In ONTAP, NAS data LIFs have what failover behavior?

• A. They fail over only to a designated primary node.
• B. They can fail over automatically to any node in the cluster.
• C. They cannot fail over during maintenance.
• D. They require manual failover to be initiated.

Answer: (B)

Automatic failover across the cluster is how NAS data LIFs stay available. A NAS data LIF is a network endpoint for an SVM, and if the node hosting it or its path becomes unavailable, the system can move that LIF to another healthy node in the cluster without manual intervention. This failover is automatic and can occur to any node in the cluster that can service the LIF, keeping the NAS data reachable with the same IP address and network identity for clients. This behavior is what makes NAS access resilient in ONTAP.

In other words, the LIF isn’t tied to a single designated node; the cluster’s auto-failover logic can relocate it to any suitable node to maintain access.