What is a Storage Virtual Machine (SVM) in cluster ONTAP, and what does it provide?

• A. A physical server hosting ONTAP.
• B. A logical container in cluster ONTAP that defines an isolated namespace, policy, and protocol services for a group of volumes.
• C. A type of disk drive.
• D. A cloud service integration.

Answer: (B)

A Storage Virtual Machine is a logical container inside a clustered ONTAP environment that defines a distinct namespace, its own access policies, and the protocol services used to reach a group of volumes. This setup lets you provide separate NFS/SMB/iSCSI access, export rules, and security settings for a defined data set, with its own network endpoints (LIFs) and DNS/identity boundaries. In practice, you can create multiple SVMs on one cluster to isolate workloads or tenants, giving each its own data namespace and access controls without needing separate hardware. It isn’t a physical server, nor a disk drive, and while ONTAP can interface with cloud services, the SVM itself is the internal boundary that governs data access and protocol services for its volumes.