Storage Pools
LUNs are combined to form storage pools. A storage pool in a small volume might
consist of a single RAID array, but a larger volume might consist of several storage
pools each of which includes several arrays.
Xsan distributes file data in parallel across the LUNs in a storage pool using a RAID 0
(striping) scheme. So, you can improve a client’s access speed by distributing available
storage over several LUNs in a storage pool.
You can set up storage pools that have different performance or recoverability
characteristics based on the RAID level of their LUNs, and assign folders to them using
affinities. Users can then select where to store files based on their need for speed or
safety. See “Folders with Affinities” on page 18.
The illustration on page 16 shows eight LUNs combined into five storage pools for user
data. One pool uses a single RAID 0 array (fast, but not recoverable). Three other pools
use multiple RAID 5 arrays (not as fast, but recoverable), and Xsan stripes data across
the LUNs in each storage pool.
You use Xsan Admin to add available LUNs to storage pools.