles.

For an AFF A320, this means: from 1 February 2027, the system runs on software that NetApp barely maintains any more. If internal policies or regulators require fully supported software, for example in banking or healthcare, migration should be completed by then.

Systems on ONTAP 9.8 cannot move directly to 9.14.1. The path leads via 9.12.1, from where a direct update to 9.14.1 is possible. At each step, the nodes reboot one after the other, and the HA pair has to take over and give back cleanly in the process. Plan the upgrade so that it is completed while full support and access to the TAC are still in place.

Technical specifications of the AFF A320

Table: Technical specifications of the AFF A320. Sources: Express Computer Systems, IOPS.ca, NetApp

The A320 was NetApp’s first midrange system with an end-to-end NVMe architecture, from the host via NVMe/FC through to the shelves via RoCEv2. At launch, NetApp held out the prospect of latencies in the region of 100 microseconds. Cisco and NetApp validated the system for FlexPod with VMware vSphere 6.7. For virtualisation, second-tier databases, VDI, test and development environments or as a fast replication target, this performance will still be sufficient in 2027.

Risks of continued operation without a maintenance contract

NVMe SSDs for the NS224 shelves

The A320 only accepts NVMe SSDs with NetApp firmware and NetApp’s own formatting. ONTAP will not add drives from Samsung, Intel or Kioxia bought on the open market to an aggregate. The replacement itself is routine and works without downtime. After EOSL, sourcing becomes the difficult part. The longer a rebuild waits for a missing hot spare, the greater the risk that a second drive failure takes the whole aggregate with it.

The NVDIMM battery

The A320 buffers incoming writes in the NVDIMM, which a lithium-ion battery protects during a power failure. After three to five years of operation, its capacity drops noticeably. If it falls below the threshold that ONTAP monitors, the system switches off the write cache. All writes then go straight to the SSDs, write latency rises many times over, and write-intensive databases barely make progress. For the replacement, the partner node takes over, the affected controller is halted and pulled completely out of the chassis. Without a supplier for these batteries, the system can run for weeks without cache if the worst happens.

Firmware, segmentation and compliance

After EOSL, NetApp no longer closes vulnerabilities in the BMC, the BIOS or the firmware of the I/O modules. The BMC has access to the console, power control and boot process, even when ONTAP is not running at all. Vulnerabilities in SSH, HTTPS or the SMB and NFS stacks can be exploited through lateral movement across the network. The e0M and BMC management ports therefore belong in a separate VLAN behind a firewall, reachable only via hardened jump hosts and neither from the office network nor from the internet.

MetroCluster IP

Some A320 systems run in MetroCluster IP configurations with synchronous mirroring to a second site. With Broadcom BES-53248 switches, NetApp only supports four-node MetroCluster for the A320. If a controller or switch fails in such a configuration and cannot be replaced promptly, redundancy shrinks to a single site. A maintenance contract should therefore cover the controllers, NS224 shelves and MetroCluster switches with the same SLAs.

Three options after the EOSL of the NetApp AFF A320

Migration to a successor system

Possible successors are the current A series (A30, A50, A70, A90) or the capacity-oriented C series with QLC flash. For many A320 workloads, the C series is sufficient as long as latencies well below one millisecond are not required.

For a controller swap on the AFF A320, there is no automated Aggregate Relocation procedure. NetApp refers users to Volume Move or to technical support. Volume Move shifts the data to new nodes in the same cluster during live operation, but it takes time and needs free capacity on the target system.

Arguing against migration are the high one-off investment, staff tied up for months, and retiring hardware that still works.

Extending NetApp support

NetApp contracts continue until the hardware EOSL. Beyond that date, NetApp grants custom support in individual cases, usually when the successor system has been ordered and delivery is delayed. Such contracts generally run for only a few months and are expensive. Spare parts are supplied only subject to availability (best effort). A longer contract changes nothing about the software level: the AFF A320 stays on ONTAP 9.14.1.

Third party maintenance

With third party maintenance, for example from Hardwarewartung.com, the AFF A320 can be run for at least eight years beyond EOSL. Contracts are typically 40 to 50 percent below the most recent manufacturer prices, with fixed SLAs and a four-hour on-site response around the clock. Replacements cover NVDIMM batteries, controller modules, power supplies and tested NetApp NVMe SSDs from the provider’s own warehouses. As a side effect, the depreciation period is extended and intact hardware does not end up as electronic waste.

Sensible roles for an AFF A320 under third party maintenance

• SnapMirror target at a second site
• Backup target for Veeam or Commvault
• VDI environment
• Virtualisation and databases with tier 2 data
• Test and development platform

Alternatives after the EOSL of the NetApp AFF A320: the overview

Table: Alternatives after the EOSL of the NetApp AFF A320: the overview

FAQs: common questions about the EOL / EOSL of the NetApp AFF A320

When does support for the NetApp AFF A320 end (EOSL)?

For the software, the date is fixed: full support for ONTAP 9.14.1, the last version for the A320, ends on 31 January 2027, and limited support on 31 January 2029. NetApp has not yet publicly announced an EOSL date for the hardware.

Can the AFF A320 still be used after the end of support?

Yes. There is no kill switch, no expiry date in the license key and no timer. The end of support concerns only contractual support from NetApp.

Can I buy replacement NVMe SSDs myself on the open market after the EOSL date?

The replacement is straightforward and can be done during live operation. The problem is sourcing: the system requires NetApp firmware and NetApp’s own formatting. ONTAP will not add standard SSDs from the open market to an aggregate.

Can ONTAP 9.15.1 or newer be installed on the AFF A320?

No. NetApp dropped the A320 as of 9.15.1, so features from newer releases are not available on the system. Bring the A320 up to 9.14.1 while that version is still in full support.

How long can the AFF A320 still be run economically?

With a maintenance contract from a third party provider, at least eight years beyond EOSL is realistic, as long as spare parts from tested stock remain available. The software stays on ONTAP 9.14.1, and the management interfaces belong in an isolated network.

Closing recommendations

On the NetApp AFF A320, the software sets the first deadline: on 31 January 2027, full support ends for ONTAP 9.14.1, the last version for this platform.

What happens next should depend on the system’s role. If the A320 carries tier 1 data or strict requirements apply to software support, migration via Volume Move should be completed by early 2027. If it serves as a SnapMirror target, backup target, VDI or test system, buying new hardware is hard to justify. In that case, a maintenance contract with a provider such as Hardwarewartung.com covers the hardware, and ONTAP 9.14.1 still receives limited support until January 2029.

As a NetApp support partner, we can offer maintenance packages on considerably better terms than traditional system integrators. With more than 300 experts at over 40 service locations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland alone, we deliver our service right across Europe.