Storage Configuration

Storage is configured in pools that are characterized by their underlying data redundancy, and provide space that is shared across all filesystems and LUNs. More information about how storage pools relate to individual filesystems or LUNs can be found in the Shares section.

Each node can have any number of pools, and each pool can be assigned ownership independently in a cluster. While arbitrary number of pools are supported, creating multiple pools with the same redundancy characteristics owned by the same cluster head is not advised. Doing so will result in poor performance, suboptimal allocation of resources, artificial partitioning of storage, and additional administrative complexity. Configuring multiple pools on the same host is only recommended when drastically different redundancy or performance characteristics are desired, for example a mirrored pool and a RAID-Z pool. With the ability to control access to log and cache devices on a per-share basis, the recommended mode of operation is a single pool.

Pools can be created by configuring a new pool, or importing an existing pool. Importing an existing pool is only used to import pools previously configured on a Sun Storage 7000 appliance, and is useful in case of accidental reconfiguration, moving of pools between head nodes, or due to catastrophic head failure.

When allocating raw storage to pools, keep in mind that filling pools completely will result in significantly reduced performance, especially when writing to shares or LUNs. These effects typically become noticeable once the pool exceeds 80% full, and can be significant when the pool exceeds 90% full. Therefore, best results will be obtained by over provisioning by approximately 20%. The Shares UI can be used to determine how much space is currently being used.