Create a Volume

Volumes are also referred to as logical units (LUNs). They are the building blocks of any storage system. A host connects to the volume and the volume appears to the host as a single disk drive, which can be used as a file system, a raw disk, or a virtual disk.

NOTE: A volume that is configured for synchronous replication does not support volume pinning and cannot be resized.
You can use the Create Volume wizard to create either an iSCSI or a Fibre Channel volume (maximum size 127 TiB).
NOTE: For a Fibre Channel array, the CHAP account fields are replaced with LUN fields.
  1. Choose Manage → Data Storage.
  2. Click the plus icon to add a new volume.
    The Create Volume dialog box opens.
  3. Configure the general properties of the volume.
    In multi-protocol array groups, you must specify either Fibre Channel or iSCSI protocol before creating the volume.
    Option Description
    For iSCSI volumes Identify CHAP accounts that can access the volume and its snapshots. Choose either:
    • Unrestricted Access
    • A previously defined CHAP account
    For Fibre Channel volumes Indicate a LUN to be added to the ACL
    NOTE: You can also modify access control to the volume at a later time.
    1. (Optional) For iSCSI volumes only, check the box to allow multiple initiator access.
      Caution:

      Enable multiple initiator access only on iSCSI volumes that are optimized for simultaneous access by multiple initiators, such as VMware VMFS or Microsoft Cluster Server.

      Non-coordinated access by multiple initiators can result in data corruption.

  4. (Optional) Click More Options to configure space, protection, and performance settings.
    The Create Volume page opens. There is a progress bar at the top of the page.
  5. (Optional) Click Space on the progress bar to configure space settings.
    1. In the Deduplication area, check the box to Enable deduplication.
      NOTE: If you enable deduplication on the volume, you cannot enable cache pinning in the Performance page, even if you disable deduplication at a later time.
    2. In the Thresholds area, allocate space for the following:
      Space Description
      Volume Reserve Amount of space prereserved for the volume usage. If deduplication is enabled when creating the volume, the reserve is set to Thin Provisioning.

      If deduplication is enabled on the volume, you cannot set a volume reserve, even if deduplication is later disabled.
      Volume Limit Maximum allowed usage for the volume, defined as a percent of volume size. If the volume usage exceeds this value, the volume is taken offline or made read-only, based on how the associated performance policy is configured. For a thickly provisioned volume, the volume limit is 100%.
  6. (Optional) Click Next to configure the protection settings.
    1. Choose the type of volume protection that you want.
      No volume collection: No protection Click Next.
      Join a volume collection Choose the volume collection from the drop-down and click Next.

      If you cannot find the volume collection that you are looking for, begin typing the name until it appears in the drop-down list. Click the X icon to remove your choice.
      Create a new volume collection Continue with the steps that follow.
      Protect as a standalone volume

      The difference between protecting a volume with a volume collection and standalone volume protection is that the standalone volume collection is intended to be associated only with the one volume. So when the volume is deleted, the standalone volume collection is also deleted Other volumes cannot be associated with the volume collection that is associated with a standalone volume.

      Continue with the steps that follow. The new volume collection name is automatically generated.
    2. In the Create Volume Collection page, complete the fields.
    3. Choose a method of application synchronization. Select one of the following:
      • None
      • Microsoft VSS – Type the hostname or IP address of the application server and choose an application from the drop-down list.
      • VMware vCenter – Type the hostname or IP address of the vCenter host, and the corresponding user name and password.
    4. For the Synchronization Service, select one of the following options.
      This quiesces application I/O when snapshots are created to ensure application-consistent backups and replicas.
      Option Description
      None Create snapshots that do not need synchronization.
      Microsoft VSS® Create application-consistent snapshots for applicable types of Microsoft applications, including Hyper-V. Synchronization quiesces volume traffic before a snapshot is taken. This ensures that your application never has a snapshot with incomplete data. Select the appropriate application and provide further information such as the application server address. For detailed information, see the Windows Integration Guide.
      VMware vCenter® Create snapshots through a VMware vCenter Server. This ensures that snapshots are VMFS-consistent. The first time you create a volume collection with schedules that use this synchronization setting, you need to provide the vCenter host name or IP address, user name, and password. For detailed information, see the VMware Integration Guide.

      To help eliminate possible performance issues for snapshot schedules that synchronize with Microsoft Exchange®, schedule the snapshot verification to run no more than once daily.

    5. In the Schedules section, create a custom protection schedule.

      Default values are provided for many of the fields

      • You can create multiple schedules for the volume collection.

        For example, you can create one schedule for working hours, one for peak hours, and one for weekends. Schedules can overlap, but they cannot span midnight. If you need a schedule that takes hourly snapshots from 10 PM to 4 AM, you need to create two schedules. The first schedule covers the time period from 10 PM to 11:59 PM and the second schedule covers the time period from 12 AM to 4 AM.

      • If you chose replication, specify how frequently (or after how many snapshots) replication of the volumes in the volume collection should be triggered.
      NOTE: If the replication is not complete within the time specified, the replication partner sends an alert.
    6. After you define all the protection schedules you need, click Next.
  7. (Optional) Configure the settings for performance on the Performance page.
    For Volume Caching, you should use the Pinned setting only for volumes that require a 100% cache hit rate.
    NOTE: If you enabled deduplication on the Space page, you cannot enable cache pinning for the volume.
  8. Click Create.
  • Configure the connections (iSCSI or Fibre Channel) on your volumes to connect to the group leader array.
  • Configure the connections (iSCSI or Fibre Channel) for your server or host to access those volumes.
  • The IQN or WWPN and serial number are available by hovering over the disk icon to the left of the volume name on any tab.
  • Configure your client initiator according to the vendor's recommendations.