Skip to main content

Create volumes

You create volumes to add storage capacity to an application-specific workload, and to make the created volumes visible to a specific host or host cluster.

Most application types default to a user-defined volume configuration, while other types have a smart configuration applied at volume creation. For example, if you are creating volumes for a Microsoft Exchange application, you are asked how many mailboxes you need, what your average mailbox capacity requirements are, and how many copies of the database you want. The system uses this information to create an optimal volume configuration for you, which can be edited as needed.

You can create volumes from Provisioning > Manage Volumes > Create > Volumes or from Provisioning > Configure Pools and Volume Groups > Create > Volumes. The procedure is the same for either selection.

The process to create a volume is a multi-step procedure:

  1. Step 1: Select host for a volume
    In the first step, you can select a specific host or host cluster for the volume, or you can choose to assign the host later.
  2. Step 2: Select a workload for a volume
    In the second step, you select a workload to customize the storage array configuration for a specific application, such as VMware.
  3. Step 3: Add or edit volumes
    In the third step, you define the volume configuration.
  4. Step 4: Review volume configuration
    In the last step, you review a summary of the volumes you intend to create and make any necessary changes.