Dell EqualLogic PS6210XS EqualLogic Group Manager Administrator s Guide PS Ser - Page 41

NOTE: You can add both FS Series NAS reserve and PS Series volumes to a storage pool. However, you might want to keep the NAS reserve and the block (volume) space in different pools so that you can monitor space usage more easily. Storage Pool: Design Checklist Before you can design storage pools for your environment, you must identify your storage requirements: capacity, performance, data type, and applications. You can then make informed decisions about the storage pool design that best meets your needs. Identify array specifications • Disk type - Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) • Disk size • Disk speed NOTE: Some drive models do not carry information about their spin rate. For these models, the Group Manager GUI and CLI will show a speed of Unknown (or 0 rpm). • RAID level Identify requirements for the various types of data • Requires 24/7 uptime and access • For archival only • Unique to specific departments (for 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 two pools (the default pool and the maintenance pool). • Each group can have up to four pools (excluding the maintenance pool). • 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. Architecture Fundamentals 41