Administrator Guide

• You can segment bulk storage for long-term retention. You can create a separate pool with arrays congured to maximize storage
capacity.
Example 3: Use pools to optimize performance of your data.
• You might want to optimize the performance of the database application. You can implement three pools: one for the database,
one for applications, and one for backup and archival data. In this case, the database would be assigned to the pool that contains
the members with the best random-access performance.
Tip: Dell EqualLogic recommends using as few pools as possible and letting the PS Series software handle load balancing
and assignment of volumes to the most appropriate storage.
About Volumes
Volumes provide the storage allocation structure within the PS Series group.
To access storage in a PS Series group, you allocate portions of a storage pool to volumes. You can create a volume on a single group
member or one that spans multiple group members. You assign each volume a name, size, and a storage pool. The group
automatically load balances volume data across pool members.
Figure 5. PS Series Volumes depicts volumes in a PS Series group. Table 6. PS Series Volumes explains the callouts used in the
gure.
Figure 5. PS Series Volumes
Table 6. PS Series Volumes
Callout Description
1 PS Series group
Storage area network (SAN) comprising one or more PS Series arrays connected to an IP network. Arrays are
high-performance (physical) block storage devices.
2 PS Series members
Each PS Series array is a member in the group and is assigned to a storage pool.
3 PS Series storage pools
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Architecture Fundamentals