Dell EqualLogic PS6210XS EqualLogic Group Manager Administrator s Guide PS Ser - Page 32

Identify requirements for the various types of data • Requires 24/7 uptime and access • For archival only • Unique to specific departments (or example, the finance department might need exclusive access to certain data) Identify application requirements • List all applications accessing the data. • Calculate the disk space, network bandwidth needs, and performance characteristics for each application. For example, some applications require many random data transfers, while others require only a few large sequential data transfers. • Identify applications that require priority access to data. Other requirements • Each member can be assigned to only one pool. • Each pool can host up to eight members. • Each group will have at least one pool (the default pool). • Each group can have up to four pools. • To use multiple pools, a group must have at least two members. • You can add or move members to different pools. Storage Pool: Design Examples You can create a single-pool or multiple-pool design for your configuration. The size of the PS Series group - the number of members and their capacity - can help determine how you plan the storage. Example 1: Use pools to isolate crucial applications or data. • You can create a separate pool and set the access control so that only select servers have access to that pool. For example, if you have mission-critical data to protect, you might create a storage pool that contains the highest-performance arrays in your environment. • You might want to separate application data from backup and archive data, or you might want more control over which volumes run on which hardware. In this case, you can assign each volume to a different storage pool where each pool is independent of the other. Example 2: Use pools to segment data by organization or type of data. • You can segment storage by business units. For example, you can create a separate pool for each business unit. By assigning each business unit's data to a separate pool and assigning access controls, you can ensure that business units have exclusive use of their own storage. • You can segment bulk storage for long-term retention. You can create a separate pool with arrays configured to maximize storage capacity. Example 3: Use pools to optimize performance of your data. • You might want to optimize the performance of the database application. You can implement three pools: one for the database, one for applications, and one for backup and archival data. In this case, the database would be assigned to the pool that contains the members with the best random-access performance. Tip: Dell EqualLogic recommends using as few pools as possible and letting the PS Series software handle load balancing and assignment of volumes to the most appropriate storage. 32 Architecture Fundamentals