An existing StorageGRID system spans three sites.

The correct answer is metadata updates. StorageGRID maintains object metadata independently from object data, using the distributed Cassandra database. NetApp specifies that StorageGRID stores three copies of the metadata for every object at each site, meaning every site maintains metadata for all objects in the grid, regardless of where the object data itself is physically stored.

This distinction is critical in the scenario. Even though the new fourth site uses an ILM policy that keeps its object data local with a 2+1 protection scheme, metadata activity is still grid-wide. NetApp explicitly states that administrators must consider network bandwidth and latency between sites because metadata updates are continually replicated between sites even when all object copies remain at the site where they were ingested. Therefore, the WAN links connecting all four sites must be sized to support continuous metadata synchronization.

Load balancer endpoints handle S3 client connectivity and do not create this universal intersite requirement. NTP requires reliable time synchronization but is not the workload driving the stated bandwidth-sizing requirement. Storage pools are logical ILM constructs and do not themselves replicate metadata.

Therefore, B. metadata updates is the required component.

Reference topics: StorageGRID Expansion → Adding a Site → Cassandra Metadata Replication → Intersite Network Bandwidth and Latency → ILM Data Placement