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Both volume migration and external replication support ONTAP FlexGroups as source volumes.
A FlexGroups volume is a large volume internally built out of multiple FlexVols,
known as member volumes or constituents. NetApp Volumes uses
FlexGroups internally to provide its large capacity volumes or large volume feature.
When replicating a FlexGroup volume to NetApp Volumes, the
destination volume must also be a large volume. The number of constituents on
the destination large volume must match with the number of constituents on the
source FlexGroup. As external replication can't read this number from the source
volume, you must specify it during replication creation using the
large-volume-constituent-count parameter within the
hybrid-replication-parameters parameter block.
The large-volume-constituent-count you provide must meet the following
criteria:
It must be between 2 and 36.
No odd numbers are allowed, with the exceptions of 3 and 5.
If your source FlexGroup's constituent count doesn't meet these requirements,
you must change the source FlexGroup constituent count to a correct value before
establishing an external replication. Once the replication is enabled, you can't
change the constituent count on NetApp Volumes. Therefore, don't
add constituents to an ONTAP FlexGroup that is already in replication with
NetApp Volumes.
External replications between FlexGroups and large volumes don't support the
EVERY_10_MINUTES replication schedule. However, volume migration uses a fixed
HOURLY replication schedule.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-09-04 UTC."],[],[],null,["# FlexGroups and large volumes\n\nBoth volume migration and external replication support ONTAP [FlexGroups](https://docs.netapp.com/us-en/ontap/flexgroup/definition-concept.html) as source volumes.\n\nA FlexGroups volume is a large volume internally built out of multiple FlexVols,\nknown as member volumes or constituents. NetApp Volumes uses\nFlexGroups internally to provide its [large capacity volumes](/netapp/volumes/docs/configure-and-use/volumes/overview#large-capacity-volumes) or large volume feature.\n\nWhen replicating a FlexGroup volume to NetApp Volumes, the\ndestination volume must also be a large volume. The number of constituents on\nthe destination large volume must match with the number of constituents on the\nsource FlexGroup. As external replication can't read this number from the source\nvolume, you must specify it during replication creation using the\n`large-volume-constituent-count` parameter within the\n`hybrid-replication-parameters` parameter block.\n\nThe `large-volume-constituent-count` you provide must meet the following\ncriteria:\n\n- It must be between 2 and 36.\n\n- No odd numbers are allowed, with the exceptions of 3 and 5.\n\nIf your source FlexGroup's constituent count doesn't meet these requirements,\nyou must change the source FlexGroup constituent count to a correct value before\nestablishing an external replication. Once the replication is enabled, you can't\nchange the constituent count on NetApp Volumes. Therefore, don't\nadd constituents to an ONTAP FlexGroup that is already in replication with\nNetApp Volumes.\n\nExternal replications between FlexGroups and large volumes don't support the\n`EVERY_10_MINUTES` replication schedule. However, volume migration uses a fixed\n`HOURLY` replication schedule."]]
