Creating extent pools

Complete this task to create extent pools, automatic or custom, and to specify extent pool parameters.

Each extent pool is either CKD or FB. An extent pool is associated with either server 0 or server 1. You need a minimum of 2 extent pools, one for each server, to make full use of the resources. An extent pool is divided into equal extents of the following size: Your maximum number of extent pools cannot exceed the number of ranks. It is recommended that you put only ranks with the same capacity and speed into the same extent pool. RAID types cannot be intermixed in an extent pool. For performance management, you can create extent pools of a single rank.

Perform the following steps to create extent pools:

  1. In the navigation, select Real-time manager or Simulated manager > Configure storage > Extent pools. On the Extent pools main page, in the Select storage unit drop-down list, select a storage unit.
  2. From the Select Action list, select Create..., and then click Go. The Create Extent Pool – Define properties page is displayed.
  3. Choose either to create your extent pool automatically based on storage requirements (where the DS Storage Manager automatically selects your arrays and ranks) or to create a custom extent pool, where you decide which arrays and ranks are assigned to the extent pools.
    • If you chose to create your extent pools automatically, in Create Extent Pool – Define requirements, provide a nickname for your extent pool, select the storage type (either FB or CKD) and RAID type, and enter the required amount of storage. You can optionally select to use any existing unassigned arrays and ranks if you want the DS Storage Manager to use arrays and ranks that already exist. Click Next. The Create Extent Pool – Reserve storage page is displayed.
      Note: An extent pool uses all of the available storage in arrays or ranks that make up the extent pool, even if you specify a storage amount that is less than the entire array or rank storage amount. For example, if you have a 385 GB rank and need 100 GB of storage, your extent pool will contain 385 GB of storage. However, if you have two ranks with 100 GB of storage in each rank and you need 120 GB in your extent pool, your extent pool will contain two ranks with 200 GB of storage.
    • If you chose to create a custom extent pool, perform the following steps:
      1. In Create Extent Pool – Define properties, provide a nickname for your extent pool, then select the storage type (either FB or CKD), RAID type, and server that are assigned to the extent pool. Click Next after you have made your selections.
      2. In Create Extent Pool – Select ranks, select the rank that you want to assign to the extent pool or create a new rank to assign to the extent pool. Click Next. The Create Extent Pool – Reserve storage page is displayed.
  4. In the Create Extent Pool – Reserve storage page, optionally enter the amount of storage that you want the DS Storage Manager to reserve for the extent pool. Click Next. The Create Extent Pool – Verification page is displayed.
  5. In the Create Extent Pool – Verification page, review the attributes and values to verify that they are correct. If the attributes and values are not correct, click Back, as appropriate, to return and to specify the correct values. Otherwise, click Finish to complete the extent pool creation process.
If you are creating a new logical storage configuration, return to Creating a custom logical storage configuration and complete the rest of the steps.
Related concepts
Extent pools
Related tasks
Deleting extent pools
Related reference
Extent pool properties
Extent pools — Main page
Create extent pool — Definition method
Create extent pool — Define extent pool requirements
Create extent pool — Define extent pool properties
Create extent pool — Select ranks
Create extent pool — Reserve storage
Create extent pool — Verification
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