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Create pools and volume groups

You create storage capacity to logically group a subset of drives together in the storage array using pools or volume groups, or both.

  • Create pool automatically
    Pool creation is initiated automatically when System Manager detects unassigned drives in the storage array. You can use automatic pool creation to easily configure all unassigned drives in the storage array into one pool and to add drives into existing pools.
  • Create pool manually
    You can create a pool manually (from a set of candidates) if the Pool Auto Configuration feature does not provide a pool that meets your needs. A pool provides the logical storage capacity necessary from which you can create individual volumes that can then be used to host your applications.
  • Create a volume group
    You use a volume group to create one or more volumes that are accessible to the host. A volume group is a container for volumes with shared characteristics such as RAID level and capacity.
  • Create SSD Cache
    To dynamically accelerate system performance, you can use the SSD Cache feature to cache the most frequently accessed data ("hot" data) onto lower latency Solid State Drives (SSDs). SSD Cache is used exclusively for host reads.
  • Add capacity to a pool or volume group
    You can add drives to expand the free capacity in an existing pool or volume group. The shelf causes additional free capacity to be included in the pool or volume group. You can use this free capacity to create additional volumes. The data in the volumes remains accessible during this operation.