Service Processor (SP) is a remote management device that is included in some systems. Starting with Data ONTAP 8.2, a baseline SP firmware image is packaged with the Data ONTAP upgrade package, so that the SP is updated automatically by default.
Any existing connection to the SP is terminated when the SP firmware is being updated. This is the case whether the SP firmware update is automatic or manually triggered.
If you are upgrading SP firmware between Data ONTAP upgrades, you can obtain SP firmware and information about how to install it from the NetApp Support Site. You can download and update the SP firmware by using the Data ONTAP CLI or the SP CLI.
For information about what the SP is and how it works, see the Data ONTAP System Administration Guide for 7-Mode.