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Storage tiers

You can use Storage Manager to create aggregates to support the different security requirements, backup requirements, performance requirements, and data sharing requirements of your users.

  • Editing aggregates
    You can use Storage Manager to change the aggregate name, RAID type, and RAID group size of an existing aggregate when required.
  • Deleting aggregates
    You can use Storage Manager to delete aggregates when you no longer require the data in the aggregates. However, you cannot delete the root aggregate because it contains the root volume, which contains the system configuration information.
  • Changing the RAID configuration when creating an aggregate
    While creating an aggregate, you can modify the default values of the RAID type and RAID group size options of the aggregate by using Storage Manager.
  • Provisioning cache by adding SSDs
    You can use Storage Manager to add SSDs as either storage pools or dedicated SSDs to provision cache. By adding SSDs, you can convert a non-root aggregate or a root aggregate that does not contain partitioned disks to a Flash Pool aggregate, or increase the cache size of an existing Flash Pool aggregate.
  • Adding capacity disks
    You can increase the size of an existing non-root aggregate or a root aggregate containing disks by adding capacity disks. You can use Storage Manager to add HDDs or SSDs of the selected ONTAP disk type and to modify the RAID group options.
  • Changing the RAID group when adding capacity disks
    While adding capacity disks (HDDs) to an aggregate, you can change the RAID group to which you want to add the disks by using Storage Manager.
  • Moving FlexVol volumes
    You can nondisruptively move a FlexVol volume to a different aggregate or a different node for capacity utilization and improved performance by using Storage Manager.
  • Mirroring aggregates
    You can use Storage Manager to protect data and to provide increased resiliency by mirroring data in real-time, within a single aggregate. Mirroring aggregates removes single points of failure in connecting to disks and array LUNs.
  • Viewing aggregate information
    You can use the Aggregates window in Storage Manager to view the name, status, and space information about an aggregate.
  • Installing a CA certificate if you use StorageGRID
    For ONTAP to authenticate with StorageGRID as the object store for a FabricPool-enabled aggregate, you can install a StorageGRID CA certificate on the cluster.
  • How moving a FlexVol volume works
    Knowing how moving a FlexVol volume works helps you to determine whether the volume move satisfies service-level agreements and to understand where a volume move is in the volume move process.
  • How you can use effective ONTAP disk type for mixing HDDs
    Starting with Data ONTAP 8.1, certain ONTAP disk types are considered equivalent for the purposes of creating and adding to aggregates, and managing spares. ONTAP assigns an effective disk type for each disk type. You can mix HDDs that have the same effective disk type.
  • What compatible spare disks are
    In Storage Manager, compatible spare disks are disks that match the properties of other disks in the aggregate. When you want to increase the size of an existing aggregate by adding HDDs (capacity disks) or change the RAID type of an aggregate from RAID4 to RAID-DP, the aggregate must contain sufficient compatible spare disks.
  • How Storage Manager works with hot spares
    A hot spare is a disk that is assigned to a storage system but not used by any RAID group. Hot spares do not contain any data and are assigned to a RAID group when a disk failure occurs in the RAID group. Storage Manager uses the largest disk as the hot spare.
  • Rules for displaying disk types and disk RPM
    When you are creating an aggregate and adding capacity disks to an aggregate, you should understand the rules that apply when disk types and disk RPM are displayed.
  • How mirrored aggregates work
    Mirrored aggregates have two plexes (copies of their data), which use the SyncMirror functionality to duplicate the data to provide redundancy.
  • What a FabricPool is
    FabricPool is a hybrid storage solution that uses an all flash (all SSD) aggregate as the performance tier and an object store as the cloud tier. Data in a FabricPool is stored in a tier based on whether it is frequently accessed or not. Using a FabricPool helps you reduce storage cost without compromising performance, efficiency, or protection.
  • Storage recommendations for creating aggregates
    Starting with Storage Manager 9.4, you can create aggregates based on storage recommendations. However, you must determine whether creating aggregates based on storage recommendations is supported in your environment. If your environment does not support creating aggregates based on storage recommendations, you must decide the RAID policy and disk configuration, and then create the aggregates manually.
  • Storage Tiers window
    You can use the Storage Tiers window to view cluster-wide space details and to add and view aggregate details.
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