How does Clustered Data ONTAP scale?

• A. CDOT scales out by adding nodes that share a single namespace.
• B. CDOT scales only within a single node.
• C. CDOT uses per-node namespaces when scaling.
• D. CDOT cannot scale beyond a cluster.

Answer: (A)

CDOT scales by adding nodes that share a single namespace. In a clustered Data ONTAP environment, multiple controllers join into one cluster and expose one global namespace to clients. As you add more nodes, data and I/O are automatically balanced across the new hardware, increasing capacity and performance without creating separate namespaces for each node. Clients continue to access data through a single, unified namespace, with access points (LIFs) that can move between nodes as needed. This is the essence of scale-out: more nodes means more resources while preserving one coherent namespace.

The other ideas don’t fit because scaling isn’t limited to a single node, nor is the namespace per node, and the system clearly supports growing beyond a single node by expanding the cluster.