HP ProLiant ML310 G3 Data Protection Storage Server administration guide (June 2006)

NOTE:
This type of configuration may not apply to all storage servers and serves only as an example.
Throug h the use of basic disks, primary partitions or extended partitions c an be created. Par titions
can only encompass one LUN. Thro ugh the use of dynamic disks, volumes can be created that span
multiple LUNs. The Windows Disk M anagement utility can be used to convert disks to dynamic and back
to basic, and manag e the volumes residing on dynamic disk s. Other options include the ability to
delete, extend, mirror, and repair these elem ents.
Partitions
Partitions exist as either primary partitions or extended partitions and can be comp osed of only one basic
disk no larger than 2 TB. Basic disks can also only contain up to four primary partitions, or three primary
partitions and one extended partition. In a ddition, the par titions on them cannot be extended beyond the
limits of a single LUN. Extended partitions allow the user to create multiple logical drives. These partitions
or logical disks can be assigned drive letters or be used as mount points on existing disks.
Volumes
When planning dynamic disks and volumes, there is a limit to the amount of g rowth a single volume can
undergo. Volumes are limited in size and can have no more than 32 separate LUNs, with each LUN not
exceeding 2 terabytes (TB) , and volumes totaling no more than 64 TB of disk space.
The RAI D level of the LUNs included in a volume must be c onsidered. All of the units that make up a
volume should have the same high-availability characteristics. In other words, the units should all be of
the same RAI D level. For example, it would not be a good practice to include both a RAID 1+0 and a
RAID 5 array in the same volume set. By keeping all the units the same, the entire volume retains the
same performance and high-availability characteristics, making managing and maintaining the volume
much easier. If a dynamic disk go es offline, the entire volume dependent on the o ne or more dynamic
disks is unavailable. There c ould be a potential for data loss depending on the nature of the failed LUN.
Volumes are created out of the dynamic disks, and can be expanded on the fly to extend over multiple
dynamic disks if they are spanned volumes. However, after a type of volume is selected, it cannot be
altered. For example, a spanning volume cannot be altered to a mirrored volume without deleting and
recreating the volume, unless it is a simple volume. Simple volumes can be m irrored or converted to
spanned volumes. Fault-tolerant disks cannot be extended either. Therefore, selection of the volume
type is important. The same performance characteristics on numbers of reads and writes apply when
using fault-tolerant configurations, as is the case with controller-based RA ID. These volumes can also be
assigned drive letters or be mounted as mount points off existing drive letters.
The administrator should carefully consider how the volumes will be carved up and what groups or
applications will be using them. For example, p ut ting several storage-intensive applications or groups into
the same dynamic disk set would not be efficient. These applications or groups would be better served
by being divided up into sepa rate dynamic disks, which could then grow as their space requirements
increased, within the allowable grow th limits.
NOTE:
Dynamic disks cannot be used for clustering configurations because Microsoft Cluster only supports
basic disks.
File system elements
File s
ystem elements are composed of the folders and subfolders that are created under ea ch logical
stor
age element (partitions, logical disks, and volumes). Folders are used to further subdivide the
avai
lable file system, providing a nother level of granularity for management of the information space.
Eac
h of these folders can contain separate permissions and share names that can be used for network
access. Folders can be created for individual users, groups, projects, and so on.
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