You can use System Manager to create, edit, and delete volumes.
You can access all the volumes in the cluster by using the Volumes tab or you can access the volumes specific to an SVM by using SVMs > Volumes.
Note: The Volumes tab is displayed only if you have enabled the CIFS and NFS licenses.
Editing the volume properties
You can modify volume properties such as the volume name, security style, fractional reserve, and space guarantee by using System Manager. You can modify storage efficiency settings (deduplication schedule and policy, and compression) and space reclamation settings.
Editing data protection volumes
You can use System Manager to modify the volume name for a data protection (DP) volume. If the source volume does not have storage efficiency enabled, you might want to enable storage efficiency only on the destination volume.
Deleting volumes
You can use System Manager to delete a volume when you no longer require the data that it contains, or if you have copied the data that it contains to another location. When you delete a volume, all the data in the volume is destroyed, and you cannot recover this data.
Creating FlexClone volumes
You can use System Manager to create a FlexClone volume when you require a writable, point-in-time copy of an existing FlexVol volume. You might want to create a copy of a volume for testing or to provide access to the volume for additional users, without giving them access to the production data.
Creating FlexClone files
You can use System Manager to create a FlexClone file, which is a writable copy of a parent file. You can use these copies to test applications.
Splitting a FlexClone volume from its parent volume
If you want a FlexClone volume to have its own disk space rather than using that of its parent volume, you can split the volume from its parent by using System Manager. After the split, the FlexClone volume becomes a normal FlexVol volume.
Changing the status of a volume
You can use System Manager to change the status of a volume when you want to take the volume offline, bring it back online, or restrict access to the volume. However, you cannot take a root volume offline.
Viewing the Snapshot copies
You can use System Manager to view a list of all the saved Snapshot copies for a selected volume from the Snapshot Copies tab in the lower pane of the Volumes window. You can use the list of saved Snapshot copies to rename, restore, or delete the selected Snapshot copy.
Creating Snapshot copies
You can use System Manager to create a Snapshot copy of a volume outside a specified schedule to capture the state of the file system at a specific point in time.
Setting the Snapshot copy reserve
You can use System Manager to reserve space (in percentage) for Snapshot copies in a volume. Setting the Snapshot copy reserve ensures that enough disk space is allocated for the Snapshot copies so that they do not consume the active file system space.
Hiding the Snapshot copy directory
You can use System Manager to hide the Snapshot copy directory (.snapshot) so that it is not visible when you view your volume directories. By default, the .snapshot directory is visible.
Scheduling automatic Snapshot copies
You can use System Manager to set up a schedule for creating automatic Snapshot copies of a volume. You can specify the time and frequency of creating the copies and specify the number of Snapshot copies that are saved.
Restoring a volume from a Snapshot copy
You can use System Manager to restore a volume to a state recorded in a previously created Snapshot copy to retrieve lost information. When you restore a Snapshot copy, the restore operation overwrites the existing volume configuration. Any changes made to the data in the volume after the Snapshot copy was created are lost.
Renaming Snapshot copies
You can use System Manager to rename a Snapshot copy to help you organize and manage your Snapshot copies.
Deleting Snapshot copies
You can delete a Snapshot copy to conserve disk space or to free disk space by using System Manager. You can also delete a Snapshot copy if it is no longer required.
Resizing volumes
When your volume reaches nearly full capacity, you can increase the size of the volume, delete some Snapshot copies, or adjust the Snapshot reserve. You can use the Volume Resize wizard in System Manager to provide more free space.
Enabling storage efficiency on a volume
You can use System Manager to enable storage efficiency and configure deduplication and data compression or only deduplication on a volume to save storage space. If you have not enabled storage efficiency when you created the volume, you can do so later by editing the volume.
Changing the deduplication schedule
You can use System Manager to change the deduplication schedule by choosing to run deduplication manually, automatically, or on a schedule that you specify.
Running deduplication operations
You can use System Manager to run deduplication immediately after creating a volume, or schedule deduplication to run at a specified time.
Moving FlexVol volumes between aggregates or nodes
You can nondisruptively move a FlexVol volume to a different aggregate or a different node for capacity utilization and improved performance by using System Manager.
Assigning volumes to Storage QoS
You can limit the throughput of FlexVol volumes by assigning them to Storage Quality of Service (QoS) policy groups. You can assign Storage QoS for new volumes or modify Storage QoS details for volumes that are already assigned to a policy group by using System Manager.
Creating a mirror relationship from a source SVM
You can use System Manager to create a mirror relationship from the source storage virtual machine (SVM), and to assign a mirror policy and schedule to the mirror relationship. The mirror copy enables quick availability of data if the data on the source volume is corrupted or lost.
Creating a vault relationship from a source SVM
You can use System Manager to create a vault relationship from the source storage virtual machine (SVM), and to assign a vault policy to the vault relationship to create a backup vault. In the event of data loss or corruption on a system, backed-up data can be restored from the backup vault destination.
Creating a mirror and vault relationship from a source SVM
You can use System Manager to create a mirror and vault relationship from the source storage virtual machine (SVM). Creating this relationship enables you to better protect your data by periodically transferring data from the source volume to the destination volume. It also enables you to retain data for long periods by creating backups of the source volume.
Creating an NFS datastore for VMware
You can use the Create NFS Datastore for VMware wizard in System Manager to create an NFS datastore for VMware. You can create a volume for the NFS datastore and specify the ESX servers that can access the NFS datastore.
Creating FlexGroup volumes
You can use System Manager to create a FlexGroup volume by selecting specific aggregates or by selecting system recommended aggregates.
Editing FlexGroup volumes
You can use System Manager to edit the properties of an existing FlexGroup volume.
Resizing FlexGroup volumes
You can use System Manager to resize a FlexGroup volume by resizing existing resources or adding new resources.
Changing the status of a FlexGroup volume
You can use System Manager to change the status of a FlexGroup volume when you want to take the FlexGroup volume offline, bring it back online, or restrict access to the FlexGroup volume.
Deleting FlexGroup volumes
You can use System Manager to delete a FlexGroup volume when you no longer require the FlexGroup volume.
Viewing FlexGroup volume information
You can use System Manager to view information about a FlexGroup volume. You can view a graphical representation of the space allocated, the protection status, and the performance of the FlexGroup volume.
What volume granular encryption is
Volume granular encryption (VGE) is the process of protecting the user data, including the metadata, by encrypting the data before storing it on the disk. The data is decrypted and provided to the user only after proper authentication is provided. To encrypt data, an encryption key is required. Each volume is assigned an encryption key to encrypt/decrypt operations of its data.
How FlexVol volumes work
FlexVol volumes allow you to manage the logical layer of the file system independently of the physical layer of storage. Multiple FlexVol volumes can exist within a single separate, physically defined aggregate structure of disks and RAID groups. FlexVol volumes contained by the same aggregate share the physical storage resources, RAID configuration, and plex structure of that aggregate.
Snapshot configuration
You can configure Snapshot copies by setting a schedule to an existing Snapshot policy. You can have a maximum of 255 Snapshot copies of a FlexVol volume. You can change the maximum number of Snapshot copies for a Snapshot policy's schedule.
How volume guarantees work for FlexVol volumes
Volume guarantees (sometimes called space guarantees) determine how space for a volume is allocated from its containing aggregate—whether or not the space is preallocated for the volume.
FlexClone volumes and space guarantees
A FlexClone volume inherits its initial space guarantee from its parent volume. For example, if you create a FlexClone volume from a parent volume with a space guarantee of volume, then the FlexClone volume's initial space guarantee will be volume also. You can change the FlexClone volume's space guarantee.
Thin provisioning for greater efficiencies using FlexVol volumes
With thin provisioning, when you create volumes and LUNs in a given aggregate, you do not actually allocate any space for those in advance. The space is allocated as data is written to the volumes or LUNs.
Using space reservations with FlexVol volumes
Using space reservation, you can provision FlexVol volumes. Thin provisioning appears to provide more storage than is actually available from a given aggregate, as long as not all of that storage is currently being used.
Benefits of storage efficiency
Storage efficiency enables you to store the maximum amount of data for the lowest cost and accommodate rapid data growth while consuming less space. You can use technologies such as RAID-DP, FlexVol, Snapshot copies, deduplication, data compression, SnapMirror, and FlexClone to increase storage utilization and decrease storage costs. When used together, these technologies help to achieve increased performance.
Options for resizing volumes
You can use the Volume Resize wizard to change your volume size, adjust the Snapshot reserve, delete Snapshot copies, and dynamically view the results of your changes.
Considerations when moving volumes
Moving a volume has many considerations and recommendations that are influenced by the volume you are moving or by the system configuration. You should understand the considerations associated with moving volumes.
How moving a FlexVol volume works
Knowing how moving a FlexVol volume works helps you to determine whether the volume move satisfies service-level agreements and to understand where a volume move is in the volume move process.
Volumes window
You can use the Volumes window to manage your volumes and to display information about these volumes.