vnx_dp_manage_storage_pools.pdf

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Here is Your Customized Document

Your Configuration is

Manage storage pools

Model - VNX5300

Storage Type - Unified (NAS and SAN) Connection Type - Fibre Channel Switch or Boot from SAN

Operating System - Solaris

Path Management Software - Sun native

Document ID - 1459411092807

Reporting Problems

To send comments or report errors regarding this document,please email: [email protected] Issues not related to this document, contact your service provider.Refer to Document ID:1459411092807

Content Creation Date March 31, 2016


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EMC® VNX® Series

Managing Storage Pools on your VNX® System

July, 2014

This guide describes how to manage storage pools within Unisphere™ for EMC® VNX®

platforms.

Topics include:

l Create a pool or RAID group .......................................................................................2l Create a pool .............................................................................................................2l Create a RAID group .................................................................................................. 4l Expand a pool............................................................................................................5l Delete RAID groups.................................................................................................... 5l Storage Pools.............................................................................................................6l Create a new storage pool..........................................................................................6l Modify the properties of a system-defined storage pool............................................. 8l Modify the properties of a user-defined storage pool..................................................8l

Enable or disable automatic management of a storage pool.......................................9l Extend the size of a storage pool..............................................................................10l Shrink the size of a storage pool.............................................................................. 11l Delete a storage pool............................................................................................... 11l Configure unused or new disks................................................................................ 12


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Create a pool or RAID groupLets you create a storage pool with disks and default property values that the softwareselects, or with disks and property values that you select. A storage pool is a general term

used for RAID groups and pools.

Procedure

1. Select a storage system.

2. Select one of the following:

l Storage > Common Storage Tasks > Create Storage Pool, or

l Storage > Storage Configuration > Storage Pools. In the Pools tab, click Create.

3. Do one of the following:

Option Description

Create a

pool on

page

A pool is a set of disks (maximum depends on the storage systemtype), all with the same redundancy (RAID 5, RAID 6, and RAID 1/0),on which you create one or more thin LUNs or non-thin LUNs. For moreefficient performance, all disks in the pool should have the samecapacity. Also, a RAID 6 pool can have 8 disks or 16 disks and a RAID5 pool can have 5 disksor 9 disks. RAID 5 is the default RAID type for apool. A pool name can consist of 1 through 64 characters and a pooldescription can be 255 characters long.

Create a

RAID

group on

page 4

A RAID group is a set of disks, all with the same capacity andredundancy, on which you create one or more LUNs. A RAID 6 groupusually has 6 or 12 disks, but can have 4, 8, 10, 14, or 16 disks. A

RAID 5 group must include at least three disks. A RAID 3 group mustinclude five or nine disks. A RAID 1/0 group must include at least twodisks. The storage-system type determines the number of RAID groupsthat it supports.

Create a poolBefore you begin

You can create pools that use multiple RAID types, one RAID type per tier, to satisfymultiple tiering requirements within a pool. To do this:

l The pool must contain multiple disk types.l When you first create the pool, select the RAID type for each tier.

l When you expand an existing pool by adding additional drives, the system selectsthe same RAID type that was used when you created the pool.

l When you expand an existing pool by adding a new disk type tier, you need to selectthe RAID type that is valid for the new disk type. For example, best practices suggestusing RAID 6 for NL-SAS drives, and RAID 6, 5, or 1/0 for other drives.

Lets you create a pool-type storage pool with disks and default property values that thesoftware selects, or with disks and property values that you select.

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Note

When you create a pool-type storage pool, and the FAST VP enabler is installed, the auto-

tiering status for that pool is automatically set to Scheduled. By default, the pool uses

the default auto-tiering schedule until a new schedule is created. At any time, you can

change the auto-tiering status from Scheduled to Manual. This action removes the pool

from any auto-tiering schedule. To relocate the pool data, you must then use the Start

Data Relocation option.

Procedure

1. In the systems drop-down list on the menu bar, select the storage system.

2. Select Storage > Storage Configuration > Storage Pools.

3. In Pools, click Create.

4. In the General tab, under Storage Pool Parameters, select Pool.

The software assigns an ID to the storage pool. The default value is the smallestavailable ID for the currently selected storage system. You cannot edit the value.

5. To prevent the pool from participating in the auto-tiering schedule, clear theScheduled Auto-Tiering check box. The auto-tiering state for the pool is set to Manual.

6. In Storage Pool Name, assign a name to the pool. You can change the default namethat displays. This name must be unique across all pools.

7. For each disk type available in the pool, a default RAID configuration and number of disks appears. If a disk type is not available for the pool, it does not display. If youhave multiple disk types available for use in the pool, set the value to 0 if you do notwant to include a specific disk type in the pool.

The software automatically populates the number of disks with the recommendedvalue for the selected RAID configuration. Alternatively, you can select a differentnumber of disks up to the maximum number of disks supported for pools for thestorage-system type.

8. If you want to manually choose the disks, under Disks, select Manual.

a. Click Select.

b. In Disk Selection, if the disks you want in the storage pool are in just oneenclosure, then click that enclosure in Select From.

c. For each disk under Selected Disks that you do not want in the storage pool, selectthe disk and then click the left arrow.

The disk moves from Selected Disks to Available Disks. The value in the UnusedDisks for Hot Spares column in Disk Summary changes based on your diskselections.

d. For each disk under Available Disks that you want in the storage pool, select thedisk and then click the right arrow.

The disk moves from Available Disks to Selected Disks. The value in the UnusedDisks for Hot Spares column in Disk Summary changes based on your diskselections.

e. When Selected Disks includes all the disks you want, click OK .

9. Optionally, assign advanced properties for the pool. Click the Advanced tab:

a. Add a text description for the pool.

b. Specify the consumed capacity (% full threshold) of the pool that will trigger an

alert.


Create a pool 3


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10.Click Apply to create the pool. You can now create additional pools, or click Cancel toclose the dialog box.

An icon for the new pool is visible in Storage > Pools/RAID Groups > Pools. Once thepool is in the Initializing state, you can create LUNs within the pool.

Create a RAID groupLets you create a RAID group with disks and default property values that the softwareselects, or with disks and property values that you select.

Procedure

1. In the systems drop-down list on the menu bar, select the storage system.

2. Select Storage > Storage Configuration > Storage Pools.

3. In Pools, click Create.

4. In the General tab, under Storage Pool Parameters:

a. Select RAID Group.

b. Assign an ID to the RAID group.

The default value is the smallest available ID for the currently selected storagesystem. You can change the default ID.

The software assigns a name (RAID group X) that you cannot edit.

c. Assign a RAID type.

All RAID types supported for the storage system are visible. There must be enoughdisks to support each RAID type. RAID 5 is the default RAID type.

When you select a RAID type, the software automatically populates the Number of

Disks option with the recommendation for the selected RAID type. Alternatively,you can select a different number of disks.

5. If you want to automatically assign the disks, under Disks, keep the default of Automatic selected.

Otherwise, if you want to manually choose the disks, select Manual.

a. Click Select.

b. On Disk Selection, if the disks you want in the storage pool are in just oneenclosure, then select that enclosure in Select From.

c. For each disk under Selected Disks that you do not want in the storage pool, selectthe disk and click the left arrow.

The disk moves from Selected Disks to Available Disks. The value in the UnusedDisks for Hot Spares column in Disk Summary changes based on your diskselections.

d. For each disk under Available Disks that you want in the storage pool, select thedisk and click the right arrow.

The disk moves from Available Disks to Selected Disks. The value in the UnusedDisks for Hot Spares column in Disk Summary changes based on your diskselections.

e. When Selected Disks includes all the disks you want, click OK .

6. Optionally, assign advanced properties for the RAID group. Click the Advanced tab:

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a. Determine whether you want to enable power settings for the RAID group.

b. Determine whether you want the stripe element size to be 128K or 1024K (HighBandwidth Reads). Some read intensive applications may benefit from a larger stripe element size. The high bandwidth stripe element size is available for RAID 5RAID groups that contain 5 disks (4+1). The High Bandwidth Reads option is not

supported on Flash drives.7. Click Apply to create the RAID group storage pool. You can now create additional RAID

group storage pools, or click Cancel to close the dialog box.

You can now create LUNs within the RAID group.

Expand a poolExpands the physical user capacity of a storage pool by adding disks to the pool. Themaximum number of disks allowed in a storage pool is based on storage-system type andthe new disks should be the same type as what is currently in the storage pool.

Procedure

1. Select a storage system.

2. Select Storage > Storage Configuration > Storage Pools > Pools.

3. Do one of the following:

l Right-click on the pool and select Expand.

l Select the pool and then click Expand.

By default, the Automatic option for disk selection is enabled. For each disk type thatis available in the pool, a default RAID configuration and number of disks to addappears. If a disk type is not available for the pool, it does not display. Change theRAID configuration or number of disks if necessary.

If you select Manual and then click Select, you can manually select the disks you wantto add to the storage pool.

4. After you add all the disks that you want to the storage pool, click OK to begin theexpand operation. The software validates the disk configuration and if valid,successfully completes the operation. If the software discovers problems with theconfiguration, it returns an appropriate error or warning message.

Delete RAID groupsDelete a RAID group only if you want to use the disks in a different RAID group, or

exchange the disks for disks with a different capacity. Before you can delete a RAIDgroup, you must delete all the LUNs on the RAID group. Deleting a LUN destroys all thedata on the LUN.

To delete a RAID group, complete the following tasks:

Procedure

1. Verify that the RAID group contains the disks you want.

a. Select a storage system.

b. Select Storage > Storage Configuration > Storage Pools > RAID Groups.

c. Double-click the RAID group that you want to delete.


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d. On the RAID Group Properties window, select the Disks tab, and then make surethat the disks you want are listed in that RAID group.

e. If the RAID group contains the disks you want, unbind all the LUNs in the RAIDgroup.

2. Delete all LUNs in a RAID group.

a. In the Details pane, click the LUNs tab.

b. Right-click the icon for a LUN in the RAID group, and then click Delete.

c. Click Yes.

d. When all LUNs in the RAID group are deleted, you can delete the RAID group.

3. Delete the RAID group.

a. Right-click the icon for the RAID group you want to delete, and then click Delete.

b. Click OK .

Storage PoolsA storage pool is an aggregation of disk storage that Automatic Volume Management(AVM) uses to create and extend file systems. The VNX system supports system-definedstorage pools, user-defined storage pools, and mapped pools.

A mapped pool is a storage pool that is dynamically created during the normal storagediscovery (diskmark) process for use on the VNX for File. It is a one-to-one mapping witheither a VNX storage pool or a FAST Symmetrix Storage Group. A mapped pool can containdifferent types of LUNs that use any combination of data services (thin, thick, auto-tiering, mirrored, VNX compression). However, for the best file system performance, EMCrecommends that the mapped pool contain only the same type of LUNs that use the samedata services (all thick; all thin; all the same auto-tiering options; all mirrored or none

mirrored; all compressed or none compressed).

AVM is a feature of the VNX for File that allows you to create and manage volumesautomatically, without manual volume management by an administrator. AVM organizesdisk volumes into storage pools containing space that can be allocated to file systems.

Managing Volumes and File Systems with VNX AVM contains additional storage poolinformation.

Create a new storage pool

Note

Flash drives behave differently than Performance or Capacity drives, and AVM therefore

uses different logic to configure file systems on Flash drives. To configure Flash drives for

maximum performance, AVM may select more disk volumes than are needed to satisfy

the requested capacity. While the individual disk volumes are no longer available for

manual volume management, the unused Flash drive space is still available for creating

additional file systems or extending existing file systems. Managing Volumes and File

Systems with VNX AVM contains additional information about using Flash drives.

Procedure

1. Select Storage > Storage Configuration > Storage Pools for File.

2. Click Create.

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3. In the Create from field, select whether you want to use a storage pool or a metavolume to create a new pool. Choosing Storage Pool allows you to create a pool byspecifying a size. Choosing Meta Volume allows you to create a pool by using volumes.

4. In the Name field, specify a name for the new storage pool.

The storage pool name must be unique on a particular VNX for file. It can be up to 255characters long, and can include only letters, numbers, hyphens (-), underscores (_),and periods (.). The name cannot begin with a number, hyphen, or period.

5. In the Description field, type a description of the storage pool.

There is no limit on the number of characters used in the description. Entry of adescription is optional.

6. If you chose to create the storage pool from a Storage Pool:

a. From the Template Pool drop-down list, select the storage pool to use that hassystem-defined storage pools with space available.

Note

A template pool cannot be a mapped pool.

b. In the Minimum Pool Size (MB) box, specify the minimum size for this user pool.Whole disk volumes are used, and the actual user pool size may be much larger than what is specified.

c. In the Stripe Size (KB) box, specify the stripe depth in multiples of 8 kilobytes. Therecommended size is either 128 KB or 256 KB. The default stripe size is 256 KB.

Some system pools, such as pools with Flash drives, have a default stripe size of 256 KB. For backend pools, such as for VNX for block thin or thick storage pools,you cannot specify the stripe size and a value of N/A is displayed.

d. In the Number of Stripe Members box, specify the number of members needed inthe stripe. The minimum value is 2. The recommended size for the specified pooldisplays as the default in this box when the page is opened and when you changethe Template Pool option. The recommended size for most pools is 4.

For backend pools, such as for VNX for block thin or thick storage pools, youcannot specify the stripe size. A value of N/A is displayed. For storage pools withFlash drives, AVM identifies how to stripe and you cannot specify an override. Avalue of N/A is displayed.

7. If you chose to create the storage pool from a Meta Volume, in the Volumes section,select zero or more volumes to add to the storage pool.

Selection of volumes is optional when you create the storage pool; you can create thepool with no volumes and add volumes to it at a later time. You can select onlyvolumes of one disk type to add to the storage pool.

8. Select the Slice Pool Volumes by Default option to enable AVM to slice member volumes from the storage pool when pool space is allocated to a file system.

If you enable this option, AVM creates any file system from the pool by using slicevolumes.

If you disable this option, AVM creates any file system from the pool by allocating entire unused disk volumes to the file system. This is critical to some features. For instance, TimeFinder/FS, an application that uses only Symmetrix storage, requires itsassociated file systems to have exclusive use of all disk volumes. It does not

recognize sliced volumes created by the host VNX for file.


Create a new storage pool 7


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9. Click OK .

Modify the properties of a system-defined storage pool You cannot modify the name or description of a system-defined storage pool, but you can

modify several characteristics of a system-defined storage pool.

Procedure


2. Select the name of the system-defined storage pool whose properties you want tomodify and click Properties.

3. Select the Automatic Extension Enabled option to enable automatic extension.

This option is disabled by default.

If you enable the option, AVM extends a system-defined storage pool automaticallywith unused disk volumes of the same profile whenever the pool needs more space.

Similarly, if any storage is returned to the pool through deleting a file system, anyunused disk volumes in the pool are removed. User-defined storage pools cannot beautomatically extended.

If you disable the option, the size of the pool remains fixed and is not automaticallyextended or shrunk.

4. Select the Obtain Unused Disk Volumes option to allocate any unused disk volumesto the storage pool.

If you enable the option, AVM first allocates any new unused disk volumes in thesystem to the storage pool before using any available space from the pool.

If you disable the option, AVM first allocates available space from the pool whencreating a file system, and then if needed, allocates new unused disk volumes.


If you enable the option, AVM creates a new file system from the pool by creating slicevolumes.

If you disable this option, AVM creates a new file system from the pool by allocating entire unused disk volumes to the file system. This is critical to some features. For instance, TimeFinder/FS, an application which uses only Symmetrix storage, requiresits associated file systems to have exclusive use of all disk volumes. It does notrecognize sliced volumes created by the host VNX for file.

6. Click OK .

Modify the properties of a user-defined storage pool You can modify the name, description, and slice volume properties of a user-definedstorage pool.

Procedure


2. Select the name of the user-defined storage pool whose properties you want to modifyand click Properties.

3. In the Name field, modify the name of the storage pool.

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The storage pool name must be unique on a particular system. It can be up to 255characters long, and can include only letters, numbers, hyphens (-), underscores (_),and periods (.). The name cannot begin with a hyphen or period.

4. In the Description field, modify the description of the storage pool.

5. Select the Slice Pool Volumes by Default option to enable AVM to slice member

volumes from the storage pool when pool space is allocated to a file system.

If you enable the option, any file system created from this pool will be created using slice volumes.

If you disable this option, AVM creates a new file system from the pool by allocating entire unused disk volumes to the file system; this is critical to some features. For instance, TimeFinder/FS, an application that uses only Symmetrix storage, requires itsassociated file systems to have exclusive use of all disk volumes as it does notrecognize sliced volumes created by the host VNX for file.

6. Click OK .

Enable or disable automatic management of a storage pool You can specify that a system-defined storage pool be managed automatically by AVM.The primary function of enabling automatic management is to ensure space isautomatically added to a storage pool when creation of a new file system requires morespace than the pool contains.

AVM cannot automatically manage a user-defined storage pool.

Procedure


2. Select the name of the system-defined storage pool whose properties you want tomodify and click Properties.

3. Select the Automatic Extension Enabled option to enable AVM to automatically extendthe storage pool.

If you enable the option, AVM automatically extends the storage pool with unuseddisk volumes of the same profile whenever the pool needs more space. If you enableautomatic management of the storage pool, two additional properties appear. ThePotential Storage field displays the total potential capacity of the storage pool, plusthe available used space and available free space that the system can allocate basedon the storage profile associated with the storage pool.

If the option is disabled, the size of the pool remains fixed and will not be extendedautomatically.

4. Select the Obtain Unused Disk Volumes field to enable AVM to allocate disk volumes

to the storage pool when creating a file system.

If you enable this option, AVM first allocates any new unused disk volumes in thesystem to the storage pool before using any available space from the pool.

If you disable this option, AVM first allocates available space from the pool and then,if needed, allocates new unused disk volumes.


If you enable the option, AVM creates a new file system from the pool by creating slicevolumes.

If you disable this option, AVM creates a new file system from the pool by allocating

entire unused disk volumes to the file system; this is critical to some features. For


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instance, TimeFinder/FS, an application which uses only Symmetrix storage, requiresits associated file systems to have exclusive use of all disk volumes as it does notrecognize sliced volumes created by the host VNX for file.

6. Click OK .

Extend the size of a storage pool You can manually extend or increase the size of a user-defined storage pool, as well as asystem-defined storage pool that is not set up to automatically extend. You manuallyextend the size of a user-defined storage pool by either adding volumes to it or specifying an extension size. You can manually extend the size of a system-defined storage pool, byeither adding volumes to it or specifying an extension size, only if Automatic Extension isdisabled.

User-defined storage pools are always extended manually and cannot be extendedautomatically.

Note

Flash drives behave differently than Performance or Capacity drives, and AVM therefore

uses different logic to configure file systems on Flash drives. To configure Flash drives for

maximum performance, AVM may select more disk volumes than are needed to satisfy

the requested capacity. While the individual disk volumes are no longer available for

manual volume management, the unused Flash drive space is still available for creating

additional file systems or extending existing file systems. Managing Volumes and File

Systems with VNX AVM contains additional information about using Flash drives.

Procedure


2. Select the name of the storage pool you want to extend.If Automatic Extension is enabled for a system-defined storage pool, you cannotselect the pool. System-defined storage pools are extended automatically if there areany unused disk volumes available that fit the storage profiles associated with thesystem-defined storage pools based on need.

3. Click Extend.

4. If you are extending the storage pool by specifying the size:

a. From the Template Pool drop-down list, select the storage pool to use that hassystem-defined storage pools with space available.

Note

A template pool cannot be a mapped pool.

b. In the Minimum Pool Size (MB) box, specify the minimum size for this user pool.Whole disk volumes are used, and the actual user pool size may be much larger than what is specified.

c. In the Stripe Size (KB) box, specify the stripe depth in multiples of 8 kilobytes. Therecommended size is either 128 KB or 256 KB. The default stripe size is 256 KB.

Some system pools, such as pools with Flash drives, have a default stripe size of 256 KB. For backend pools, such as for VNX for Block storage pools, you cannotspecify the stripe size and a value of N/A is displayed.

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d. In the Number of Stripe Members box, specify the number of members needed inthe stripe. The minimum value is 2. The recommended size for the specified pooldisplays as the default in this box when the page is opened and when you changethe Template Pool option. The recommended size for most pools is 4.

For backend pools, such as for VNX for Block storage pools, you cannot specify the

stripe size. A value of N/A is displayed. For storage pools with Flash drives, AVMidentifies how to stripe and you cannot specify an override. A value of N/A isdisplayed.

5. If you are extending the storage pool by adding volumes to it, from the Add Volumessection, select one or more volumes to extend the storage pool. Only volumes of thesame disk type already used in the pool are available for selection.

If the selected storage pool has no member volumes, all volumes available in thesystem appear in lists based on their disk types. You can only select volumes of thesame type to extend the pool. When you select a volume of a particular disk type, thelists of all other disks types are disabled. If all the volumes are unselected, all the listsare enabled.

6. Click OK .

Shrink the size of a storage pool You can manually shrink or decrease the size of user-defined storage pools and system-defined storage pools which do not auto-extend. You shrink the size of a storage pool byremoving unused volumes from it.

Procedure


2. Select the name of the storage pool you want to shrink.

3. Click Shrink .

4. Select the unused volume that you want to remove from the storage pool.

5. If you select Delete Volume Structure, when the selected volume (meta or stripe) isremoved from the pool, any volume structure is deleted and the underlying diskvolumes become unused. If you do not select this checkbox, the volume structureremains intact after it is removed from the pool.

When system pools are shrunk, the volume structure is always deleted and this box ischecked and grayed out. You cannot override it.

6. Click OK .

Results

The unused volumes removed from the storage pool are not deleted. They remain intactas volumes and become available for allocation to other users.

Delete a storage pool You can only delete a user-defined storage pool with no objects (storage pools that areunused).

Procedure



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2. Before deleting a user-defined storage pool, select the pool and click Properties todisplay a list of objects that use the pool. View the Used by field to find what needs tobe removed from the pool before it can be deleted.

Shrink the size of a storage pool on page 11contains information on removing objectsfrom the pool.

3. Select the names of the user-defined storage pools you want to delete.

To choose more than one, select one name, and then press Ctrl-click to choose othersor press Shift-click to choose a range.

The rows for the selected storage pools are highlighted.

4. Click Delete.

The Confirm Delete page appears.

5. Select Perform Recursive Delete if you want to delete not only the storage pools, butalso their member volumes.

The deep deletion of each volume stops when the delete operation encounters either

an underlying volume in use or a disk volume (disk volumes cannot be deleted).If you do not select the Perform Recursive Delete option, the volumes in the poolremain as stand-alone volumes after the delete completes.

6. Click OK .

Configure unused or new disksEMC suggests configuring unused or new disk devices on a VNX for block storage systemby using the Disk Provisioning Wizard for File, which is available only for integrated VNXfor file models, including Fibre Channel enabled models, attached to a single VNX for block storage system.

To use the Disk Provisioning Wizard for File, you must log in to the Unisphere for Filesoftware by using the default administrative user accounts root or nasadmin or by using an administrative user account that belongs to the predefined group storage (which isassociated with the role storage_admin).

The wizard provides both express and custom modes. Express mode allows you toconfigure the system automatically by using the best practices. Custom mode allows youto configure the storage system according to the storage characteristics most importantfor your application: capacity, protection, or performance. Custom mode also allows youto reserve disks for later use or to create additional hot spares.

To access the Disk Provisioning Wizard for File:

Procedure


2. To launch this wizard, from the task list, under Wizards, select Disk Provisioning Wizard for File.

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Copyright © 2006-2014 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved. Published in USA.

Published July, 2014

EMC believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date. The information is subject to change withoutnotice.

The information in this publication is provided as is. EMC Corporation makes no representations or warranties of any kind withrespect to the information in this publication, and specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for aparticular purpose. Use, copying, and distribution of any EMC software described in this publication requires an applicable software

license.

EMC², EMC, and the EMC logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of EMC Corporation in the United States and other countries.

All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

For the most up-to-date regulatory document for your product line, go to EMC Online Support ( https://support.emc.com ).


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