Managing Volumes

This chapter contains the following sections:

Volumes

One or more volumes are allocated physical storage space from each pool.

  1. File Volume—A logical disk that the system presents it through the file systems. In comparison to the block volumes, it is a much simpler form of storage for users to access and share. A file volume is available using common file-level protocols, such as Server Message Block (SMB), Common Internet File System (CIFS), and Network File System (NFS), using network-attached storage (NAS) devices.

  2. Block Volume—A logical disk that the system presents the physical storage space allocated from a storage pool to the attached hosts.

File Volumes

A file is the physical storage assigned to a file system pool. The file volume, in turn, is a logical disk that the system presents to the file systems.

  • File System Pools—A file system pool consists of volumes of the same disk type. The file system pools are a type of storage pools that consists of a collection of disks that jointly contain all the data across a specified set of file systems.

  • File Systems—A file system consists of one or more file system pools. The storage pools must be defined before creating the file system. You can create, edit, mount, unmount, set as destination, or remove a file system. You can select either one of the two preset policies for either a single file system pool or a migration, or create a custom policy.

  • File Sets—A file set is a subset of a file system that provides granularity of functions such as snapshots or quotas within the file system.

  • File Shares—A shared disk space that can be made available through the protocols specified during its creation. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Secure Copy Protocol (SCP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Common Internet File System (CIFS), and Network File System (NFS) shares can all be created, provided that the corresponding protocol is enabled for the system.

  • Quotas—A quota is used to control the allocation of files and data blocks in a file system.

  • Snapshots— A snapshot of an entire file system or of an independent file set can be created to preserve the contents of the file system or the independent file set at a single point in time.

Block Volumes

A block volume is a logical disk that the system presents to a host connected over a fibre channel or Ethernet network. Each volume copy is created from a set of extents in a storage pool. Each volume can have a maximum of two copies. Host applications access volumes, not MDisks or drives. To keep a volume accessible even when an MDisk on which it depends has become unavailable, a mirrored copy can be added to a selected volume. Volumes are presented to hosts by host mapping. Host mapping controls which hosts have access to specific volumes in the storage system.

You can create the following volume types:

  • Generic—Creates volumes that use a set amount of capacity from the selected storage pool.

  • Mirror—Creates volumes with two physical copies. Each copy can belong to a different storage pool that provide data protection from storage failures.

  • ThinMirror—Creates volumes with two physical copies that provide data protection from storage failures while using only the capacity that is written by the host application.

  • ThinProvision—Creates large-capacity volumes that use only the capacity that is written by the host application.

  • Compressed—Creates volumes where data can be compressed when it is stored on a disk.

  • CompressedMirror—Creates volumes where data can be compressed and stored with two physical copies that provide data protection from storage failures.

Creating Volumes

    Step 1   Choose Physical > Storage.
    Step 2   In the left pane, navigate to the pod in which the storage account is added.
    Step 3   Choose the storage account type.
    Step 4   Click Volumes.
    Step 5   Click Create.
    Step 6   On the Create Volume screen, complete the following fields:

    Name

    Description

    Volume Name field

    The volume name. If you do not specify a name, the system assigns a name automatically.

    Volume Type drop-down list

    Choose the type of volume that you want to create.

    Capacity field

    Enter the volume capacity in terms of bytes, KB, MB, GB, or TB.

    Capacity Unit drop-down list

    Choose the unit in bytes, KB, MB, GB, or TB for the volume capacity.

    Pool drop-down list

    Choose the storage pool.

    Secondary Pool drop-down list

    Choose the secondary pool.

    Mirror Sync Rate field

    Enter the rate (%) at which copies (mirroring) can be synchronized. A value of zero prevents synchronization.

    Preferrred Node drop-down list

    Choose the host.
    Note   

    Hosts try to access the volumes through the preferred node. Each volume has a preferred node that balances the load between nodes. By default, the system automatically balances the load between nodes.

    Real Capacity Unit drop-down list

    Choose the real capacity that is allocated to the volume in terms of % of Virtual Capacity or GB.

    Automatically Expand check box

    Check this check box to automatically increase the real capacity as data is written to the volume.

    Warning Threshold check box

    Check this check box to manually increase the real capacity when the warning threshold exceeds in terms of % of Virtual Capacity.
    Note   

    When the used capacity exceeds the warning threshold, an event is raised, indicating that the additional real capacity is required. You can manually increase the real capacity that is previously allocated to the volume.

    Warning Threshold (% of Virtual Capacity) field

    Displays the warning threshold set beyond which you have to manually increase the real capacity.

    Thin Provisioned Grain Size drop-down list

    Choose the thin-provisioned grain size. It is the size of a single chunk of data on the volume.
    Note   

    Smaller grain sizes save data while larger grain sizes produce better performance.

    Step 7   Click Submit.

    Adding Mirrored Copy

      Step 1   Choose Physical > Storage.
      Step 2   In the left pane, navigate to the pod in which the storage account is added.
      Step 3   Choose the storage account type.
      Step 4   Click Volumes.
      Step 5   Choose the volume that you want to create a copy of the volume in another storage pool.
      Step 6   Click Add Mirrored Copy.
      Step 7   On the Add Mirrored Copy screen, complete the following fields:

      Name

      Description

      Volume Name

      The volume name (Display only).

      Current Pool

      The current pool (Display only).

      Volume Type drop-down list

      Choose Generic or Thin-provisioned or Compressed type.

      Select Pool drop-down list

      Choose the storage pool in which you want to create the copy of the volume.

      Step 8   Click Submit.

      Deleting Volumes

        Step 1   Choose Physical > Storage.
        Step 2   In the left pane, navigate to the pod in which the storage account is added.
        Step 3   Choose the storage account type.
        Step 4   Click Volumes.
        Step 5   Choose the volume that you want to delete.
        Step 6   Click Delete.
        Step 7   On the Delete Volume screen, check the Force Delete check box.
        Step 8   Click Submit.

        Editing Volumes

          Step 1   Choose Physical > Storage.
          Step 2   In the left pane, navigate to the pod in which the storage account is added.
          Step 3   Choose the storage account type.
          Step 4   Click Volumes.
          Step 5   Choose the volume that you want to edit.
          Step 6   Click Edit.
          Step 7   On the Edit Volume screen, complete the following fields:

          Name

          Description

          Volume Name field

          The volume name.

          Capacity

          The volume capacity (Display only).

          I/O Group

          Display only. The I/O groups through which the hosts can access the volume.

          Cache Mode check box

          Check this check box to enable the cache for faster I/O operations.

          Sync Rate field

          Enter the rate (%) at which copies (mirroring) can be synchronized. A value of zero prevents synchronization.

          Step 8   Click Submit.

          Expanding Volumes

            Step 1   Choose Physical > Storage.
            Step 2   In the left pane, navigate to the pod in which the storage account is added.
            Step 3   Choose the storage account type.
            Step 4   Click Volumes.
            Step 5   Choose the volume for which you want to increase the available capacity.
            Step 6   Click Expand.
            Step 7   On the Expand Volume screen, enter the capacity in the Expand By field.
            Step 8   Choose the capacity unit from the Unit drop-down list.
            Step 9   Click Submit.

            Migrating Volumes

              Step 1   Choose Physical > Storage.
              Step 2   In the left pane, navigate to the pod in which the storage account is added.
              Step 3   Choose the storage account type.
              Step 4   Click Volumes.
              Step 5   Choose the volume from which you want to migrate data from the current storage pool to the new storage pool.
              Step 6   Click Migrate.
              Step 7   On the Migrate Volume screen, click Select.
              Step 8   Check the check box to choose the new storage pool to which you want to migrate data.
              Step 9   Click Select.
              Step 10   Click Submit.

              Renaming Volumes

                Step 1   Choose Physical > Storage.
                Step 2   In the left pane, navigate to the pod in which the storage account is added.
                Step 3   Choose the storage account type.
                Step 4   Click Volumes.
                Step 5   Choose the volume that you want to rename.
                Step 6   Click Rename.
                Step 7   On the Rename Volume screen, enter a new name for the volume.
                Step 8   Click Submit.

                Shrinking Volumes

                  Step 1   Choose Physical > Storage.
                  Step 2   In the left pane, navigate to the pod in which the storage account is added.
                  Step 3   Choose the storage account type.
                  Step 4   Click Volumes.
                  Step 5   Choose the volume for which you want to decrease the available capacity.
                  Step 6   Click Shrink.
                  Step 7   On the Shrink Volume screen, enter the capacity in the Shrink By field.
                  Step 8   Choose the capacity unit from the Unit drop-down list.
                  Step 9   Click Submit.

                  Mapping to Host

                    Step 1   Choose Physical > Storage.
                    Step 2   In the left pane, navigate to the pod in which the storage account is added.
                    Step 3   Choose the storage account type.
                    Step 4   Click Volumes.
                    Step 5   Choose the volume that you want to map to a host.
                    Step 6   Click Map to Host.
                    Step 7   On the Map Volume to Host screen, click Select.
                    Step 8   Check the check box to choose the host to which you want to map the volume.
                    Step 9   Click Select.
                    Step 10   Click Submit.

                    Unmapping All Hosts

                      Step 1   Choose Physical > Storage.
                      Step 2   In the left pane, navigate to the pod in which the storage account is added.
                      Step 3   Choose the storage account type.
                      Step 4   Click Volumes.
                      Step 5   Choose the volume that you want to unmap from the host to which the volume is mapped.
                      Step 6   Click Unmap All Hosts.
                      Step 7   On the Unmap Volume from All Hosts screen, click Submit.

                      Unmapping A Single Host

                        Step 1   Choose Physical > Storage.
                        Step 2   In the left pane, navigate to the pod in which the storage account is added.
                        Step 3   Choose the storage account type.
                        Step 4   Click Volumes.
                        Step 5   Choose the volume that you want to unmap from a single host to which the volume is mapped.
                        Step 6   Click Unmap Single Host.
                        Step 7   On the Unmap Single Host screen, click Select.
                        Step 8   Choose the host from which you want to unmap the volume.
                        Step 9   Click Select.
                        Step 10   Click Submit.

                        View Details of Volume Mirrored Copies

                        Use the Volume tab and view the details of mirrored copies of volumes.

                        You can perform the following actions:

                        • Make Primary Volume

                        • Split into New Volume

                        • Duplicate

                        • Delete Mirrored Copy

                        Viewing Volume Mirrored Copies

                          Step 1   Choose Physical > Storage.
                          Step 2   In the left pane, navigate to the pod in which the storage account is added.
                          Step 3   Choose the storage account type.
                          Step 4   Click Volumes.
                          Step 5   Choose the volume mirrored copy.
                          Step 6   Click the down-arrow, and then click View Details.
                          Step 7   Click Volume Mirrored Copies to perform actions on the volume mirrored copies.

                          Making Primary Volume

                            Step 1   Choose Physical > Storage.
                            Step 2   In the left pane, navigate to the pod in which the storage account is added.
                            Step 3   Choose the storage account type.
                            Step 4   Click Volumes.
                            Step 5   Choose the volume copy that you want to make it as the primary volume.
                            Step 6   Click Make Primary Volume.
                            Step 7   Click Select.
                            Step 8   Check the check box to choose the volume copy that can be made as the primary volume.
                            Step 9   Click Select.
                            Step 10   Click Submit.

                            Splitting Volumes into New Volumes

                              Step 1   Choose Physical > Storage.
                              Step 2   In the left pane, navigate to the pod in which the storage account is added.
                              Step 3   Choose the storage account type.
                              Step 4   Click Volumes.
                              Step 5   Choose the volume copy that you want to split into a new volume.
                              Step 6   Click Split into New Volume.
                              Step 7   On the Splitting Volume into New Volume screen, enter the new volume name.
                              Step 8   Click Submit.

                              Duplicating Volumes

                                Step 1   Choose Physical > Storage.
                                Step 2   In the left pane, navigate to the pod in which the storage account is added.
                                Step 3   Choose the storage account type.
                                Step 4   Click Volumes.
                                Step 5   Choose the volume that you want to create a copy of the volume.
                                Step 6   Click Duplicate.
                                Step 7   On the Duplicate Volume screen, enter the new volume name.
                                Step 8   Click Submit.

                                Deleting Mirrored Copy

                                  Step 1   Choose Physical > Storage.
                                  Step 2   In the left pane, navigate to the pod in which the storage account is added.
                                  Step 3   Choose the storage account type.
                                  Step 4   Click Volumes.
                                  Step 5   Click the down-arrow, and then click View Details.
                                  Step 6   On the Volume Mirrored Copies screen, choose the volume mirrored copy that you want to delete.
                                  Step 7   Click Delete Mirrorored Copy.
                                  Step 8   On the Delete Mirrored Copy screen, check the Force Delete check box to delete the volume mirrored copy.
                                  Step 9   Click Submit.