Creating open systems volume groups

Complete this task to create open systems volume groups and to specify their properties and parameters.

Volume groups provide a volume masking function. When you create a volume, you can assign it to one or more volume groups. Open systems server attachments are assigned to volume groups to control access to the volumes. There can be up to 8320 volume groups. Any host port (or host port group) can access only one volume group. A volume group can be accessed by multiple servers if they have the same block size and address. If there is a requirement for volume sharing, for example in a clustering environment, then a volume can be a member of multiple volume groups, or multiple servers can be in the same volume group. In both cases, data integrity is the responsibility of host software.
To create open systems volume groups, perform the following steps:
  1. In the navigation, select Real-time manager or Simulated manager > Configure storage > Open systems > Volume groups. On the Volume groups 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 Volume Group – Define volume group properties page is displayed.
  3. Define the properties. In the Nickname field, you can either keep or modify the default nickname. In Accessed by host types, select the appropriate host type. All other valid compatible host types will be automatically selected. Both the Nickname and Accessed by host types fields are required. After you define the properties, click Next. The Create Volume Group – Select host attachments page is displayed.
  4. In Create Volume Group – Select host attachments page, you can optionally select the host attachment for the specified volumes. After selecting the host attachment, click Next. The Create Volume Group – Select volumes for groups page is displayed.
    Note: If there are no host attachments available for selection, you can create one by clicking the Create new host attachment button. When you have finished creating a host attachment, you will be returned to this page, and the host attachment that you created will be available for selection.
  5. Select the volumes for the volume group. At least one volume must be selected in the table. The volumes listed should be compatible with the host types selected in the previous two pages. After selecting the volumes for the volume group, click Next. The Create Volume Group – Verification page is displayed.
    Note: If there are no volumes available for selection, you can create one by clicking the Create new open systems volume button. When you have finished creating a volume, you will be returned to this page, and the volume that you created will be available for selection.
    Tip: If you created volumes with the same nickname prefix, you can change the view to show only those volumes that you want to select either by sorting the nickname column or by creating a filter.
  6. Use the Create Volume Group – Verification page to review the attributes and 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 volume group creation process.
Related concepts
Open systems
Express configuration overview
Related tasks
Creating open systems volumes
Related reference
Create volume group — Define volume group properties
Create volume group — Select host attachments
Create volume group — Select volumes for group
Create volume group — Verification
Express configure — Express path: definition method
Express configure — Open systems volumes
Express configure — Set volume naming
Express configure — Group volumes
Express configure — General host information
Express configure — Host ports
Express configure — Define WWPNs
Express configure — Assign host to volume group
Express configure — Verification
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