A storage pool is a logical grouping of Storage Nodes or Archive Nodes. You configure storage pools to determine where object data is stored. You select storage pools that use Storage Nodes when you create Erasure Coding profiles. You select storage pools that use Storage Nodes or Archive Nodes when you configure ILM rules for replication.
Before you begin
- You must be signed in to the Grid Management Interface using a supported browser.
- To perform this task, you need specific access permissions. For details, see information about controlling system access with administration user accounts and groups.
About this task
When creating storage pools, follow these guidelines:
- Keep storage pool configurations as simple as possible. Do not create more storage pools than necessary. For example, do not create one storage pool for each LDR service.
- Create storage pools with as many nodes as possible. Each storage pool should contain two or more nodes. A storage pool with only one node can cause ILM backlogs if that node becomes unavailable.
- Avoid creating or using storage pools that overlap (that is, that share one or more Storage Nodes). If storage pools overlap, more than one copy of object data might be saved on the same Storage Node.
- Be aware that you cannot create a storage pool that includes both Storage Nodes and Archive Nodes. A storage pool must include either disk or archive media; it cannot include both.
- Confirm that the storage pools have enough storage to satisfy content placement instructions. For example, if a rule makes two replicated copies and uses one storage pool, that storage pool must include enough storage for two complete instances of object data. If a rule makes erasure-coded copies, the storage pool must include enough storage for the data fragments and the parity fragments (storage overhead).
- To protect replicated copies from site failure in a multi-site deployment, create separate storage pools for each site. See "What is replication."
- If you want to create erasure-coded copies, note that the available erasure coding schemes are limited by the number of Storage Nodes and sites contained in the storage pool. See "What are erasure coding schemes."
- If the storage pool will be used in an Erasure Coding profile, you should include more than the minimum number of Storage Nodes. For example, if you use a 6+3 erasure coding scheme, you must have at least nine Storage Nodes. However, adding one additional Storage Node per site is recommended.
- If the storage pool will be used in an Erasure Coding profile, you should distribute Storage Nodes across sites as evenly as possible. For example, to support a 4+2 erasure coding scheme, configure a storage pool that includes three Storage Nodes at three sites.
- If you want to create erasure-coded copies, you must use a storage pool that contains Storage Nodes. You cannot use Archive Nodes for erasure-coded data.
- Consider whether copies will be archived. Archived copies require a storage pool that only includes Archive Nodes. If an Archive Node's Target Type is Cloud Tiering - Simple Storage Service (S3), this Archive Node must be in its own storage pool. See "Configuring connection settings for S3 API" for information.
- When configuring storage pools with Archive Nodes, always maintain redundancy of object data to protect it from loss. Maintain at least one replicated or erasure-coded copy on Storage Nodes when keeping one copy in the Archive Node.
Steps
- Create a storage pool.
- Click Insert
at the end of the row for the last storage pool. 
- Enter a representative name for the storage pool. Use a name that will be easy to identify when you configure Erasure Coding profiles and ILM rules.
- From the Storage Grade drop-down list, set the type of storage to which object data will be copied if an ILM rule uses this storage pool. The values All Disks and Archive Nodes are system-generated.
- From the Site drop-down list, set the site to which object data will be copied if an ILM rule uses this storage pool. The value All Sites is system-generated.
When you select a Site, the number of grid nodes and storage capacity information (Installed, Used, and Available) are automatically updated. Make sure that storage pools have sufficient storage and Storage Nodes to support planned ILM rules and the types of copies that will be made.
- To add another storage grade/site combination to the storage pool, click Insert next to Site. You cannot create storage pools that include LDR and ARC services in the same storage pool. A storage pool includes either disks or archive media, but not both.
- To remove a storage grade/site combination, click Delete
next to Site.
- Click Insert
- To delete a storage pool, click Delete next to the storage pool name. You cannot delete a storage pool that is used in a saved ILM rule.